A South Korean state-funded think tank slashed its outlook for the country’s growth this year, reflecting the fallout from U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff campaign on the trade-reliant nation as its presidential race hits full swing.
The Korea Development Institute now sees the country’s economy growing 0.8% in 2025 after expanding 2% last year, it said in its semiannual economic outlook released on Wednesday. The projection is down from February’s forecast of 1.6% and underscores the pressing economic challenges South Korea faces as voters prepare to elect their new leader on June 3.
The election is a crucial step in putting the export powerhouse back on track after ex-President Yoon Suk Yeol’s short-lived martial law decree in December unleashed the country’s worst political crisis in decades.
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