The amount of inter-Korean trade from January to July posted an 18 percent year-over-year increase.

The Unification Ministry said the amount of trade totaled over one-billion dollars in the first seven months of the year.

During the same period, the number of personnel exchanges between the two Koreas skyrocketed from 77-thousand to over 114-thousand. In addition, the number of tourists to the North’s Mount Geumgang surged 42 percent to total over 200-thousand.