Korea's annual exports surpassed $700 billion for the first time on Monday, making the country the sixth in the world to reach the milestone, government data showed. Outbound shipments tentatively exceeded the mark at 1:03 p.m., according to the data from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources and the Korea Customs Service. Korea followed the United States, Germany, China, Japan and the Netherlands in surpassing the milestone, the ministry said. While Korea was the seventh country globally to reach $600 billion in annual exports in 2018, it became the sixth to hit the $700 billion mark, a sign of faster export growth compared with other major economies, the ministry said. The ministry attributed the strong performance to robust shipments of semiconductors, along with key products such as automobiles, ships and bio-related goods. By region, exports to the U.S. and China declined in terms of their share in total shipments, while the proportion of shipments to other Asian countries, the European Union and Central and South America increased, reflecting a trend toward market diversific