Korea’s trade surplus reached a record high last year, aided by robust exports of semiconductors, ships and other key products, the customs office said.

The country’s trade surplus reached a revised $41.2 billion in 2010, down from an earlier estimate of $41.7 billion, according to the Korea Customs Service. But the 2010 reading still marked the largest trade surplus, exceeding the previous record high of $41 billion seen in 2009.

Korea’s exports advanced 28.3 percent on-year to a record $466.4 billion last year while imports jumped 31.6 percent to $425.2 billion.

The country’s record trade surplus was driven by brisk exports of semiconductors with $51.5 billion and ships with $47.1 billion, as well as display panels with $29.6 billion, the office said.

“Robust exports were presumed to push Korea into the world’s seventh-largest exporter last year from the ninth-biggest trading nation registered in 2009,” said an official at the KCS.

China was Korea’s biggest trading partner as 25.1 percent of the total Korean exports flew into the world’s fastest growing economy, followed by the U.S. with 10.7 percent and Japan with 6 percent.

Korea recovered at a faster-than-expected pace from the brunt of the global financial turmoil, pulling off a 6.1 percent expansion in 2010 on strong exports and improving domestic demand. 

(Yonhap News)