A new report finds that trade between the two Koreas continued to decline in August, marking a drop for the 12th consecutive month.

The Korea Customs Service said Thursday that the volume of inter-Korean trade for August came to 136 million U.S. dollars, or about 84 percent of the figure posted in the same month of last year.

In August, South Korea racked up about 34-hundred export transactions totaling some 53 million dollars, and three-thousand import transactions worth some 83 million dollars, resulting in a trade deficit of some 29 million dollars.

The sharp drop in bilateral trade is attributed to the economic downturn triggered by the global financial crisis as well as strained inter-Korean ties resulting from the North’s missile launches and a nuclear test.

However, the customs agency said that inter-Korean trade has picked up slightly since July compared to the first half of the year amid signs of improved South-North relations.

The trade volume between the two Koreas stood at around 100 million dollars per month on average in the year’s first half and later rose to 140 million dollars in July. It then fell to 136 million dollars in August.

Even though the North's nuclear issue remains unsettled, the planned resumption of the North's Mount Geumgang tours and inter-Korean family reunions are expected to positively affect inter-Korean trade.