Seoul: The South Korean economy posted negative growth from three months earlier in the first quarter, marking the first on-quarter contraction in nine months, central bank data showed Thursday, amid a domestic political crisis and uncertainties stemming from the Donald Trump administration's sweeping tariff scheme.

According to Qatar News Agency, the country's real gross domestic product (GDP) -- a key measure of economic growth -- contracted 0.2 percent in the January-March period from a quarter earlier, based on preliminary data from the Bank of Korea (BOK).

Asia's fourth-largest economy expanded 1.3 percent in the first quarter of 2024 but slipped into contraction in the second quarter with a 0.2 percent decline, before barely growing 0.1 percent in both the third and fourth quarters, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported.

The BOK earlier presented a 1.5 percent growth outlook for the South Korean economy in 2025 but told reporters last week that the forecast might have been "too optimistic," given Trump's tariff policy, including its sectoral tariffs and levies on China.