Volume of inter-Korean trade jumps by 52 pc in first half of 2010.

12/8 Tass 60

SEOUL, August 12 (Itar-Tass) - Despite the rising tension in relations
between Seoul and Pyongyang, the volume of inter-Korean trade jumped up by
52.4 percent in the first half of this year, hitting the record level of
983.2 million US dollars, or six times more than over the corresponding
period in 1999, reported the South Korean customs service on Thursday.
South Korean export to North Korea climbed by 66 percent to 430.5
million dollars, while import increased by 44 percent, reaching 552.7
million dollars. As a result, the foreign trade balance of payments was in
the red over the first six months by 122.2 million dollars.
However, the situation may change in the latter half of the year,
forecasts the South Korean customs service. As a result of scuttling the
South Korean corvette Cheonan on March 26 (Seoul accuses Pyongyang of this
act), South Korea has frozen nearly all inter-Korean exchanges, and the
volume of trade may drop by 30 percent between the two Koreas.
The incident with the Cheonan, complicity in which Pyongyang bluntly
denied, has not affected only the operation of the inter-Korean industrial
complex in the border Keson area, North Korea. Some 120 South Korean
companies operate in the complex which is responsible virtually for 70
percent of the volume of inter-Korean trade.
-0-bur/gor