Inter-Korean trade grows 2.6 pct in Sept.

SEOUL, Oct. 19 (Yonhap) -- Inter-Korean trade grew for the first time in 13
months in September amid improving global economic conditions and eased
cross-border tensions, customs data showed Monday.

According to data compiled by the Korea Customs Service, trade between South and
North Korea amounted to US$173.17 million last month, up 2.6 percent from a year
earlier when the global financial turbulence first began following the collapse
of Lehman Brothers.
Shipments to the North totaled $74.47 million, while those from the communist
country came to $98.70 million, the data showed.
The figure marks the first increase in inter-Korean trade since it turned
negative in September last year. The decline in trade had been attributed mostly
to the global recession and strained inter-Korean relations after the North
pushed ahead with its second nuclear test in May in defiance of warnings by the
international community.
Experts predict that trade between the two Koreas will remain strong down the
road amid rebounding global economic conditions and eased cross-border relations,
including recently held reunions of families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War.
The two Koreas remain technically at war as the conflict ended in a truce, not a
peace treaty.
kokobj@yna.co.kr
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