South Korea Tops 2025 Export Record as AI Memory Chips Lift Shipments to $709.4 Billion

South Korea has already surpassed its full-year export record, reaching $709.4 billion by early September as an AI-driven surge in memory-chip shipments lifted the trade-reliant economy well ahead of last year’s pace. The Korea Customs Service said cumulative shipments as of 1 p.m. on September 5 edged past the $709.3 billion recorded in all of 2025, a mark reached 117 days earlier than last year’s full-year total.