{"slug": "economy-on-recovery-track-despite-manufacturing-setback-due-to-chip-boom-kdi", "title": "Economy on recovery track despite manufacturing setback due to chip boom: KDI", "summary": "South Korea's economy remains on a recovery path as gains from the booming semiconductor industry offset a slowdown in manufacturing, the Korea Development Institute reported Wednesday. Robust AI-related demand drove chip exports to a record $44.82 billion in June, pushing total exports above $100 billion for the first time.", "body_md": "SEJONG — The Korean economy remains on the recovery track as gains from the booming chip industry offset the slowdown in the overall manufacturing sector, a state-run think tank said Wednesday. \"Korea's economy remained on a modest recovery path, supported by robust semiconductor exports and services activity, while manufacturing production softened,\" the Korea Development Institute (KDI) said in its monthly economic assessment. The KDI pointed out exports by Asia's No. 4 economy continued to expand \"strongly\" amid robust artificial intelligence (AI)-related demand. Korea's monthly exports hit a fresh record high by surpassing the $100 billion mark for the first time in June, surging 70.9 percent on-year to $102.25 billion. \"Although growth in semiconductor export volumes moderated, exports remained robust in value terms, supported by continued price increases,\" the KDI said. Exports of semiconductors nearly tripled to reach $44.82 billion, with monthly exports surpassing $40 billion for the first time on the back of surging demand for memory chips. The KDI, however, noted manufacturing", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/economy-on-recovery-track-despite-manufacturing-setback-due-to-chip-boom-kdi", "canonical_source": "https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/economy/20260708/economy-on-recovery-track-despite-manufacturing-setback-due-to-chip-boom-kdi?utm_source=rss", "published_at": "2026-07-08 03:57:02+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-07-08 04:00:34.114000+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["artificial-intelligence", "ai-chips", "ai-infrastructure"], "entities": ["Korea Development Institute", "KDI", "South Korea"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/economy-on-recovery-track-despite-manufacturing-setback-due-to-chip-boom-kdi", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/economy-on-recovery-track-despite-manufacturing-setback-due-to-chip-boom-kdi.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/economy-on-recovery-track-despite-manufacturing-setback-due-to-chip-boom-kdi.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/economy-on-recovery-track-despite-manufacturing-setback-due-to-chip-boom-kdi.jsonld"}}