South Korea and Japan are both facing a cyclical slowdown, led by softer global growth and downturns in key export industries, according to Bloomberg Economics. The South Korean economy’s greater openness means it incurs a harder initial hit from external shocks. But its wider range of free trade agreements—FTAs now account for about 67 percent of total trade, much higher than Japan’s 36 percent—and its currency’s tendency toward weakness during risk-off episodes can help to jump-start export-driven recoveries.