Trade between South and North Korea grew almost 23 percent year-on-year to five-hundred-58 million dollars during the first half of this year.

South Korean exports to the North rose 15 percent to about three-hundred-60 million dollars and imports from the North jumped about 40 percent to some two-hundred million dollars.

The Korea International Trade Association attributed the increase to a rise in processing-on-commission trade and inter-Korean exchanges through the Gaesong Industrial Complex in the North.

Bilateral trade through the complex expanded about 40 percent to one-hundred-ten million dollars during the first half, accounting for about 20 percent of the total inter-Korean trade.

The association, however, predicted the North’s missile launches to affect the upward pace of inter-Korean trade in the second half of the year.