South Korea becomes the EU's top three importing countries, surpassing Japan and Russia for the first time - South Korean report

On the 14th, the Korea International Trade Association released a report titled ``Analysis and Suggestions of Good-Performing Items for European Union (EU) Exports.'' According to this report, in the EU from January to April this year, imports from countries outside the EU increased by 20%.
Although it decreased by 8.6% compared to 2022, imports from South Korea increased by 10.7%. This is the first time that South Korea has exceeded the scale of imports from Japan and Russia.
Looking at the ranking of importing countries outside the EU from January to April, China was second with 188.1 billion dollars (USD, approximately 20,856.33 million yen) and 123.8 billion
The United States ranked first and second with US dollars (approximately 13,726,820,000 yen). South Korea was in seventh place with $26.4 billion (approximately 2,927.2 million yen). However, European countries such as the UK and Switzerland
If excluded, it would be in 3rd place. This was followed by Japan with $26.2 billion (approximately 2.9 billion yen) and Russia with $21.1 billion (approximately 2,339.54 million yen).
South Korea's exports to the EU from January to July this year also increased by 3.5%, reaching the highest level ever. During the same period, Korea
Even in a situation where the country's exports to the world have fallen by 13%, exports to the EU are doing well. Among the items imported by the EU from South Korea in the first half of this year, cathode materials for secondary battery materials increased by 107%, and black
Sales of lead and electrolytes increased by 190%, biochemicals increased by 91.3%, and sales of completed vehicles increased by 32.6%, all showing significant growth compared to the same period last year. In particular, South Korea's export amount of secondary battery materials to the EU has increased from 1 to 2 this year.
In July, compared to the same period in 2018, sales of cathode materials increased by 64,783%, separation membranes by 777%, and negative electrode materials by 3,350%.