South Korea's Central Bank released its preliminary data on the nation's terms of trade.
Export prices in January went up, but was slightly offset by a hike in import prices.
Kim Hyesung breaks down the digits for us.
Korea's import value index in January jumped 21-point-9 percent on year, coming to 130-point-0-6, the highest figure in almost four years.
According to the Bank of Korea on Monday, the import value index increased on the back of rising imports of equipment, machinery... and coal and petroleum products.
The value index for exports also rose last month on-year by 22-point-7 percent, thanks to rising shipments of electronic devices like DRAM and Nand Flash,... and chemical products such as cosmetics goods.
The volume index for exports also went up by almost 15%.

Both the import and export value indexes have increased for more than a year amid improving global trade, as demand for goods increased."

Korea's net barter terms of trade, which measures the amount of imports a country can buy for each unit of exports, dropped to a near three-year low.
It fell by nearly one percent as export prices were offset by rising import prices.
Part of that was due to global oil prices -- Dubai crude went up more than 23% on year.
Kim Hyesung, Arirang News.