SEOUL, Feb 1, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - South Korea posted its highest-ever exports for the month of January, official data showed on Sunday, fuelled by a global AI boom heavily reliant on chips made in the country. Home to the world's leading memory chip makers, South Korean products have become crucial to AI infrastructure. "Semiconductor exports came in at $20.5 billion, a 102.7 percent increase," the ministry said, the second-highest monthly chips exports. The record was set a month earlier, when the country exported chips worth $20.8 billion. South Korean Trade and Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan met his US counterpart Howard Lutnick in Washington following the hike announcement and returned to Seoul on Saturday.
