PM reaffirms Korea's push to join top 5 global exporters
Prime Minister Han Seong-sook delivers a congratulatory speech at a ceremony marking the 80th founding anniversary of the Korea International Trade Association in Gangnam District, Seoul, Tuesday. Yonhap
Prime Minister Han Seong-sook vowed Tuesday to focus the government's policy efforts to advance South Korea into the ranks of the world's top five exporters.
Han made the pledge during a ceremony marking the 80th founding anniversary of the Korea International Trade Association as the country is posting record high export figures this year fueled by strong demand for memory chips.
"The government will focus policy capabilities on the goal of becoming a top five global export powerhouse and will work to diversify products and markets in order to increase the sustainability of trade growth," she said.
Han noted that the country is racing towards logging $1 trillion in exports this year, pledging to strengthen partnerships with key countries to expand exports of semiconductors, cars and ships.
Korea's exports through June this year reached a record high, rising 48.4 percent from a year earlier to $496.7 billion on the back of strong exports of memory chips driven by global demand for artificial intelligence servers.
The country's outbound shipments in June surged 70.9 percent on-year to $102.25 billion.