South Korea posted a merchandise trade deficit of $7.01 billion in November, the Customs Office said on Thursday.
That missed expectations for a shortfall of 4.42 billion following the $6.7 billion deficit in October.
Exports tumbled 14.0 percent on year, shy of expectations for a drop of 11.0 percent following the 5.7 percent decline in the previous month.
Imports rose an annual 2.7 percent versus expectations for a gain of 0.2 percent following the 9.9 percent spike a month earlier.
