South Korea export growth accelerates

South Korea's exports rose 7.7 percent in August from a year ago, helped by robust shipments of cars and technology products, official data released on Sunday showed. Exports from Asia's fourth-largest economy increased to $46.37 billion, Seoul's trade ministry said. In July, exports grew 2.6 percent. Imports gained 0.8 percent on-year to reach $41.45 billion, resulting in a trade surplus of $4.9 billion in August compared to a $2.5 billion surplus in July and $1.9 billion a year earlier. Overseas shipments of the country's key export items, such as cars and mobile devices, surged 43.9 percent and 25.9 percent respectively year-on-year. Exports of ships and home appliances soared about 26 percent each. "New smartphones by South Korean firms, including Samsung's Galaxy S4 and LG's G2 helped boost exports of mobile devices," the ministry said in a statement. Strong sales of mobile devices also helped bolster overseas shipments of memory chips, which posted 22.1 percent on-year growth. Seoul in June raised its growth outlook for this year from 2.3 percent to 2.7 percent, citing the impact of stimulus measures taken earlier this year and signs of recovery in global demand. The country's economy expanded 2 percent in 2012 -- the slowest in three years.