South Korea's coffee and tobacco imports rose sharply in the first five months of this year when compared from the same period last year, said South Korean Customs Service on Thursday.

The coffee imports increased 19 percent year-on-year to 92 million U.S. dollars from January to May, while tobacco imports rose 31.3 percent to 91 million U.S. dollars during the same period, the Korea Customs Service said.

South Korea bought the largest portion of the coffee from Vietnam, where prices are low, it said.

According to South Korea's Customs Service, the country imported 25.3 million-U.S. dollar worth of coffee from Vietnam and 15.9 million-U.S. dollar worth from Brazil. It also bought 13.1 million-U.S.dollar worth from Colombia and 10.5 million-U.S. dollar worth from Honduras.

South Korea's tobacco exports increased 11.8 percent to 136 million U.S. dollars, said the service.