Seoul: South Korea's exports experienced a 7.8 percent decrease from the previous year in the first 20 days of October, primarily due to the reduction in working days caused by the extended Chuseok holiday. Outbound shipments were recorded at $30.1 billion during the October 1-20 period, compared to $32.7 billion in the same timeframe last year, according to data from the Korea Customs Service.

According to Yonhap News Agency, the decline was largely attributed to the long Chuseok holiday earlier this month, which reduced the number of working days to 10.5, compared with 12.5 days in the same period last year. Despite the overall decrease, average daily exports increased by 9.7 percent on a yearly basis.

Imports fell by 2.3 percent year-on-year to $32.9 billion during the cited period, leading to a trade deficit of $2.8 billion. By destination, exports to the United States dropped sharply by 24.7 percent to $4.2 billion, impacted by tariff measures from President Donald Trump's administration. Even when considering a daily average, exports to the U.S. decreased by 10.3 percent.

Exports to China, which is South Korea's largest trading partner, also declined by 9.2 percent to $6.6 billion. In terms of specific items, exports of semiconductors surged 47 percent from the previous year to $8.5 billion, with chip exports making up 28.3 percent of the country's total exports for the period, a rise of 6.6 percentage points from the previous year.

In September, exports rose 12.7 percent from the previous year to $65.95 billion, driven by strong demand for semiconductors, marking an all-time high for the first time in three and a half years.