South Korea's exports of K-pop albums hit a record high in the first half of the year, government data showed Friday, driven in part by BTS' fifth studio album, "Arirang."K-pop album exports reached $257.48 million in the January-June period, up 125 percent from a year earlier, according to import and export trade statistics from the Korea Customs Service. People walk past blankets featuring South Korean Kpop boy band BTS displayed for sale in a shop ahead of concerts on the BTS world tour "Arirang," in Mexico City, on April 29. (Reuters-Yonhap) The United States was the largest importer of K-pop albums during the period, with imports totaling $74.12 million, followed by China and Japan at $61.18 million and $45.61 million, respectively.Rounding out the top 10 were Germany, Taiwan, Hong Kong, the Netherlands, Britain, France and Poland.BTS, one of the world's top boy bands, released its first new album in three years and nine months in March. Both the album and its lead single topped Billboard's main charts.Earlier in February, BLACKPINK released its third mini album, "Deadline," which had sold nearly 2 million copies as of June. (Yonhap)