South Korea’s exports are expected to expand about 3 percent on-year in the second quarter on the back of improving internal and external economic indicators, a state-run trade bank said Tuesday.

The forecast by the Export-Import Bank of Korea is based on its leading index for the country’s overseas shipments, which reflects economic conditions of importing countries and export price levels of local goods.

The trade bank said the export gauge reached 112 for the April-June period, up 0.6 percent from 99 in the previous quarter, recovering from the consecutive decline in the past two quarters. A higher number indicates stronger exports.

“The index gained on optimistic signs from the Unites States, Japan and other advanced economies, despite the economic slowdown in developing countries such as Brazil, Russia, India and China,” Eximbank said.

It also got a boost from a rosy earnings outlook for the information technology industry, including the semiconductor sector, it added.

The bank expected the profitability of South Korean exporters to improve in the current quarter due to the depreciation of the Korean won and stabilizing raw material costs. A weaker won makes South Korean exports cheaper in overseas markets.

The country’s exports are estimated to have expanded 3 percent in the first quarter of 2012 from a year earlier, according to Eximbank. (Yonhap News)