Corporate merger and acquisition (M&A) activities in South Korea recovered last year from a sharp decline the previous year with a total of 274 deals valued at a combined US$36.1 billion reported, data showed on Wednesday. According to the data compiled by the U.K.-based information provider Mergermarket Group, last year's figure represents a 22.5 percent rise from $29.5 billion tallied a year earlier. In 2012, M&A deals in the country declined 26.3 percent from the highest valued deals worth $40 billion on record in 2011