According to Yonhap News,

(SEOUL = Yonhap News) Korea’s trade volume reached USD one trillion, the Ministry of Trade, Industry & Energy (MOTIE) said last week.

As of Friday, exports reached USD 519.4 billion and imports, USD 480.6 billion.

The country’s trade volume has reached USD one trillion for the third consecutive year since 2011.

Korea reached the USD 1 trillion trade mark at 3:30 p.m. on December 5, 2011, and at 11:06 a.m. on December 10, 2012. This year’s record came four days earlier than it did in 2011 and one day later than it did last year.

This year’s exports saw an increase of two percent, to USD 562 billion, which surpasses the existing record of USD 555.2 billion in 2011.

While exports showed a favorable tendency, imports posted a decrease of 0.3 percent, at USD 518 billion. The trade surplus is expected to record USD 44 billion and surpass the previous record of USD 41.17 billion in 2011.

“Korea will win the ‘triple crown’ by surpassing USD one trillion in trade as well as record-high exports and trade surplus,” said Kwon Pyung-oh, Deputy Minister for International Trade and Investment of MOTIE.

The country is also poised to outpace Japan and become the biggest exporter to China for the first time in history. Korea’s exports to China from January to October reached USD 150 billion, accounting for 9.4 percent of China’s total imports, while Japan recorded USD 133.2 billion in exports.

MOTIE said raw materials and parts are becoming the main exports of Korea and that the country is gradually eliminating the import induction effect from its export structure.

“In the past, Korea mostly imported raw materials and parts for production from Japan and exported finished goods to Japan. Such a ‘coupling phenomenon’ between exports and imports is slowly disappearing as the exports of materials and parts are steadily increasing,” said a MOTIE official.

In 2012, exports of raw materials and parts reached USD 253.4 billion, which accounted for 46 percent of the total exports. MOTIE forecast that the amount will continue to increase to USD 450 billion in 2016, which is about 50 percent of the total exports of the country.

Meanwhile, the Korea International Trade Association forecast that Korea will break its record in 2014 and exceed a trade volume of USD 1 trillion for the fourth consecutive year. Exports are expected to grow by 6.4 percent to reach USD 598 billion, and imports are forecast to increase up to 9.1 percent, to USD 565 billion.