According to Reuters on September 5, South Korea's total exports this year have reached $709.4 billion, surpassing the full-year record of $709.3 billion in 2025. The Korea Customs Service expects South Korea to break the $1 trillion mark by early December this year, becoming the fourth country globally to achieve an annual export value exceeding this threshold. Among these, chip exports from January to August surged by 169.6% year-on-year to $281 billion, accounting for 41% of the total exports during the same period, becoming the main growth engine. Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix directly benefited from the surge in memory chip demand driven by global AI infrastructure investments. However, South Korea's export growth is highly dependent on semiconductors, and its future performance remains closely linked to the global AI investment cycle.