Auto exports down over 5% in April amid Middle East crisis: data

South Korea's auto exports decreased more than 5 percent from a year earlier in April, amid a sharp decrease in shipments to the Middle East due to a geopolitical crisis there, government data showed Wednesday.

The combined value of automobile exports came to $6.17 billion last month, down 5.5 percent from the same month last year, according to the data from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources.

Outbound shipments to North America, Latin America and Oceania went up by 2.4 percent, 23.7