South Korea's economy posted a trade surplus for 61 months through February due to robust export growth, customs data showed on Wednesday.
Revised figure for the February trade surplus reached 7.1 billion dollars, staying in the black since February 2012, according to the Korea Customs Service.
The longest surplus came as exports, which account for about half of the export-driven economy, jumped 20.2 percent over the year to 43.2 billion dollars.
Imports advanced 23.9 percent to 36.1 billion dollars. Semiconductor exports surged 56.7 percent in February from a year ago, leading last month's trade surplus.
Those for automobiles and oil products jumped 12.5 percent and 782.6 percent each, but ship exports tumbled 30.9 percent amid the ongoing restructuring in the shipbuilding industry.
Shipments of telecommunication devices, including smartphones, declined 26.9 percent amid lack of new models and the negative effect from Samsung Electronics' discontinuation of its flagship Galaxy Note 7 smartphone.
Exports to China, South Korea's biggest trading partner, increased 28.8 percent on the back of demand for chips and oil products.
Those to the European Union and Japan logged double-digit expansions, but shipments to the Middle East countries declined 10 percent.
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