Export amounted to 30.7 billion U.S. dollars during the March 1-20 period, up 10 percent from the same period of last year, according to Korea Customs Service.
It was mainly attributed to more working days. The number of business days grew by 1.5 days in the 20-day period compared to a year earlier.
Excluding the working-day effect, the daily average export fell 0.4 percent in the cited period.
Import grew 5.9 percent over the year to 29.1 billion dollars in the 20-day period, sending the trade surplus to 1.6 billion dollars.
Exports for semiconductor, car, oil products and telecommunication devices such as smartphone expanded in double figures, but display panel shipment declined in double digits.
Shipment to China, South Korea's biggest trading partner, added 4.9 percent in the period, and those to the United States, the European Union (EU), Vietnam, Japan and the Middle East all increased in double figures.
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