Export, which accounts for about half of the South Korean economy, reached 20.3 billion U.S. dollars in the May 1-20 period, down 20.3 percent from the same period of last year, according to Korea Customs Service.
It came as the COVID-19 pandemic weakened global trade. The outbound shipment tumbled 24.3 percent in April from a year earlier.
Exports for oil products and automobiles plunged 68.6 percent and 58.6 percent respectively in the 20-day period, and shipment of telecommunication devices such as smartphone declined 11.2 percent.
Semiconductor export advanced 13.4 percent on the recovery in the global chip market.
Export to China, South Korea's biggest trading partner, fell 1.7 percent in the period, and those to the United States and the European Union retreated 27.9 percent and 18.4 percent respectively.
Shipments to Vietnam and Japan diminished in double figures, and export to the Middle East slipped 1.2 percent.
Import reduced 16.9 percent over the year to 23 billion U.S. dollars for the first 20 days of this month, sending the trade deficit to 2.7 billion U.S. dollars.
Latest comments