SEOUL, Sept. 10 ( Yonhap ) - South Korea's exports of products of information technology ( IT ) increased in September for the 13th year . consecutive month, said Thursday the Ministry of Science , ICT and Future Planning .
Exports of IT products reached 15.110 billion last month , up 7.5 percent from the same month in 2012 , a government report showed .
The country's trade surplus in the IT sector increased to 8.160 million, the second highest in the country's history since its imports increased by 4.1 percent year on year to 6.960 million.
The ministry attributed the export growth to a large increase in exports of smartphones and semiconductors.
The mobile phone exports recorded a growth of 2 percent to reach 2.230 million, and smart phone shipments grew 20.5 percent year on year to 1.040 million.
Semiconductor exports also soared 21 percent year on year to 5.410 million, due in part to an increase in shipments of memory chips. On the other hand , exports of televisions, computers and screens , recorded a decline last month due to falling demand for these products , the ministry said .
By country , exports of IT products to the United States increased by 13.4 percent year on year to 1.400 million, while those to the 10 member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations grew 27.4 percent to 2,000 million.
Shipments to China, the largest importer of IT products from South Korea increased by 10.3 percent year on year to 7.780 million.
Meanwhile, cumulative exports of IT in the first nine months of the year reached a record 124,800 million, an increase of 10.4 percent over the same period last year , and its trade surplus also reached new high of 65,600 million in the period.
