Information, communication technology exports hit record high for July

On the economic front, South Korea's tech sector posted strong export numbers last month, despite ongoing uncertainties sparked by the Trump administration's tariff policies.

The driving force? Semiconductors.

Park Jun-han breaks down the numbers.

South Korea's information and communication technology exports saw a record-breaking performance in July.

Exports of ICT products for the month reached 22-point-19 billion U.S. dollars, a 14-point-5 percent increase from the same period last year, according to data released by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy on Wednesday.

Despite uncertainties stemming from U.S. tariff policies, this marks the highest July export figure ever recorded for the sector, producing a trade surplus of 8-point-87 billion dollars.

The driver behind the surge was semiconductors.

Semiconductor exports posted an over 31 percent increase in July to 14-point-7 billion dollars, driven by rising prices for memory semiconductors and strong demand for high-value-added chips such as high bandwidth memory (HBM) and double data rate 5 (DDR5.)

This marks the fourth consecutive month of year-on-year record-breaking semiconductor exports.

"With the growth of the AI industry, sales of HBM memory semiconductors for AI systems are rising, and as HBM is a high-value product, it is positively impacting South Korea's tech exports."

However, not all sectors showed as strong a performance.

Display exports fell almost 9 percent due to uncertain demand in forward industries, while mobile phone exports dropped almost 22 percent, though strong finished product sales partially offset declines in components.

Exports of computers and peripherals declined by about 17 percent, affected by the high baseline set by last year's surge in solid state drive (SSD) shipments, and a temporary slowdown in demand.

The strength in exports once again underscored South Korea's resilience in the global ICT market, particularly in semiconductors, despite ongoing trade uncertainties.

Park Jun-han, Arirang News.