South Korea GDP growth slows to 0.7% on COVID consumption slump

SEOUL -- South Korea's economy grew 0.7% in the January-March quarter, slower than the 1.2% expansion in the final three months of 2021.

Asia's fourth-largest economy was hit by COVID restrictions that hurt private consumption, high commodity prices, the impact of the Ukraine war and fallout from China's lockdowns in key industrial cities, including Shanghai and Shenzhen.