SEOUL, Oct. 24 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's exports of industrial parts and components hit a new record high for the first nine months of this year, a government report showed Tuesday.
The parts and component exports reached a new high of 208.9 billion U.S. dollars in the January-September period, up 12.5 percent from the same period of last year, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.
In the same period, imports increased 11.1 percent to 125.4 billion dollars, sending the trade surplus in the sector to a fresh high of 83.5 billion dollars.
In the July-September quarter alone, the industrial parts exports touched a new quarterly high of 74.7 billion dollars.
Exports of transport machine parts and electrical machine components declined in the January-September period, but those for electronic parts and chemical materials posted a double-digit increase, leading the record-high exports.
The ministry said the exports dependence on China and the United States, South Korea's top two trading partners, reduced while exports to Europe and Southeast Asian countries increased.
