South Korea's exports rose more than 20 percent from a year earlier in the first 20 days of January. According to the Korea Customs Service on Friday, the country's outbound shipments totaled 34.4 billion U.S. dollars during the 20-day period, up 22 percent on-year.
The growth was attributed to strong demand for chips, petroleum products and home appliances. Meanwhile, imports also jumped 38.4 percent from the previous year to 40.1 billion dollars, resulting in a trade deficit of more than 5 billion dollars.