South Korea`s semiconductor industry is writing a new chapter in history with a record $100 billion exports posted on October 16, which beat last year`s full-year record of $97.9 billion, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said on Thursday.

The new milestone was achieved after the country’s accumulated outbound shipments of memory chips surpassed the $1 trillion mark for the first time on Oct. 2 since the government began compiling data in 1977.

It took 24 years to increase the amount after Asia’s fourth largest economy exported $10 billion worth of semiconductor products in 1994. The peak exports of U.S. semiconductor makers were $60 billion tallied in 2000. The corresponding figure for Japan was $46.2 billion in 2007.

Only a handful of finished items surpassed more than $100 billion per year: U.S. aircraft (in 2013), China’s computers (in 2008) and wired and wireless communication devices (in 2010), Germany’s cars (in 2004) and Japan’s cars (in 2007).

South Korea is the world’s first country that hits the $100 billion mark in single component exports, the ministry said.

"Korea needs to tackle challenges ahead to continue its leadership in the global semiconductor market and to cope with market dynamics,” said Trade Minister Sung Yun-mo during an event to celebrate the achievement at COEX in Seoul, where 500 industry, academia and research representatives attended.

By Lim Sung-hyun and Minu Kim

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