S. Korea's exports of dried seaweed, or gim, hit record high in 2025 Q1

South Korean dried seaweed, also known as 'gim' in Korean, has proven its global popularity, with its outbound shipments seeing a record high in the first quarter of the year.

It was especially popular in the U.S. and China.

Our Moon Hye-ryeon has more.

The exports of Korean staple gim, or dried seaweed, hit a record high in the first quarter of this year, driven by strong demand from U.S. and China.

According to the Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation on Monday, Korea's seaweed export value in the first quarter of this year reached 281-million U.S. dollars, or around 402-billion Korean won.

That is more than 20-percent increase from the same period last year.

Export volume for the first quarter also rose to 10-thousand-161 tons, up more than 7-percent from last year.

Compared to the same period in 2015, this marks a massive 844-percent increase over the past decade.

Monthly export growth rates compared to the same period last year stood at more than 7-percent for January, over 52-percent for February, and over ten-percent in March according to the Korea Maritime Institute's Fisheries Outlook Center.

With the demand from major overseas markets remaining high, the center is expecting to see the exports for this month to also exceed those of both last year and historical average for the same month.

By country, the United States was the largest importer of Korean seaweed in the first quarter, followed by China, Japan, and Thailand.

The type of seaweed each country prefers is a bit different though.

Most of Korea's seaweed exports to China were in the form of dried seaweed, with 2-thousand-258 tons shipped, a whopping 97-percent increase from the previous year.

Meanwhile, the U.S. remains the top destination for seasoned seaweed, with exports reaching 1-thousand-367 tons in the first quarter, accounting for more than 30-percent of total seasoned seaweed exports.

The Oceans and Fisheries Ministry attributed such growing demand in China, to the popularity of Korean dramas and films, which have sparked a gimbap trend and a surge in dried seaweed consumption. In the U.S., the popularity of seaweed snacks has pushed up demand.

With both export volume and value on the rise, the government is expecting gim exports to hit its annual goal of one-billion U.S. dollars this year, two years before the original target date of 2027.

Kim Bo-kyoung, Arirang News.