Inter-Korean trade hits record high in 2015 despite shaky ties

Trade volume between South and North Korea reached an all-time high in 2015 despite strained inter-Korean ties over the North's pursuit of nuclear weapons, a trade association here said Thursday.

Trade between the two Koreas came to $2.71 billion last year, up 15.8 percent from a year earlier, according to the data provided by the Korea International Trade Association. The figure was the largest ever on record. 

South Korea's shipments to the North grew 11 percent on-year to $1.26 billion, while its imports from the communist country expanded 20.3 percent to $1.45 billion, the data showed. 

North Korean workers at a South Korean factory in Gaeseong Industrial Complex in North Korea (Yonhap)

Inter-Korean trade surpassed the $1 billion mark in 2005, when the industrial park built in the border city of Kaesong went into operation in full swing. The amount neared $2 billion in 2012. 

The trade, however, has been swayed by the ups and downs in relations between the two countries, which technically remain at war after the 1950-53 war ended in a truce. 

Recently, the North claimed that it has successfully conducted a hydrogen bomb test, rocking relations with the South. (Yonhap)