South Korea’s January exports tumble most since mid-2009

Tough time: Workers load trucks with containers at a terminal of an iInland container depot in Uiwang, south of Seoul. Shipments to China, South Korea’s largest market, tumbled 21.5 on-year in January in their biggest drop since May 2009. — Reuters

SEOUL: South Korean exports in January suffered their biggest slump in more than six years as sales to the key China market collapsed, pointing to another wrenching year for Asia’s export-reliant economies and more stimulus from regional policymakers.

South Korea is the world’s sixth-largest exporter and the first major exporting economy in the world to report trade figures every month, providing anxious financial markets a quick health check on global trade and the economy.