South Korea's trade balance posted a surplus of 2.4 billion U.S. dollars last month despite weak exports that were offset by falling imports, a government report said Friday.

Trade surplus reached 2.4 billion dollars in May, up from a surplus of 2.15 billion dollars tallied in the previous month, according to the report by the Ministry of Knowledge Economy.

Exports contracted 0.4 percent on-year to 47.2 billion dollars in May, while imports retreated 1.2 percent to 44.8 billion dollars over the cited period.