Cargo handled at the country's ports came to 789.16 million tons in the January-June period, up 52 percent from 750 million tons tallied a year earlier, according to data by the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries.

Non-container cargo gained 2.3 percent on-year to 548.11 million tons over the cited period, while container freight rose 5.1 percent to 13.46 million twenty-foot equivalent units.

A total of 7.94 million TEUs of export-import cargo was processed over the same period, up 6.4 percent from the previous year's 7.5 million TEUs.

South Korean seaports have been swarmed with trade freight as Asia's fourth-largest economy has seen its exports gain ground since November on the back of recovering global trade and rising oil prices.

Busan was South Korea's busiest maritime gateway, with cargo handling reaching 202.62 million tons in the first half, followed by the southwestern port of Gwangyang with 142.43 million tons and Ulsan with 10.65 million tons, the latest data showed. (Yonhap)