South Korea's international air passenger traffic surged 14.9 percent in May from a year before to reach the highest level for a month, the government said Wednesday.

The number of international air passengers stood at some 3.82 million, outpacing the previous record of 3.32 million set in May last year, according to the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs.

The growth was led particularly by a surge in the number of passengers flying to and from Japan. The figure for Japan rose 35. 3 percent, while the number of travelers on flights to China and Southeast Asian countries rose 11.5 percent and 10.3 percent, respectively, the ministry said.

The ministry explained that holidays in foreign countries, such as China's Labor Day holidays and Golden Week in Japan, boosted demand for air travel in and out of South Korea.

Meanwhile, the volume of air cargo processed by South Korea's airports fell 0.5 percent to 284,000 tons over the cited period due to sluggish economic conditions in the European Union.