Trade volume between the two Koreas from January to September totaled nearly one-point-nine billion dollars, more than the one-point-five billion recorded for all of last year.

The Unification Ministry also said Friday that North Korea's commercial trade has dwindled, however, since its missile test-launches in July.

After reaching a hundred-50 million dollars in July, commercial trade figures dropped to a hundred-13 million dollars in August and 96 million in September.

A ministry official attributed the fall to a drop in profits from the Gaesong Industrial Complex and the Mount Geumgang tours.