Korea now may have to pay more attention to emerging countries given that the nation’s exports to them have soared over the past decade.

According to government data released Tuesday, Korea’s exports to emerging countries accounted for 72.8 percent of its total exports while outbound shipments to advanced economies declined to 27.2 percent last year.

Officials attributed the changing trend to emerging countries’ relatively fast economic growth and advanced nations’ protracted economic slump.

But the data showed that Korea relies heavily on China as exports to the No. 1 trading partner accounted for 24.5 percent of its total overseas shipments.

By Seo Jee-yeon (jyseo@heraldcorp.com)