Inter-Korean trade began to tick upward again in 2018, numbers from Seoul’s customs agency website show, though the value of the trade is far below previous levels.

The yearly statistics show how trade between the two countries plummeted in 2016 and dropped to nearly zero the following year.

The sharp downturn was due to the closure of the Kaesong Industrial Complex (KIC) in February 2016, which saw South Korean exports drop from USD$1.2 billion in 2015 to USD$147 million a year later.

The KIC accounted for nearly all inter Korean trade.

Last year’s