South Korea’s tech exports lose growth momentum as risks rise

The outlook for chip sales is turning less optimistic this year as growth in shipments has slowed in recent months

SOUTH Korea recorded a contraction in technology exports for the first time in more than a year after demand from China cratered during the Chinese New Year holiday, while concerns persist about the potential impact of protectionism and DeepSeek on semiconductor sales.

The exports that include memory chips, smartphones and computers slipped 0.4 per cent in January from a year earlier, the Trade Ministry said on Thursday (Feb 13). The decline was accentuated by the traditional holiday, which leaves many factories idle in both China and South Korea. The holiday came in January this year as opposed to last year, when it was in February.

China led the decline in South Korea’s tech exports, buying 9.2 per cent less than a year earlier. Its imports of semiconductors in particular dropped 8.9 per cent, the South Korean ministry said. Meanwhile, the US remained a robust buyer of South Korea’s tech products, boosting imports by 24.6 per cent from a year earlier, the data showed.

Technology exports represent the most lucrative driver of South Korea’s shipments abroad, and the government releases separate statistics dedicated to them every month. Semiconductor sales boomed last year with global artificial intelligence (AI) development driving demand for high-bandwidth memory chips produced by SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics.

The outlook for chip sales is turning less optimistic this year as growth in shipments has slowed in recent months and Chinese start-up DeepSeek unveiled an AI model that could require less expensive semiconductors. Donald Trump’s return to the White House with threats of tariffs also threatens to cool global commerce that South Korea relies on for economic growth. BLOOMBERG

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