Korea's Economy Sees Small Stirrings of Growth in Q2

Korea barely managed to emerge from nine straight quarters of near-stagnant growth with GDP rising 1.1 percent in the second quarter, the Bank of Korea said Thursday. The country's economy had grown less than 1 percent since the first quarter of 2011.

Government spending and investment in the construction sector were the main reasons behind the growth. Fiscal expenditures in the second quarter grew 2.4 percent compared to the previous quarter after the government frontloaded W17.3 trillion (US$1=W1,117) of supplementary budget allocations.

It was the biggest growth in government spending since the first quarter of 2012.

Also, investment in the construction sector grew 3.3 percent, continuing two consecutive quarters of growth for the first time in four years. It rose 4.1 percent in the first quarter.

On top of that, private spending, which had dropped 0.2 percent in the first quarter, grew 0.6 percent during the April-to-June period.