South Korea’s export soars 39.7 pct in June

SEOUL: JUNE 1 – South Korea’s export soared in double digits in June on the back of the global demand recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic shock, a government report showed Thursday.

Export, which takes up around half of the export-driven economy, amounted to 54.8 billion U.S. dollars in June, up 39.7 percent from a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy.

The outbound shipment continued to grow for the eighth consecutive month since November last year, topping 50 billion dollars for four months in a row.

Import jumped 40.7 percent over the year to 50.36 billion dollars, sending the trade surplus to 4.44 billion dollars. The trade balance stayed in black for 14 straight months.

For the first six months of this year, the export came to 303.24 billion dollars. It was up 26.1 percent compared to the same period of last year.

Import advanced 24.0 percent to 285.11 billion dollars in the January-June period. The trade surplus reached 18.13 billion dollars in the six-month period.

-XINHUA