Korea’s trade volume hits record $533.4 bln in 1st half

Korea saw a record 533.4 billion U.S. dollars in trade volume in this year`s first half, the Knowledge Economy Ministry said Friday.

Should this trend continue, the nation will likely usher in an era of 1 trillion dollars in combined trade by year`s end.

The ministry said exports reached 275.4 billion dollars between January and June, up 24.4 percent year-on-year, and imports of 258 billion dollars, up 26.6 percent, for a net trade surplus of 17.4 billion dollars.

Both exports and imports rose more than 20 percent from last year, so the combined trade volume amounted to 533.4 billion dollars. The total trade surplus declined 100 million dollars over the period, however.

In the wake of the brisk trade volume, the government readjusted upward its export and import targets for this year to 557 billion dollars and 528 billion dollars, respectively, and its trade surplus goal to 29 billion dollars for the year.

sukim@donga.com