S. Korea posts highest exports for June in history

South Korea's exports made a rebound last month, in fact, posting the highest figures for any June in history, thanks to brisk chip and car shipments.

Our Park Jun-han leads us off tonight.

Exports in June reached an all-time high of 59-point-8 billion U.S. dollars, up 4-point-3 percent from a year earlier, according to data released on Tuesday by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

Imports rose 3-point-3 percent to 50-point-72 billion dollars, resulting in a trade surplus of 9-point-08 billion dollars.

Among the country's 15 major export items, six showed growth.

Notably, semiconductors fueled this, marking a historic 15 billion dollars in June — up 11-point-6 percent — and continuing a four-month upward trend.

This helped overseas shipments of semiconductors reach 73-point-3 billion dollars for the first half of 2025, the highest-ever performance over that period.

"Previously, market demand for semiconductors was driven by mobile devices, but it has now shifted to AI and data centers. Strong memory sales — particularly high-bandwidth memory — and a surge in AI data center investment are the fundamental drivers behind the recent growth in semiconductor exports."

Automobile shipments also hit an all-time high for June at 6-point-3 billion dollars, marking a 2-point-3 percent increase from a year earlier.

Robust deliveries were driven by high EU demand for electric vehicles, and a whopping 67-point-9 percent surge in used car exports to 670 million dollars.

By region, June exports saw growth in seven of its nine major trading regions, excluding the United States and China.

Although exports to the United States and China saw a slight decrease of point-5 percent and 2-point-7 percent , respectively, exports to regions such as the European Union and the Middle East saw a significant increase of over at least 14 percent.

The economic expert stated that the drop in exports to the United States and China reflects a shift in the global trading order.

"The drop in exports after Trump's tariff hikes is a major setback, especially since exports were expected to rise. South Korea exports intermediate goods to China, which China then ships as final products to the U.S., so tariffs on China hit us too. As existing markets shrink, we naturally look for new ones — leading to a shift in the trading order, with more exports heading outside the U.S. and China."

In the meantime, Trade Minister Ahn Duk-geun said the government plans to respond proactively to the immediate challenges in the Korea-U.S. negotiations and will soon prepare export support measures — such as trade financing and the identification of alternative markets — to minimize the negative impact on industries.

Park Jun-han, Arirang News.