Korea's apparel imports last month totaled $184 million, marking a 1.6 percent year-on-year decline, the first drop after four years of
booming imports since May 1999, the Korea Federation of Textile Industries said yesterday.

After the Asian financial crisis in the late 1990s, foreign clothing
products flooded into the nation, posting a whopping 71.9 percent
year-on-year jump in 2000, followed by continued increases of 25.9 percent in 2001 and 39.4 percent last year.

"The slumping domestic economy cut overall clothing consumption in Korea. A string of protests by unionized cargo truck drivers last month also damaged shipments of apparel goods into the nation," explained an official at the federation.

Among the top 10 clothing exporters to Korea, Japan's shipments last month fell the most sharply by 27.9 percent, with Vietnam and the United States also experiencing drops of 23.9 percent and 18.3 percent, respectively.

Imports from China, the biggest apparel seller to Korea, also edged down, falling by 1.6 percent last month, while upscale fashion goods from Italy and France saw contractions of 1.8 percent and 3.1 percent, respectively.