A new report finds that inter-Korean trade slid sharply early this year compared to last year in the wake of strained South-North ties.

According to the report by the Korea Customs Service Tuesday, inter-Korean trade stood at around 426 million dollars between January and April. The amount is only 75 percent of the total put up in the same period last year.

In April, which was the same month the North launched a long-range rocket, inter-Korean trade stood at about 155 million dollars, down 30 percent from the same month in 2008.

Meanwhile, inter-Korean trade is expected to worsen in the coming months due to the North’s second nuclear test on May 25th and a possible aggravation of South-North ties following Seoul’s decision to participate in the U.S.-led Proliferation Security Initiative.

The two Koreas began trading with one another in 1989.