Seoul, Jul 16 (IANS): South Korea's trade surplus reduced to $10.7 billion in the first half of this year compared with a year earlier due to sluggish exports amid external uncertainties such as Europe's debt crisis and the economic slowdown in China, authorities said.

Trade surplus reached $10.7 billion during the January-June period, down from $15.3 billion recorded for the same period of last year, the Korea Customs Service (KCS) said Sunday.

Exports, which account for around half of the South Korean economy, expanded 0.6 percent on-year to $275.2 billion in the first half. The export growth was lower than a 19 percent on-year expansion tallied in 2011, reported Xinhua.

Imports advanced 2.4 percent on-year to $26.46 billion in the first half, but the growth rate was also lower than a 23.3 percent increase tallied in 2011.

The customs office said that growth in both exports and imports slowed in the first half due to the European debt crisis and economic slump in China, South Korea's major trading partner, as well as domestic demand.

Exports to the US increased 10.2 percent in the first year from the same period of last year thanks to positive effects from the implementation of the Korea-US free trade agreement.

Shipments to Southeast Asian nations and the Middle East advanced 6 percent and 17.3 percent respectively over the cited period, but exports to China and the European Union (EU) contracted 1.5 percent and 16.1 percent each.