South Korea’s exports rose three-point-six percent in October from a
year earlier, marking a fifth straight month of growth despite U.S.
tariff pressure and fewer working days during the long Chuseok holiday.

According to the trade ministry, outbound shipments totaled 59-point-
six billion dollars — the highest figure ever for October — driven by
robust sales of semiconductors and ships.

Semiconductor exports surged 25-point-four percent to 15-point-seven
billion dollars, boosted by global demand for high-bandwidth
memory(HBM) and DDR5 chips, while ship exports jumped 131-point-two
percent to four-point-seven billion dollars.

However, exports of cars, steel and machinery fell sharply amid U.S.
tariffs, with automobile exports plunging 35-point-six percent and
steel by 33 percent.

Shipments to the United States tumbled 16-point-two percent, while
exports to Taiwan soared 46 percent on strong HBM demand.

Trade, Industry and Resources Minister Kim Jeong-kwan said the recent
South Korea-U.S. tariff deal reached on October 29 will “remove much
of the uncertainty that has constrained exports.”