South Korea posts trade surplus for 35 months

South Korea posted a trade surplus of 5.7 billion U.S. dollars in December last year, keeping the surplus trend for 35 straight months, customs data showed Thursday.
Exports, which account for about half of the economy, rose 3.6 percent from a year earlier to 49.7 billion dollars in December, according to the Korea Customs Service. Imports fell 0.9 percent to 44 billion dollars.
Helped by the relatively solid export growth, the country posted the trade surplus since February 2012.
Chip exports surged 11.6 percent in December last year from a year earlier, leading last month's export increase. Exports in cars, display panels and mobile devices gained 2.9 percent, 0.6 percent and 0.5 percent respectively.