South Korea recorded its fifth-largest monthly current account surplus in January, driven by a semiconductor upcycle and strong exports, central bank data showed Friday. The current account surplus totaled $13.26 billion in January, down from $18.7 billion in December, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK). Compared with the same month a year earlier, however, the figure surged 397.4 percent, marking the fifth-largest monthly surplus on record. South Korea has recorded a current account surplus every month since May 2023, the second-longest streak in the country's history. In 2025, the nation logged the largest yearly surplus on record, at $123.05 billion, surpassing the previous high of $105.1 billion set in 2015.