South Korea's trade surplus is growing toofast and the government has started taking steps to slow it
down, Deputy Prime Minister Kim Mahn-je said.
    He told a press conference the government planned to
increase investment, speed up the opening of the local market
to foreign imports and gradually adjust its currency to hold
the surplus "at a proper level."
    But he said the government would not allow the won to
appreciate too much in a short period of time. South Korea has
been under pressure from Washington to revalue the won.
    The U.S. Wants South Korea to cut its trade surplus with
the U.S., Which rose to 7.4 billion dlrs in 1986 from 4.3
billion dlrs in 1985.
    Kim, who is also economic planning minister, said prospects
were bright for the South Korean economy, but the government
would try to hold the current account surplus to around five
billion dlrs a year for the next five years.
    "Our government projections of eight pct GNP growth, five
billion dlrs of (current account) surplus and 12 pct growth in
exports all seemed to be reasonable early this year. But now
the surplus is growing faster than we expected," he said.
    Trade ministry officials said South Korea's exports rose 35
pct to 9.34 billion dlrs in the first three months of this
year, while imports rose only 8.5 pct to 8.2 billion dlrs.
    Kim said the swing of South Korea's current account to a
surplus of 4.65 billion dlrs in 1986 from an 890 mln dlr
deficit in 1985 was very significant. The surplus enabled the
country to reduce its foreign debt last year for the first
time.
    South Korea's foreign debt, which fell to 44.5 billion dlrs
in 1986 from 46.8 billion in 1985, is still among the largest
in Asia.
    "This huge amount of our foreign debt has been one of the
major constraints on our development... Last year was a major
turning point for the Korean economy," Kim said.
    Kim said his government plannned to reduce the ratio of
foreign debt to the country's GNP to about 20 pct in 1991, from
about 50 pct in 1986.
    "The government, however, does not want to accelerate
reducing the debt by making an excessive trade surplus," he
said.
    Kim said a sudden rise in the surplus would cause inflation
and lead to trade friction with Seoul's major trading partners,
particularly the United States.
    "We need a surplus because we have to reduce our debt, but
we are taking measures to hold the size of the surplus at a
proper level," Kim said.
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