Monthly Exports Surpass $100 Billion for the First Time, 4th in the World

[Anchor]

South Korea's monthly exports have surpassed $100 billion for the first time in history. This milestone makes South Korea the fourth country in the world to achieve such a record, following Germany, China, and the United States. With semiconductors leading the growth, there are projections that annual exports could reach $1 trillion.

Reporter Jung Jun-ho has the story.

[Reporter]

Last month's exports were recorded at $102.25 billion, a 71% increase compared to the same period last year.

This figure significantly exceeds the previous record of $87.8 billion set in May.

Reaching $100 billion in monthly exports is a feat achieved by only three other nations: Germany, China, and the United States.

Semiconductors were undoubtedly the driving force behind this export growth.

Semiconductor exports surged by 200% compared to the same month last year, reaching $44.8 billion, which accounts for nearly half of the total export value.

This was largely driven by the fact that South Korea's memory chips have become essential components for global companies competing for dominance in the AI era, coupled with a rise in prices.

[Jensen Huang / CEO of NVIDIA (June 8): SK is our biggest memory semiconductor partner. Without SK, the AI industry today would not have grown to this extent.]

As the price of memory semiconductors has nearly doubled this year, the semiconductor export value for the first half of the year has already surpassed the total semiconductor export value of last year.

With the global increase in AI infrastructure investment, exports of computers, which include data storage devices, rose by more than 300%. Additionally, the AI effect has spread across major export industries, with steel exports turning positive for the first time in 14 months due to increased demand for steel bars needed for data center construction.

[Kang Gam-chan / Director General for Trade and Investment Policy at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy: Among the top 20 major export items, 18 have seen an increase. We recorded a trade surplus of over $30 billion in a single month for the first time in history.]

The government expects semiconductor prices to continue rising in the second half of the year and projects that the country could reach $1 trillion in annual exports, potentially rising to 4th place in the world.

Major domestic and international institutions are successively raising their growth forecasts for South Korea, bolstered by the strong semiconductor export performance, with Capital Economics of the UK projecting a 4% growth rate for the country this year.

(Video Editing: Lee So-young, Design: Seo Seung-hyun)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.