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According to Yonhap News,

(SEOUL=Yonhap News) New growth industries, such as robotics contributed to bolstering Korea's exports and employment in 2017, a local think tank said Sunday.

The Institute for International Trade (IIT) said the eight new industries that cover electric vehicles (EVs), bio-health, robots and aerospace sectors generated some 410,000 jobs, with combined outbound shipments by local businesses hitting US$73.6 billion in the one year period.

The new industries also encompass new energy areas, high-tech materials, next generation displays and semiconductors.

IIT, which is under the Korea International Trade Association (KITA), said from 2014, when exports by these industrial sectors stood at $47.8 billion, outbound shipments of related goods have grown 15.5 percent annually up till last year, when it accounted for 12.8 percent of all products exported by Asia's fourth largest economy.

In particular, exports, as measured in value, shot up 27.7 percent on-year in 2017 with the combined job-creation effect estimated at over 410,000, up 68 percent from 247,000 in 2014.

Exports of EVs jumped 186.8 percent on-year, with aerospace and robotics gaining 37.3 percent and 36.2 percent, respectively. Other sectors all posted double-digit growth, with shipments to the United States and European Union (EU) leading growth.

Outbound shipments to the U.S. rose a strong 29.2 percent, with corresponding numbers for the EU hitting 34.6 percent.

By business, the largest number of jobs was created in future semiconductors, which includes system chips and multi-chip integrated circuits, followed by displays, energy and bio-health.

For every $1 million worth of goods exported, robotics generated the most jobs, at 10.9 people, with EVs and bio-health trailing at 9.7 and 9.4 jobs, respectively.

Moon Byung-ki, a senior researcher at KITA's trend research office, said that the nature of these cutting edge industries require economy of scale and efforts to exploit overseas markets. This, he said, requires early managerial planning by businesses.

yonngong@yna.co.kr

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