Korea's trade surplus rose to a 21-month high in June as overseas demand for South Korean products grew while the country's imports shrank, the government said Sunday.

The country's trade balance came to US$4.96 billion in the black last month, up from a $2.4 billion surplus tallied in May, according to the Ministry of Knowledge Economy.

Exports rose 1.3 percent from a year earlier to $47.35 billion in June, ending a three-month losing streak. Imports, on the other hand, shrank 5.4 percent on-year to $42.39 billion, continuing a year-on-year drop for the fourth consecutive month since February, according to the ministry.

The country's trade surplus rose to the highest level since October 2010 as a result. June also marks the fifth consecutive month the country has recorded a trade surplus since January when the country's trade balance went into the red for the first time in 24 months, posting a deficit of $1.96 billion.

The ministry attributed the large drop in imports mainly to falling oil prices, a major import item, for Korea.

"In the case of oil, the amount of shipments to South Korea rose slightly from the same month last year, but the total amount of money spent on oil imports recorded a slight decline from a year earlier due to recent drops in international oil prices," it said in a press release.

In the first six months of the year, Korea's exports rose 0.7 percent from the same period in 2011 to reach $275.38 billion. The country posted a trade surplus of $10.74 billion in the January-June period with its imports growing 2.5 percent on-year to $264.64 billion.

"The growth of the country's exports slowed significantly in the first half of the year due to an economic slowdown in Europe and China," the ministry said.

The ministry said such conditions will continue, if not worsen, at least for some time in the second half of the year.

The government earlier predicted the country's exports for the whole of 2012 to grow 6.7 percent from last year to $595 billion. It revised the outlook Sunday to a 3.5 percent gain to $574.5 billion with the country's imports expected to grow 5 percent on-year to $551 billion. (Yonhap)