Two-way inter-Korean trade totaled $341.1 million for the first seven months of this year, up 41.3 percent from a year earlier.
Two-way inter-Korean trade totaled $341.1 million for the first seven months of this year, up 41.3 percent from a year earlier. South Korea imported $134.7 million worth of goods, 29.8 percent increase year on year, while goods valued at $206.4 million were shipped to North Korea, a jump of 50.1 percent.
Major items brought in were agricultural-forestry-fishery products and textiles, as were the case for many months. Major northbound shipments were chemical goods, textiles, agricultural-forestry-fishery products, steel and metal products, according to the monthly data released by the unification ministry Wednesday (August 13).
The increase in bilateral trade was attributed to a steady gain in trade in commercial transactions, including deals on processing-on-commission arrangements, as well as to continuing "non-trade" transactions under inter-Korean cooperative projects, including shipments of materials and equipment to connect cross-border railways and roads, and humanitarian assistance. The trend is expected to continue in August.
During the January-July period, the South posted a $71.7 million surplus in nominal trade, while the North registered a $93.8 million surplus in actual trade, not counting the value of non-trade transactions such as humanitarian assistance.
Of the bilateral trade of $341.1 million, commercial transactions amounted to $175.5 million, up 29.2 percent from a year ago, and accounting for 51.4 percent of the total. The rest was of non-trade nature such as inter-Korean cooperative projects and humanitarian support, which came to $165.6 million, a surge of 57 percent from a year earlier.
Trade under the cooperative project category reached $29.6 million, down 30.6 percent from 2002, and accounting for 8.7 percent of the total trade and 17.9 percent of non-trade nature, respectively. Major items under this category were materials for the construction of light-water reactors valued at $21.6 million and those of Mt. Geumgang tourism project $5.3 million.
Shipments of goods in support of the North totaled $136 million, a surge of 116.6 percent from a year ago, and accounting for 39.9 percent of the total trade and for 82.1 percent of non-trade nature, respectively. Of the figure of $136 million, $111 million, or 81.6 percent, went to a food loan and other purely humanitarian purposes and the rest, $25 million, to materials and equipment for the connection of trans-border railways and roads and others.
Three hundred forty-three companies, including 94 involved in processing-on-commission basis, participated in the two-way trade of 503 items, including 206 under the processing-on-commission formula.
