Seoul: The Republic of Korea's monthly exports hit a fresh high by surpassing the US$100 billion mark for the first time in June, amid the record-breaking performance of chips, data showed Wednesday.

Outbound shipments surged 70.9 percent on-year to $102.25 billion in June, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources.

Imports rose 30.1 percent on-year to $66.1 billion, resulting in a trade surplus of $36.15 billion.

It also marked the first time that the monthly trade balance has surpassed $30 billion.

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.

Over the January-June period, exports also reached a record high, rising 48.4 percent from a year earlier to $496.7 billion.

Semiconductor exports shot up 163 percent from a year earlier in the first half.