SEOUL South Korea's factory production fell more than expected in June, official data showed on Friday, as automobile and petroleum production dropped.

The industrial output index fell 1.0% in June on a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, after a 3.0% jump in May, according to Statistics Korea.

It was faster than the 0.3% fall tipped in a Reuters survey and marked the fastest loss in four months.

Production of semiconductors rose 3.6% over the month, but automobiles declined 12.9% and oil refining dropped 14.6%.

The index fell 5.6% over a year earlier, which was milder than the 7.6% drop the previous month, while economists had expected a 5.5% fall.

(Reporting by Jihoon Lee; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)