The nation’s trade volume is likely to hit five-hundred billion U.S. dollars this year.

According to the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy and the Korea International Trade Association Thursday, the nation had so far posted around four-hundred-80 billion dollars in combined exports and imports this year as of Tuesday.

The two trade bodies said the figure is likely to exceed five-hundred billion dollars next month to reach around five-hundred-45 billion dollars by the end of the year, placing South Korea eleventh in the world in terms of trade volume, up one notch from last year.

The trade bodies attributed the sharp rise in the nation’s trade volume to expanded trade of semiconductors, cellular phones, automobiles and ships.

The nation’s trade volume hit the one-hundred billion dollar mark in 1988 and shot up to four-hundred billon in 2004.

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