South Korea's exports increased 12-point-seven percent from a year earlier to reach an all-time high of 65-point-95 billion U.S. dollars last month, despite the current impasse in tariff talks with the United States.  

A jump in demand for high-end memory to power AI servers drove a chip rally, which led the overall gains.

According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy on Wednesday, shipments of semiconductors, the country’s top export item, jumped 22 percent on-year to hit a record 16-point-six billion dollars in September.

Automobile exports also rose 16-point-eight percent on-year to six-point-four billion dollars last month, the highest for September.

Exports to the U.S. fell one-point-four percent year-over-year in September due to the nation’s new tariffs, posting the only decline among South Korea's eight major export destinations. 

Shipments to China turned around to post an increase of zero-point-five percent.

Imports rose eight-point-two percent on-year to 56-point-four billion dollars, resulting in a trade surplus of nine-point-56 billion dollars.