Seoul, June 15
South Korea's exports to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries are on the rise, helping offset recent drops in shipments to the United States and China amid a global trade war sparked partly by the U.S.' evolving tariff policies, data showed on Sunday.

Outbound shipments to the ASEAN region came to US$47.88 billion in the January-May period, up 4.3 percent from the same period last year, according to data compiled by the Korea International Trade Association (KITA).

Over the same period, South Korea's exports to the U.S. went down 4.3 percent as effects of the Donald Trump administration's tariff policies began to materialise, while shipments to China dropped 5 percent, reports Yonhap news agency.

In February, exports to ASEAN economies recorded $9.56 billion, surpassing monthly shipments to China, which stood at $9.5 billion, for the first time in 23 years.

Shipments to ASEAN exceeded those to China again in March, at $10.26 billion to $10.06 billion.

In May, exports to the U.S. decreased 8.4 percent on-year to $10.05 billion, while those to China contracted 8.1 percent to $10.4 billion due to the effects of the Trump administration's sweeping tariff policies. Shipments to ASEAN fell 1.3 percent to $10 billion in the month.

The Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) earlier named ASEAN countries as favourable export destinations for South Korea this year amid the global trend to lower supply chain dependence on China, rapid growth of the digital economy and the expansion of middle-class households in the region.

Promising export items to the region include semiconductors, electronics, home appliances, robots, EV battery parts, renewable energy facilities and others, according to KOTRA.

"Amid the decoupling between the U.S. and China, China is increasingly working to expand its presence in the ASEAN market. ASEAN will become a more important market in the future with the U.S., too, shifting its source of imports from China to ASEAN," said Austin Chang, president of the institute for international trade under KITA.

ASEAN emerges as major export market for S. Korea amid global trade war