South Korean economy was expected to grow 3.4 percent next year thanks to export growth stemming from a modest recovery in the global economy, but the economic growth would be limited due to structural problems such as massive household debts and the slumping real estate market, a private think tank said Monday.

According to the report by LG Economic Research Institution ( LGERI), the Asia's No.4 economy was forecast to grow 3.4 percent in 2013, up from an estimated growth of 2.2 percent for 2012.

The think tank said the country's GDP growth continued to slow this year due to weak global demand for durable goods amid mounting uncertainties such as the eurozone fiscal crisis and the global economic slowdown.

South Korea's real GDP growth jumped from 0.3 percent in the fourth quarter of last year to 0.9 percent in the first quarter on an on-quarter basis, but the reading continued to fall to 0.3 percent in the second quarter and 0.1 percent in the third quarter.

The LGERI forecast that the economic growth for South Korea would expand 3.4 percent in 2013 helped by solid growth in the United States and China, noting that domestic demand would be boosted by an increase in facility investment arising from rising profits in local exporters.

The think tank, however, cautioned that the economic growth would be limited due to the structural problems such as the slumping real estate market and massive household debts, saying that domestic demand would not show a solid growth due to the cited problems.

The think tank's growth forecast was relatively upbeat compared with those from other organizations. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) slashed its 2013 growth outlook for South Korea to 3.1 percent from a prior estimate of 4 percent. The state-run Korea Development Institute ( KDI) unveiled even gloomier outlook for the country's 2013 growth at 3 percent.