S. Korea posts record high trade surplus in June

SEJONG, July 15 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's trade surplus hit an all-time high in June as a protracted economic slowdown dragged down imports at a faster pace than exports, customs data showed Friday.

The country's trade surplus came to a record US$11.5 billion last month, up sharply from $6.99 billion in the previous month, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service.

The amount of the June trade surplus broke the earlier record of $10.2 billion set in November last year.

The figure also marked a 15.5 percent on-year rise from $9.96 billion tallied in the same month a year earlier, extending its bullish streak to 53 straight months since February 2012.

The record-high performance of the monthly trade surplus came as a sharp drop in imports outpaced a fall in exports.

Exports fell 2.6 percent on-year to $45.3 billion last month, while imports retreated 7.7 percent to $33.8 billion.

Due mainly to waning demand from emerging countries and a slowdown in China, the country's exports have fallen every single month since the start of 2015.

They touched a 19.1 percent on-year plunge in January this year, the largest decline since August 2009 but have continuously slowed down to mark a 2.7 percent drop in June on the back of rising oil prices.

At the same time, the country's inbound shipments also saw contractions for 20 straight months because of decreased demand from emerging countries.

brk@yna.co.kr
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