South Korea's exports rebounded in March, sending the trade balance to stay in the black for 14 straight months, as demand from emerging economies for IT products boosted the country's main growth engine, a government report showed Monday.

Exports, which account for around half of the South Korean economy, rose 0.4 percent from a year earlier to 47.5 billion U.S. dollars in March after falling 8.6 percent in the prior month, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE).

Imports reduced 2 percent to 44.1 billion dollars last month, sending the trade surplus to 3.4 billion dollars. The trade balance kept its surplus trend for 14 months in a row.