Korea's total trade volume has surpassed US$1 trillion for the second year running.

The Knowledge Economy Ministry on Monday said Korea's total trade volume in 2012 crossed $1 trillion at 11:06 a.m. on Monday, with exports amounting to $512.8 billion and imports to $487.2 billion on a customs-cleared basis.

That translates into a $25.6 billion trade surplus.

Korea is now by some calculations the world's eighth-largest trading country, partly because other strong trading nations are still reeling from the global financial crisis.
 
"Global trade decreased due to the global economic slump, so it's remarkable that we were able to achieve $1 trillion in trade for two straight years," a ministry official said.