S. Korean firms little affected by Japan quake

SEOUL, March 14 (Yonhap) -- South Korean companies have been little affected by the earthquake that hit Japan last week, though the damage will inevitably grow if the normalization of the Japanese economy takes more time than expected, a local trade agency said Monday.

Currently, there are 272 South Korean firms with business operations in Japan, but only four of them have production facilities there, according to the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA).

"The amount of direct damages to companies is expected to be small as most of them only have office spaces, not production facilities in Japan," it said in a press release.

Still, the quake will have a considerable impact on the country's exports to Japan as the suspension of Japanese businesses will inevitably lead to a decrease in them importing goods from South Korea, it noted.

South Korea's exports to Japan soared 29.2 percent on-year to US$28.2 billion in 2010 and jumped 57.4 percent on-year in January.

On a slight positive note, the country's exports to the quake-hit northeastern region of Japan only account for 1.3 percent of the entire South Korean exports to the island nation, KOTRA said.

bdk@yna.co.kr

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