Exports rose over 20 percent on-year in the first 20 days of January. 

According to tentative data from the Korea Customs Service on Friday, the country’s outbound shipments stood at 34-point-four billion U.S. dollars in the cited period, up 22 percent from a year earlier.

Average daily exports grew by 18 percent, with the number of working days rising by half a day from last year. 

Shipments of semiconductors and cars rose 29-point-five percent and 22-point-eight percent, respectively, while exports of wireless communication devices plunged 40 percent. 

Exports to China and the United States increased 18-point-eight percent and 28 percent, respectively. 

Imports rose 38-point-four percent on-year to 40-point-one billion dollars during the cited period, resulting in a trade deficit of five-point-63 billion dollars.