S. Korea's economic growth hits 2-year high in Q1

The South Korean economy grew at its fastest quarterly pace in two years in the first quarter as exports gained ground weathering the yen's weakness to the local currency, the central bank said Thursday.

Korea's gross domestic product (GDP), the broadest measure of economic performance, grew 0.9 percent in the first quarter from three months earlier, quickening from 0.3 percent on-quarter growth in the fourth quarter of 2012, according to an advance estimate by the Bank of Korea (BOK).

The first-quarter growth marked the fastest gain since the 1.3 percent growth in the first quarter of 2011. It also surpassed the BOK's earlier projection of 0.8 percent growth.