A record trade surplus for South Korea this month?

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that South Korea looks poised to record a $5 billion trade surplus for March 2009. This comes after a $3.68 billion surplus in February, which followed a $1.64 billion trade deficit in January. South Korea's previous record was a $4.75 billion surplus posted in October 2008. 

All this comes despite a double-digit percentage drop in exports as the global economy — and in particular South Korea's major trading partners such as the US, Europe, and Japan — goes into free-fall.