South Korea’s outbound shipments saw a 68.7% increase compared to the previous year in August, totaling $98.25 billion. This surge was primarily driven by ongoing global demand for high-performance memory chips and infrastructure for artificial intelligence. Data published by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources revealed that imports rose 22.5% to $63.51 billion during the same period, resulting in a monthly trade surplus of $34.75 billion. The impressive performance extends the nation’s trade growth streak to a 15th consecutive month, making South Korea Asia’s fourth-largest economy to do so.