A fan of BTS holds a banner showing an image of V, a member of K-pop band BTS during an event to celebrate the 10th debut anniversary of K-pop band BTS at a public park near the Han River in Seoul, June 17. AP-Yonhap
Korea racked up the second-largest surplus in the trade of intellectual property (IP) rights in the first half of the year on increased exports of cultural content, central bank data showed Friday.
The nation's surplus in the intellectual property account stood at $330 million in the January-June period, compared with a $1.64 billion shortfall in the second half of last year, according to preliminary data from the Bank of Korea.
Exports of products and services subject to intellectual property right payments came to $12.01 billion in the first half, with imports rising to $20.89 billion from $11.69 billion.
It marks the second biggest surplus in the trade of intellectual property rights on a semi-annual basis since the second half of 2019 when the comparable figure was $350 million.
The central bank began tracking related data in 2010.
The central bank said the surplus in the IP trade came as the country posted a big surplus in copyright trade thanks to the overseas popularity of Korean pop music, dramas and movies, and webtoons.
Korea registered the largest surplus of $1.52 billion in the trade of cultural and art copyrights, which offset a $1.08 billion deficit in the trade of patents, and other industrial intellectual property. (Yonhap)
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