Vietnam remains South Korea's third-largest trading partner for four consecutive years, with semiconductor exports playing a key role.

South Korean media: Vietnam has been South Korea's third-largest trading partner for four consecutive years!

On February 24, the South Korean media "Gyeongang News" published an article stating that in the countries with which South Korea conducted trade last year, Vietnam ranked third, following China and the United States. Since surpassing Japan in trade volume in 2022, it has remained in the third position for four consecutive years.

Data released by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy of South Korea and the Korea Trade Association showed that South Korea's exports to Vietnam reached 62.8 billion U.S. dollars last year, an increase of 7.6% year-on-year.

At the same time, South Korea's imports from Vietnam also increased by 11.7%, reaching 31.8 billion U.S. dollars, making the total bilateral trade volume rise from 86.8 billion U.S. dollars to 94.5 billion U.S. dollars, an increase of 9.0% year-on-year.

Vietnam is South Korea's third-largest trading partner, following China (272.7 billion U.S. dollars) and the United States (196.2 billion U.S. dollars).

Last year, South Korea's trade surplus with Vietnam reached 31 billion U.S. dollars, an increase of 1.1 billion U.S. dollars compared to the previous year, second only to the largest trading surplus country, the United States (49.5 billion U.S. dollars).

Previously, in 2022, Vietnam had brought South Korea a surplus of 34.2 billion U.S. dollars, surpassing the United States to become the largest surplus country.

The growth in trade with Vietnam last year was mainly driven by the booming development of semiconductor exports. Semiconductors are South Korea's largest export product, with exports reaching a record 173.4 billion U.S. dollars last year, an increase of 22.2% year-on-year, mainly due to the vigorous development of the global artificial intelligence and data center industries.

South Korea's semiconductor exports to Vietnam also increased by 36.7% year-on-year, reaching 24.7 billion U.S. dollars.

The basic structure of bilateral trade is that South Korea invests in Vietnam and exports intermediate products needed by local factories, while Vietnam exports finished products to South Korea.

Notably, over 50% of smartphones sold globally by Samsung Electronics are produced in Vietnam.

Samsung Electronics is the largest foreign direct investment (FDI) company in Vietnam, accounting for about 20% of Vietnam's total exports, and is increasing its investments, including plans to open a large R&D center in Hanoi in 2022.

Therefore, South Korea holds a significant position in Vietnam's economy.

According to the Korea Trade Association, as of January to November last year, South Korea was the second-largest importer and the fourth-largest exporter of Vietnam, after China.

Regarding this, a relevant person from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy of South Korea explained, "In the ever-changing trade environment, we are focusing on Vietnam, the leading market in ASEAN, to reduce our reliance on exports to the United States and China, and to diversify our export markets."

Original article: toutiao.com/article/1857971365879812/

Statement: This article represents the views of the author.