South Korea's semiconductor exports to China are recovering after three consecutive years of decline, driven by increased demand for memory chips amid Chinese technology companies ramping up investment in artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure.

According to data released on June 3rd by the South Korean Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and the Korea International Trade Association, South Korea's semiconductor exports in the first four months of 2026 reached $110.4 billion, a 50% increase compared to the same period last year.

Of that total, China continues to be South Korea's largest semiconductor import market with $32.3 billion, accounting for 29.3% of the industry's total exports.

The share of exports to China peaked at 40.3% in 2022 but declined steadily to 36.6% in 2023, 32.8% in 2024, and 27.5% in 2025 before recovering this year.

Hong Kong (China) ranked second with $17.3 billion, accounting for 15.6%. Overall, China and Hong Kong currently account for approximately 45% of South Korea's total semiconductor exports.

Third is Taiwan (China), home to TSMC, the world's largest contract chip manufacturer. South Korea's export share to this market increased from 9.6% in 2022 to 14.1% in the first four months of this year.

The US ranked fourth with a share of 13.8%, a significant increase from 6.3% in 2022. According to analysts, many South Korean memory chips are exported to Taiwan for TSMC to manufacture finished products before supplying them to American technology companies such as NVIDIA.

Experts believe that the increasing concentration of South Korean semiconductor exports in the Chinese and US markets could increase risks to the country's economy should demand or industrial policies in these key markets change.

In particular, the increasing technological self-reliance of Chinese semiconductor companies is seen as a long-term challenge for the South Korean semiconductor industry.

Source: Vietnam.vn

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