South Korea's auto exports to Eastern European countries declined about 70 percent in February as the region was hard struck by the financial downturn, industry data showed on Wednesday.

According to the data by the Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association, South Korea sees a drop of 70.7 percent in auto exports to Eastern Europe, which hit 11,216 vehicles in February.

Eastern European economies, such as Hungary and Ukraine, have been struggling harshly amid the deepening global financial crisis mainly due to their volatile foreign-exchange rates and large foreign debt.

(Xinhua News Agency March 25, 2009)