SEOUL: South Korea’s exports of seafood rose 10.9 percent in the first three months of the year on steady overseas demand, government data showed Wednesday.
Outbound shipments of South Korean seafood reached US$482 million in the January-March period, up from $434.7 million tallied a year ago, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries.
It marked the fifth straight quarter of on-year gain.
Japan was the biggest buyer of South Korean products, importing $156.5 million worth of seafood over the three-month period, up 7.9 percent from a year earlier.
Exports to China fell 7.1 percent on-year to $75.4 million amid rising trade tensions between the two neighboring countries over Seoul’s plan to deploy a U.S. missile defense system here.
Exports to the United States gained 8.5 percent to $70.7 million, while those to Thailand shot up 124.8 percent to $55.7 million.
Tuna is the most popular fish, with its exports jumping 24 percent to reach $121 million over the cited period, while exports of “gim,” or dried laver, soared 39.7 percent on-year to $107.2 million.
