South Korea finance minister says export growth slower than expected

[SEOUL] South Korea's export growth is weaker than the government had expected, its finance minister said on Monday, adding more efforts were needed to boost the fledgling recovery in Asia's fourth-largest economy.

"The economy is getting better but the speed and strength are weak," finance minister Choi Kyung-hwan told reporters after a visit to a highway construction site in Seoul.

"We need structural reforms to escape this weakness as the problems stem from structural problems that have accumulated over time, but additional efforts to bolster the recovery should also go in hand."

REUTERS