Special Report: Global Financial Crisis

    SEOUL, Nov. 19 (Xinhua) -- South Korea is expected to post a trade deficit next year due to export declines amid global economic recession, a government report showed Wednesday.

    According to a report by the Finance Ministry, South Korea's trade deficit is expected to reach 5.6 billion U.S. dollars next year, with 490 billion U.S. dollars of exports and 495.6 billion U.S. dollars of imports.

    The amount is slightly lower than the 9 billion U.S. dollars of estimated shortfall this year.

    The forecast came as the South Korean exports seemed to be hit hard by the ongoing global financial turmoil.

    According to South Korea's Yonhap News Agency, exports plunged 26.3 percent to 9.97 billion U.S. dollars in the first 10 days of this month from the same period in October.

    If the downward trend continues, the nation's export will mark the first monthly contraction since September last year, Yonhap said.