[BizHanKook] With semiconductor exports in early November rising more than fourfold compared to the same period last year, South Korea is on the verge of hitting a historic milestone: reaching $1 trillion in annual exports for the first time. If the current export pace continues, it is expected to cross the $1 trillion mark around the 20th of this month. Only three countries—the United States, China, and Germany—have achieved the monumental feat of $1 trillion in exports. While Korea is approaching a record that even Japan has yet to reach, the state of the domestic financial market makes this achievement feel somewhat overshadowed.
Despite the approaching unprecedented record of $1 trillion in exports, domestic investors continue to expand their overseas securities investments. Analysts suggest that doubts regarding the growth engines of the domestic stock market following the semiconductor boom are at play. There are even concerns that if this situation persists, the KOSPI could fall below the 5,000-point mark, despite the record-breaking $1 trillion in exports.
According to the Korea Customs Service, exports from the 1st to the 10th of this month (provisional figures based on customs clearance) reached $33.5 billion, a sharp 111.9% increase compared to the same period last year. Notably, this is the second-highest export value for the first ten days of a month, following September ($35 billion). Consequently, cumulative exports for this year reached $963.7 billion by the 10th. Considering the number of working days (7.5 days) from the 1st to the 10th of this month, the daily average export value is $4.46 billion, and if this trend continues, the country is expected to reach $1 trillion in annual exports for the first time around the 20th.
Semiconductors are once again the primary driver behind this monumental achievement. Semiconductor exports reached $16.6 billion from the 1st to the 10th of this month, more than four times higher than the same period last year, and accounted for 49.7% of total exports, nearly half. President Lee Jae-myung posted on X (formerly Twitter) on the 1st, as annual $1 trillion in exports came into view, saying, "It feels like just yesterday we were celebrating $10 billion in exports; I am moved," adding, "The government will work even harder to expand the economic territory where you can thrive through pragmatic national interest diplomacy."
However, looking at the stock market—a barometer of economic conditions—domestic investors do not seem purely optimistic about the $1 trillion export era. This is because the volume of overseas securities investment continues to grow. Given that stock prices fluctuate based on various internal and external variables, the trend of increasing overseas investment is noteworthy. It is possible to interpret this as domestic investors viewing the growth potential of overseas stock markets as relatively higher.
According to the Bank of Korea, the balance of overseas securities investment by Korean residents has shown a long-term upward trend. The scale of overseas securities investment (stocks and bonds) based on investment balance exceeded $500 billion, rising from $424.6 billion in 2017 to $577.8 billion in 2019. It continued to grow, nearing $1 trillion at $994.3 billion in 2024, and surpassed the $1 trillion mark in the second quarter of 2025, reaching $1.1076 trillion. It continued to increase to $1.2011 trillion in the third quarter and $1.2532 trillion in the fourth quarter.
Even during periods when the domestic stock market was strong this year, overseas securities investment remained at a high level. It decreased slightly in the first quarter of this year to $1.2381 trillion from the previous quarter, but increased to $1.3808 trillion in the second quarter. Compared to 2017, it has grown 3.25 times over nine years. Effectively, the balance of overseas securities investment expanded even while the domestic stock market was rising in the first half of this year.
Domestic investors' overseas securities investments are centered on the U.S. market. According to the Bank of Korea’s International Investment Position by region, the U.S. share of the securities investment balance was 45.0% ten years ago in 2016, but it surged to 64.1% in 2025. Analysts suggest that investors see higher growth potential in the U.S. economy, which goes beyond simply producing and supplying semiconductors like Korea to creating new advanced technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) by utilizing them.
In fact, according to the Korea Securities Depository, as of August this year, Tesla stock accounted for the largest portion of Korean investors' overseas stock holdings at $21.5 billion. Nvidia stock followed with $17.9 billion, and Google's parent company, Alphabet, held $8.5 billion. These are companies that lead the global market in advanced technology fields such as electric vehicles, aerospace, and AI.