ThenumberofshippingoperationsbetweenSouthandNorthKoreatotaled1,281onaone-waybasisforthefirstninemonthsoftheyear,up17.8percentfr
The number of shipping operations between South and North Korea totaled 1,281 on a one-way basis for the first nine months of the year, up 17.8 percent from a year earlier and the volume of goods carried during the same period amounted to 699,560 tons, a surge of 44.6 percent from the previous year.
The inter-Korean maritime traffic consisted of 556 northbound and 725 southbound shipping. Mukho in the East Coast was the busiest port for northbound shipping with 161, followed by Sokcho 142, Incheon 122 and Busan 42. North Korea's Haeju, the nearest port to the South in the West Coast, was the most travelled port with 151, followed by Najin 109, Goseong 94, Heungnam 90 and Nampo 74.
In terms of cargo carried, Ulsan topped the South Korean ports with 135,865 tons, followed by Yeosu 98,500, Gunsan 88,459, Incheon 53,370, and Mokpo 47,000. Major freight transported were agricultural, forestry and fishery goods, and machinery, steel and metal goods used as raw and secondary resources for products manufactured under the processing-on-commission trade agreement. Najin topped the North Korean ports with 46,038 tons, followed by Heungnam 38,222, Nampo 18,864, Kimchaek 15,716 and Haeju 14,690. Fishery and mining products were the chief cargo carried to the South.
