Industrial output in South Korea was down a seasonally adjusted 0.1 percent on month in June, Statistics Korea said on Wednesday.
That beat expectations for a decline of 0.7 percent following the 0.8 percent drop in May.
On a yearly basis, industrial output was 0.5 percent.
The data also showed that retail sales rose 1.0 percent on month, thanks to increased demand for automobiles; sales had slipped 0.2 percent in the previous month.