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Inter-Korean Trade Totals $269 Million for First Half of 2003

ROK Ministry of Unification

2003-08-01

Two-way inter-Korean trade totaled $269.2 million for the first half of this year, up 25.2 percent from a year earlier. South Korea imported $112.3 million worth of goods, 17 percent increase year on year, while goods valued at $156.8 million were shipped to North Korea, a jump of 31.9 percent.

Major items brought in were agricultural-forestry-fishery products and textiles, as were the case for many months. Major northbound shipments were textiles, steel, metal products and machinery, as in previous months, according to the monthly data released by the unification ministry Wednesday (July 16).

The increase in bilateral trade was attributed to a steady gain in commercial transactions, including deals on processing-on-commission arrangements, as well as in "non-trade" transactions under inter-Korean cooperative projects, including shipments of materials and equipment to connect cross-border railways and roads, and humanitarian assistance. The trend is expected to continue in July amid increases in non-trade transactions.

During the January-June period, the South posted a $44.5 million surplus in nominal trade, while the North registered an $83 million surplus in actual trade, not counting the value of non-trade transactions such as humanitarian assistance.

Of the bilateral trade of $269.2 million, commercial transactions amounted to $141.6 million, up 19.8 percent from a year ago, and accounting for 52.6 percent of the total. The rest was of non-trade nature such as inter-Korean cooperative projects and humanitarian assistance, which came to $127.6 million, a hike of 31.9 percent from a year earlier.

Trade under the cooperative project category reached $26.5 million, down 24.1 percent from 2002, and accounting for 9.8 percent of the total trade and for 20.8 percent of non-trade nature, respectively. Major items under this category were materials for the construction of light-water reactors valued at $20.9 million and those of Mt. Geumgang tourism program $3.9 million.

Shipments of goods in support of North Korea totaled $101.1 million, a surge of 63.5 percent from a year ago, and accounting for 37.6 percent of the total trade and for 79.2 percent of non-trade nature, respectively. Of the figure of $101.1 million, $76.7 million, or 75.8 percent, went to purely humanitarian purposes and the rest, $24.4 million, to materials and equipment for the connection of trans-border railways and roads and others.

Two hundred ninety-five companies, including 80 involved in processing-on-commission basis, participated in the two-way trade of 469 items, including 190 under the processing-on-commission formula.