South Korea's exports posted the first on-year rise in 20 months in August on the back of brisk demand for chips and flat displays, the trade ministry said Thursday.

    Outbound shipments came to US$40.1 billion last month, up 2.6% from the same month last year, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. The upturn snapped a record 19th straight months of negative growth that began in January 2015, South Korea's News Agency (Yonhap) reported. 

    Imports also made a turnaround to edge up 0.1% on-year to $34.8 billion, recording the first on-year rise in 23 months. August's trade surplus came to $5.3 billion, marking the 55th consecutive month of a surplus. The ministry took a cautious stance saying that the uptick in exports may not keep its upward pace in the remaining months of the year due to a stagnant recovery of oil prices and a possible US rate hike. 

    The trade ministry said a gain in shipments of 13 key items, including semiconductors, computers and flat panels, along with increased working days, led the rebound in August exports. The combined exports of the 13 export products climbed 1.7% on-year in August, turning around from an 11.9% fall in July and a 4.1 percent drop in June. 

    By region, exports to Vietnam continued the upbeat mode to jump 22.8% last month, with shipments to Japan rebounding to 7.2%. Exports to China, South Korea's largest export destination, sank 5.3% in August from a year ago, continuing their losing streak since the beginning of the year.  Shipments to the United States and the European Union also fell by 4.8% each.