Cargo processed at South Korean seaports grew slightly from a year earlier in the first half on a rise in import-export cargo, the government said Tuesday.

In the first six months of the year, cargo handled at the country's seaports came to 713.2 million tons, up 0.8 percent from the same period last year, according to the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries.

The increase came mostly from a rise in import-export cargo, which gained 1.4 percent on-year to some 598.58 million tons.

Domestic cargo, on the other hand, slipped 2.5 percent on-year to 114.62 million tons.

By product, timber and other wood products handled at seaports spiked 29.5 percent on-year while inbound and outbound shipments of automobiles also surged 13.8 percent, the ministry said.

Still, the increase in international cargo came mostly from a rise in container cargo.

Container cargo increased 4.1 percent on-year to 12.74 million twenty-foot-equivalent units (TEUs) in the January-June period.

Non-container cargo dropped 0.4 percent on-year to 498.67 million tons.

By port, the country's largest seaport in Busan handled 9.68 million TEUs in the first half, up 5 percent from the same period last year, marking the world's sixth largest volume of cargo handled at a seaport, the ministry said.