South Korea's trade surplus reached a record $6.0 billion in April mainly due to a sharp drop in imports and favorable exchange rates, a government report showed Friday.
The country's exports reached $30.6 billion last month, falling 19.0 percent year-on-year, with imports plummeting 35.6 percent to $24.6 billion, Yonhap News Agency reported.
The monthly surplus surpassed the previous record of just under $4.3 billion tallied for March, and is much higher than the $3.8 billion reported for April 1998 when the country was struggling to cope with the Asian financial crisis by cutting back on spending.
The ministry said ship sales and a weak Korean won continued to help exports.
Though the total export volume fell year-on-year, exports rose by $2.6 billion from the previous month, indicating gains are being made despite the global economic slump, it added.