South Korean industrial output rebounds in June

South Korea's industrial output rose for the first time in four months in June mainly due to greater demand for refined petroleum and machinery equipment products, a government report showed Friday.

According to the report by Statistics Korea, production in the mining, manufacturing, gas and electricity industries gained 2.3 percent last month from May. The increase marks a rebound after three straight months of minus growth and is the sharpest growth since February.

Compared with a year earlier, industrial production was also up 1.2 percent.

Production in the service sector, a key part of the economy, contracted 1.7 percent from May but rose 0.7 percent from a year earlier, the report showed. The statistical agency said the monthly decrease was caused by the outbreak of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome that affected domestic spending

For all industries, output moved up 0.5 percent from the previous month and gained 1.2 percent vis-a-vis a year earlier.