Record second highest trade surplus posted in July

Korea posted a trade surplus of $5.67 billion in July, the sixth month in a row that the balance has stayed in the black, a government report showed Sunday.

Exports surged 29.6 percent on-year to $41.35 billion last month, with imports gaining 28.9 percent to $35.68 billion, the monthly report by the Ministry of Knowledge Economy said.

The monthly trade balance marks a decline from the $6.43 billion surplus reached in June, which was the second highest surplus reported by the government since it started keeping track of export-import figures from 1950 onwards.