South Korea's December crude oil imports up 3.4 pct yr/yr: KNOC

SEOUL: Crude imports by South Korea, the world's fifth-largest crude buyer, rose 3.4 percent in December from a year earlier to 80.33 million barrels, state-run Korea National Oil Corp (KNOC) said on Wednesday.

The country's crude imports from Iran stood at 4.59 million barrels, down 17 percent from a year earlier, the KNOC data showed.

The economy ministry earlier this month said total crude oil imports in December rose 2.7 percent from a year earlier, citing preliminary customs figures.