South Korea’s computer game exports surged 40 percent last year with more than half of all game software shipped to China and Japan, according to government officials Tuesday.

Exports of South Korean game software jumped 40.1 percent to US$10.94 billion last year from the previous year, said the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, which released annual figures on the industry.

South Korea posted a trade surplus in the sector for the sixth consecutive year, as imports of game software stood at $3.87 billion, the officials said.

“While the trade surplus turned negative last year in many other industries, the computer game industry recorded a surplus of some $7.1 billion,” Yoo Byung-han, an official charged with promoting growth of the games industry said.

“The government will provide endorsements to spur the game industry as a key contents industry.”

Online games made up 97 percent of total exports, rising 43 percent from the previous year.

The largest importer of South Korean games was China, which accounted for 27 percent, followed by Japan with 21 percent. Exports to the United States, Europe, Taiwan and Southeast Asia were also on the rise.

The domestic computer game market grew 9 percent from a year earlier to 5.65 trillion won ($4.69 billion) in 2008, reversing a two year decline.

According to the figures taken from people from aged nine to 49, computer games ranked third on the list of most popular leisure activities, after watching TV and going to the movies.

The report, meanwhile, said that 70 percent of computer game users played on-line Internet games. The favorite genres were role-playing games (31 percent) and Web board games (14 percent).

YonhapNewsAgency

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