Korea will become the 11th country in the world to export goods worth $300 billion or more a year. The ministry said the nation regained 11th place in the world for the first time since 1990, with exports to reach $326 billion for this year. Korea was the world’s 12th biggest exporter with $284.4 billion in exports last year, following Hong Kong. But this year, it is ahead of Hong Kong by a narrow margin.

Poclains, that are being exported to the U.S. and Europe, are awaiting loading onto ships.

Exports of semiconductor chips, automobiles and ships will surpass $30 billion each. The ministry’s director general for trade policy, Lee Sung-hun, said it is possible Korea’s exports will top $400 billion in 2008 and $500 billion in 2011 if exports grow an average of 10 percent every year.

However, experts say quantity isn’t everything. Shin Seung-kwan, a research fellow at the Trade Research Institute, said the quality of exports has been deteriorating so an increase does not directly lead to a rise in national income. The U.S. recorded a GNI of $43,000 per capita and Japan of $38,000 when their exports exceeded US$300 billion. But South Korea’s per-capita GNI is expected to stand at a mere $16,000 this year. The unit price of exports dropped from 100 in 2000 to 94 in October this year, giving rise to concerns that an increase in quantity merely cancels out the fall in unit price.

Furthermore, some 1,400 exporters disappeared this years, while the contribution of five flagship items --semiconductors, cars, cell phones, ships and petroleum products -- to exports increased from 31.7 percent in 1998 to 42.2 percent in 2005. In other words, exports by large corporations are brisk, but the bread-and-butter foundation is shaky.

(englishnews@chosun.com )