SEOUL, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's finance ministry saw Japan's export curbs as a rising economic uncertainty in addition to the global trade dispute and the semiconductor industry downturn.
The Ministry of Economy and Finance said on Friday in its monthly economic assessment report, called Green Book, that the uncertainty spread amid the global trade friction in addition to Japan's export restrictions while the global economic slowdown and the chip industry downturn continued.
Japan tightened regulations last month on its export to South Korea of three materials crucial for the production of memory chips and display panels, which are the mainstay of the South Korean export.
Earlier this month, Japan removed South Korea from its whitelist of trusted trading partners, which are given preferential export procedure. In response, Seoul dropped Tokyo off its whitelist of trusted export partners.
The ministry said the government will actively support the revitalization of export, investment and consumption by using all available policy measures, while thoroughly managing risks from Japan's export curbs and speeding up the implementation of extra budget.
South Korea's export kept a downward trend for the eighth consecutive month to July on the global chip industry's downturn and the global trade spat.
Production in the mining and manufacturing industries grew 0.2 percent in June from a month earlier, after sliding 1.3 percent in May, but output in the services sector shrank 1 percent in June after rising 0.3 percent in the previous month.
Retail sales, which measure private consumption, diminished 1.6 percent in June from a month ago, and investment in the construction sector dipped 0.4 percent. Facility investment rose 0.4 percent in June, after dropping 7.1 percent in May.
Employment added 299,000 in July from a year earlier, but jobless rate gained 0.2 percentage points to 3.9 percent in the month.
