Steel products stacked at a port in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, April 3 / YonhapKorea's exports surged 53 percent from a year earlier to a new monthly high of $87.8 billion in May, driven by the semiconductor supercycle, government data showed Monday.It marked the third consecutive month the country's monthly outbound shipments surpassed the $80 billion mark, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources.Imports rose 20.8 percent on-year to $60.8 billion, resulting in a trade surplus of $26.95 billion.Exports were led by the semiconductor industry, which is enjoying a supercycle on the back of global big tech's continued investment in artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure.Seoul's chip exports soared 169.4 percent on-year to an all-time monthly high of $37.2 billion in May.In detail, outbound shipments of D-RAMs and NAND flash memory shot up 369.8 percent and 206.8 percent to $18.6 billion and $1.7 billion, respectively.Computer exports also skyrocketed 290.7 percent to $4.18 billion thanks to global demand for solid state drives for AI servers.Exports of wireless communications equipment and displays increased 12.6 percent and 9.4 percent to $1.46 billion and $1.47 billion, respectively.The combined value of shipments of petroleum products expanded 46.6 percent to $5.25 billion, despite a 23.8 percent decrease in volume, with rising oil prices amid the ongoing U.S.-Israeli war against Iran.Notably, the volume of shipments of gasoline, diesel and kerosene products, currently under export control, each dropped by 31.1 percent, 24.3 percent and 99.9 percent on-year last month.Exports of biohealth products added 5.2 percent to $1.44 billion, while cosmetics exports climbed 24.2 percent to $1.18 billion, the highest figure for any May.Shipments of agro-fisheries products also went up 4.7 percent to $1.07 billion, and ship exports advanced 16.7 percent to $2.61 billion.On the other hand, auto exports contracted 5.9 percent to $5.83 billion last month due to a smaller number of working days, disruptions in supplies of auto parts, shipping disruptions amid the Middle East crisis and the effects from U.S. tariff policy.Steel exports went down 2.1 percent to $2.04 billion, while machinery shipments declined 6.3 percent to $3.82 billion.By destination, exports to China escalated 80.9 percent on-year to $18.9 billion in May, driven by strong demand for semiconductors, agro-fisheries products and cosmetics.Exports to the United States jumped 59.1 percent to $15.97 billion on robust demand for AI-related products.Shipments to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) rose 58.4 percent to $15.85 billion, and exports to the European Union (EU) gained 2.4 percent to $6.19 billion.Shipments to the Middle East, however, dipped 7.7 percent to $1.27 billion due to the long drawn-out conflict, with auto exports to the region, in particular, nosediving 27 percent.