Data released by South Korean customs on Wednesday revealed that the nation's exports for the first 10 days of February surged 44.4 percent year-on-year to $21.39 billion, up from $14.81 billion during the same period last year, driven by robust demand for semiconductors.

Imports during the same period increased by 21.1 percent to $20.74 billion, resulting in a trade surplus of $64 million.

Average daily exports rose by 34.8 percent compared to the previous year. The number of working days in the cited period was 7.5, an increase of 0.5 days from the same timeframe a year earlier.

By product category, semiconductor exports skyrocketed by 137.6 percent to $6.73 billion, accounting for 31.5 percent of the total export value. This represents a 12.3 percentage point increase in share compared to the same period last year.

Exports of petroleum products grew by 40.1 percent to $1.52 billion. In contrast, automobile exports declined by 2.6 percent to $1.35 billion, while ship exports fell by 29 percent to $663 million.

By destination, exports to China increased by 54.1 percent to $4.55 billion.

Despite tariff impacts, exports to the United States grew by 38.5 percent to $3.6 billion.