S. Korea's trade surplus tops US$5 bln in May

By Lee Joon-seung
SEOUL, June 1 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's trade surplus reached US$5.15 billion in
May mainly due to a sharp drop in imports, a government report showed Monday.

The country's exports came to $28.2 billion last month, falling 28.3 percent
on-year, with imports plummeting 40.4 percent to around $23.1 billion, according
to the report by the Ministry of Knowledge Economy.
The monthly surplus is smaller than the record $5.78 billion tallied for April,
although 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
spending.
The ministry said display panels recorded growth in on-year exports, with ships,
mobile communication equipment, general machinery and autos all posting negative
growth.
The ministry said that due in part to more holidays, overall exports fell
vis-a-vis the $30.4 billion reached in the previous month.
"There were two less working days in May compared to April," a ministry official
said.
He, however, said that in terms of average daily exports, South Korea shipped out
$1.28 billion worth of goods last month from $1.27 billion per day the month
before.
In the first five months of this year, the country exported $133.3 billion worth
of goods with imports reaching $118.8 billion for a surplus of just under $14.5
billion.
yonngong@yna.co.kr
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