South Korea's ICT exports hit record high on demand for handsets

South Korea's exports of information and communication technology (ICT) products hit a new monthly high due to strong demand for locally-made handsets, a government report showed Wednesday.
ICT exports increased 1.7 percent from a year earlier to reach a new monthly high of 14.28 billion U.S. dollars in July, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.
The record exports were attributable to demand for handsets, of which exports jumped 23.5 percent on year to 2.31 billion dollars last month.
Chip exports rose 0.9 percent to 4.84 billion dollars in the cited period, with those for display panels growing 5 percent to 2. 47 billion dollars.
Exports to China and Japan declined 4 percent and 14.6 percent each last month, but those to the United States and the European Union expanded 7.1 percent and 17.9 percent respectively.
Trade surplus in the ICT sector came in at 7.13 billion dollars in July, nearly tripling a surplus of 2.52 billion dollars for all industries.