Korea has shown remarkable improvement in its trade accounts before and after the global economic crisis.On September 8, the Ministry of Knowledge Economy released a report of the analysis of the trade accounts that major countries recorded for the first half of this year. In the report, Korea posted a surplus of $20.8 billion in the trade account, up $27.7 billion from a year earlier when it recorded a deficit of $6.9 billion.During the same period, Japan’s trade accounts have changed from a surplus of $27.3 billion to a deficit of $600 million. In Germany, the trade account has plummeted almost half from a surplus of $151.2 billion to a surplus of $72.9 billion. In China, the surplus has reduced from $98.4 billion in 2008 to $97 billion this year. Taiwan’s trade account has improved to $7.7 billion, still lower than that of Korea.Korea’s trade accounts have improved against not only those countries with the weak foundation for the manufacturing sector like Russia, Canada and the UK but also those countries with the traditionally strong manufacturing sector like Japan, Germany, Taiwan and China.Such a great performance comes from the perfect matchup between the competitiveness of Korea’s manufacturing sector and the currency rate effect. During the same period, Japan has lost its price competitiveness as yen improved by 9.3%. In Germany, the currency rate has not increased dramatically. But, as its major markets like the US and Europe suffered from recession, it has been affected.China has not made a dramatic increase either due to the slight increase of yuan currency and the heavy dependence on low price products. Taiwan has enjoyed relatively stronger currency rates. But, the scale was not significant.Kang Myung-soo, section chief of the Ministry of Knowledge Economy, said, “Korea was able to utilize the dramatic increase of currency rates to make an economic recovery thanks to the strong performance of manufacturing sector like IT, shipbuilding and automobile. These industries should continue to maintain their competitiveness as well as their market share against their counterparts in Japan and Taiwan.”