KOREA'S CHIP EXPORTS OUTPACE TOTAL TRADE SEVENFOLD

South Korea's overall exports rose just 3.6 percent in October to $59.57 billion, the slowest pace of its five-month winning streak and squeezed by US tariffs and a shortened holiday calendar. Semiconductor shipments told a different story, jumping 25.4 percent to $15.73 billion, a record for the month, as memory chips for AI servers kept commanding premium prices. The gap shows how dependent Korea's export engine has become on a single sector. $SOXX traders are watching whether that memory premium holds into 2027 order books.