South Korea lagged behind some European countries whose per capita gross domestic product exceeded $50,000 in the 2015, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

The nation, which ranks 28th in per capita GDP among OECD members at about $25,000, posted 2.6 percent economic growth last year -- behind Luxembourg, Iceland and Ireland. The three nations were included in the world’s top 10 per capita GDP ranking.

Korea has usually exceeded the high-income countries in annual economic growth. Apart from the slump behind some more developed countries, Korea’s growth was also lower than that of the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland.

Considering that the East European OECD members are emerging economies with relatively weak economies, it is understandable. But the fact that it has fallen behind Luxembourg, Iceland and Ireland indicates that Asia’s fourth-largest economy faces a critical hurdle in growth potential.

Though there was an extraordinary factor last year -- the Middle East respiratory syndrome outbreak which undermined private consumption -- it is undeniable that Korea’s extreme export slump was a core reason why economic growth slowed.

The sluggish export sector is still denting the economy amid the sales slowdown of semiconductors, smartphones and automobiles in the overseas market, which are the nation’s three major export engines. In addition, sectors like shipbuilding, steelmaking and construction have been in the doldrums compared to previous years.

It is true that the global economy was hit by low crude oil prices, the Chinese economic slowdown and eurozone difficulties last year.

Nevertheless, the government should contemplate the situation that Korea was ranked 12th among 35 OECD countries in GDP growth. This marks the first time that its OECD growth ranking has not made it to the top 10 since 2006.

South Korea has faced a critical barrier in exports to China over the past decade as the Asian superpower has tightened its policy to curb imports of intermediate goods.

Korea had enjoyed huge shipments of intermediate products, including knockdowns -- assembled in China by its cheap labor workforce from the late 1970s to the late 1990s.

The giant importer, however, began restricting intermediate goods under its policy of revamping the broker trade structure, which generally yields low added value, starting from 1999.

The Bank of Korea has reported that China scaled back the ratio of intermediate goods in its total imports from 53.7 percent in 1998 to 32.8 percent in 2014. Despite the worsening situation, Korea has yet to diversify its exports. Unfinished goods took up 73 percent of Korea’s total exports to its largest export destination at the end of 2014.

A significant point is that China’s industrial competitiveness is growing rapidly. There is a mounting possibility that Made-in-China intermediate goods will replace Korean products in the coming years in many manufacturing segments.

Global consumers have already started replacing their Samsung Electronics smartphones and Hyundai Motor cars with Chinese products.

It is necessary to revamp the export structure paradigm and develop creative products. Unless exports pick up again, Korea’s growth and sovereign competitiveness is likely to remain stalled.