South Korea reports $23B trade surplus for Sept. 1-20 as exports surge 78%

South Korea posted a trade surplus of $22.97 billion for the first 20 days of September, with exports climbing 78.3% compared to the same period last year. The country’s year-to-date figures through early September had already reached $728.5 billion, a 54.1% jump from the prior year, surpassing the entire 2025 full-year export total before autumn even started. Semiconductors are doing the heavy lifting Preliminary data for September 1–10 showed record exports of $35 billion, an 82.6% year-on-year increase. Semiconductors accounted for nearly half of that haul at $16.5 billion, representing 47.1% of total exports and a 270.1% increase year-on-year. Global demand for AI infrastructure, from data center GPUs to high-bandwidth memory chips, has created sustained demand for the kind of advanced semiconductors that South Korean firms like Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix specialize in. Beyond chips, petroleum products, automobiles, ships, and steel all posted gains. The year-to-date picture is even more striking South Korea’s cumulative trade surplus through roughly September 10 had already reached approximately $213 billion. The $728.5 billion in year-to-date exports reflects a 54.1% ye...