From a year earlier, the figure also climbed 0.1 percent last month as a gain in machinery and electronic parts was offset by a sharp drop in transportation equipment.

Production in the service sector backtracked 0.3 percent last month from a month earlier, with a 2.1 percent on-year rise.

Retail sales were down 0.9 percent last month compared with the previous month but posted a 1.6 percent gain from a year earlier.

For all industries, output decreased 0.3 percent in May vis-a-vis the previous month but advanced 2.4 percent from a year earlier, the data showed.

The turnaround in the monthly industrial output came as chips production rose 9.1 percent on-month in May, swinging from a 9.5 percent fall in April. Production of electronics parts also rebounded to 4.7 percent last month from a 3.6 percent drop in the previous month.

The semiconductor business has been on a roll for months on recovering global demand but showed negative growth in April due to weak shipments to China.

"Semiconductor output has been in a good mode in recent months, except for April," said Eo Woon-sun, director of the short-term industrial statistics division at Statistics Korea. "Its upturn led the overall increase in May."

Despite an uptick in the semiconductor and electronics part sectors, production of cars continued to lose ground for two straight months in May, logging a 1.9 percent decline, while that of communications equipment slumped 18.2 percent on-month.

The average facility operation rate of the manufacturing sector reached 71.4 percent in May, down 0.5 percentage point from a month earlier.

On the demand side, retail sales went south in May due to a drop in sales of clothes and mobile devices.

"Sales of clothes and smartphones were very good in April amid an early heat wave and the release of the Galaxy S8," the statistics office official said. "But in the following month, such effects diminished. But the level of private consumption remains favorable in May."

The index of retail sales in May reached 121.2, slightly down from the previous months' 122.6, which was the highest number since Statistics Korea started to compile such data in 1995.

Separate data showed that the composite consumer sentiment index for June came to a more than six-year high of 111.1, up from 108 a month earlier. A reading above 100 means optimists outnumber pessimists. (Yonhap)