The South Korean economy has become increasingly dependent on global trade... over the past few years.
Data from the Bank of Korea show imports and exports last year were equivalent to 86-point-eight percent of the country's gross national income.
That's up two-point-eight percentage points from 2017,... and it's the highest level seen since 2014.
The ratio of trade to GNI had been falling since 2011,... from above one-hundred percent,... but both imports and exports began rising two years ago... and reached the highest level on record last year.
Officials attribute the upward trend to the surge last year in Korea's semiconductor exports... as well its growing imports of raw materials and intermediary goods.