Inter-Korean trade slightly increased last month after two straight months of fall in the wake of North Korea's sinking of the South Korean naval vessel Cheonan.

The Unification Ministry in Seoul said Sunday that the monthly volume of goods and services exchanged between the two Koreas bounced back to 161.9 million U.S. dollars in July, up 32 percent from the previous month.

Trade volume for general goods reached 821-thousand dollars last month, down 79 percent, while processing-on-commission trade surged 330 percent to 31.8 million dollars.

Imports from the North grew about ten percent while exports to the North jumped 57 percent last month.

The ministry the growth came from its temporary policy to clear the backlog of pre-ordered raw materials that did not reach North Korea due to Seoul's trade restrictions issued in late May.