Despite a continuous decrease in exports, South Korea's trade surplus hit US$3.3 billion in February due to a sharp drop in imports, the Ministry of Knowledge said on Monday.

According to the ministry, the country's exports reached US$25.8 billion last month, down 17.1 percent from a year before, while imports marked US$22.5 billion, nose-diving 30.9 percent from the same month last year.

The ministry attributed the surplus to favorable exchange rates and more working days compared to February 2008.

As the local currency dropped 52.5 percent year-on-year against the US dollar in February, locally made goods earned price competitiveness abroad, according to the ministry.

The Lunar New Year holidays, which fell in February last year, were in January this year, increasing the number of working days compared to the previous year.

In contrast, the country marked a trade deficit of US$3.36 billion in January as exports plummeted a record 33.8 percent from a year before.

According to the ministry, exports of ships surged 47.4 percent and mobile communication equipment rose 3 percent, while exports of steel, general machinery, textiles, display panels, petrochemicals, cars, auto parts, consumer electronics, petroleum products, semiconductors and computers marked negative growths, pulling down the total export amount to a declining line.

Imports were contracted due to sagged energy prices and sluggish local demand.

The South Korean government said earlier in the year that its 2009 goal is to mark a trade surplus of US$11.9 billion with exports rising 1 percent annually to US$426.7 billion.

The government also expected imports to drop 4.7 percent to US$414.8 billion.

From January 1 to February 28 this year, the country's exports and imports logged US$47.21 billion and US$47.27 billion, respectively, amounting to a deficit of about US$6 million.

(Xinhua News Agency March 2, 2009)