Seoul, June 01 (QNA) - South Korea's exports surged 53 percent from a year earlier to a new monthly high of US$87.8 billion in May, driven by the semiconductor supercycle.
It marked the third consecutive month the country's outbound shipments surpassed the $80 billion mark.
The imports rose by 20.8 percent year-on-year, reaching $60.8 billion, resulting in a trade surplus of $26.95 billion, according to the Korean Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources.
Seoul's chip exports soared 169.4 percent on-year to an all-time monthly high of $37.2 billion in May.
  On the other hand, auto exports contracted 5.9 percent to $5.83 billion last month due to a smaller number of working days, disruptions in supplies of auto parts, shipping disruptions amid the Middle East crisis and the effects from US tariff policy. (QNA)