S.KOREA CURRENT A/C SURPLUS SEEN NEAR 10 BLN DLRS
  South Korea's national news agency, Yonhap,
  said this year's current account surplus will near 10 billion
  dlrs amid signs of continuing high world demand for the
  country's cheap cars and electronic goods.
      Bank of Korea officials would neither confirm nor deny the
  Yonhap forecast, saying only that the bank would issue its own
  figures later in the week.
      Yonhap said the January-September surplus in the current
  account, which covers trade in goods and services, totalled
  7.03 billion dlrs.
      This already exceeds the seven billion dlr ceiling for the
  whole of 1987 that the government set in June during talks with
  the International Monetary Fund aimed at averting a too rapid
  revaluation of the won against the dollar.
      The agency said the September surplus was 1.4 billion dlrs,
  up from 468.1 mln in August and 899 mln a year earlier.
      "Exports in October could be relatively modest due to many
  public holidays, but by the end of this year the surplus will
  be well over nine billion dollars, close to ten," Yonhap said.
      The sharp rise in the September surplus came from a
  resumption of export deliveries delayed by strikes the previous
  month.
      More than 3,300 companies, including car manufacturers,
  electronic and electric firms, were hit by labour unrest
  between July and September.
      The South Korean government originally targeted a five
  billion dlr current account surplus this year, but had to raise
  this to seven billion to reflect a startling first-half export
  boom.
      If confirmed, the soaring 1987 current account surplus
  seemed certain to trigger tougher pressure from the United
  States which recorded a 7.4 billion dlr trade deficit with
  Seoul last year, government economists said.
      The U.S. Government, trying to stem protectionist pressure
  at home, has called on South Korea to open more markets to
  American goods and revalue the won faster.
      The won was fixed at 804.90 against the dollar on Monday,
  representing a 7.01 pct gain so far this year.
  

