The Bank of Korea in a report on June's international balance of payments on Aug. 6 said the nation posted a current account surplus of USD 12.26 billion that month. Shown is Pier 7 of New Busan Port on April 5 in Jinhae-gu District of Changwon, Gyeongsangnam-do Province. (Yonhap News)

By Wu Jinhwa

The Bank of Korea on Aug. 7 said the current account surplus in June hit USD 12.26 billion (provisional), the highest in six years and nine months since USD 12.34 billion in September 2017.

Thus the black figure in the first half of this year was an estimated USD 37.73 billion, a huge jump from the USD 27.9 billion forecast in May by the central bank.

The goods account accounted for most of the surplus with USD 11.47 billion, a massive jump from just USD 3.91 billion in June last year and USD 8.92 billion in May this year.

Exports rose 8.7% to USD 58.82 billion year on year and imports fell 5.7% to USD 47.35 billion, resulting in a surplus of USD 11.47 billion.

The financial account reached USD 12.24 billion, with a rise in net assets. In addition, overseas investment by Korean nationals rose USD 4.89 billion but foreign direct investment in the country fell USD 370 million.

Exports in June on a customs-cleared basis also rose 5.1% year on year to USD 57.06 billion.

By export item, semiconductors saw the biggest surge with 50.4%, followed by continued growth by information and communication technology devices with 26%, petroleum products 8.5% and passenger cars 0.5%.

Southeast Asia saw the highest growth of Korean imports with 27.9%, followed by the U.S. with 14.8% and China 1.8%.

jane0614@korea.kr