South Korea's current account surplus widened in January from the previous month as exports of tech and petrochemical products remained firm, despite the won's ascent to the Japanese yen, the central bank said Wednesday.

The current account surplus reached US$2.25 billion in January, up from a revised $2.14 billion in December, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK). The current account is the broadest measure of cross-border trade.

The January gain is the largest surplus since November, marking the 12th straight month of a surplus.

The central bank said that exports of tech products and petrochemical goods remained in good shape last month, helping the current account surplus increase.

The data came amid concerns that the yen's ascent is feared to crimp Seoul's exports, which account for about 50 percent of the economy.

Japan's aggressive monetary easing has unnerved Korean policymakers as the move is putting downward pressure on the yen, which in turn, makes prices of Korean products more expensive in overseas markets when competing with Japanese rivals.

The Korean currency gained some 5 percent against the yen last month from December while the won fell 1 percent to the dollar in the cited period.

South Korea's goods balance logged a surplus of $2.6 billion in January, compared with a revised $1.92 billion in the previous month.

In January, exports rose 13.9 percent on-year to $47.14 billion and imports inched up 3.6 percent to $44.55 billion.

The service account, which includes outlays by South Koreans on overseas trips, posted a deficit of $927.1 million last month, a turnaround from a surplus of $30.7 million in the previous month.

The primary income account, which tracks wages for foreign workers and dividend payments overseas, logged a surplus of $968.4 million in January, up from a $639 million surplus the previous month.

Meanwhile, the capital and financial account, covering cross-border investments, posted a net outflow of $962.1 million last month, compared with a net outflow of a revised $3.94 billion in December, the central bank said.

In January, the BOK forecast the yearly current account surplus for 2013 will reach $32 billion. Last year, Korea's current account surplus reached a record high of $43.25 billion.

Source Text

Source: Yonhap News (Feb. 27, 2013)