Korea’s pharmaceutical industry achieved a major commercial milestone in 2025, driven by an unprecedented surge in overseas demand for biopharmaceuticals and a record-shattering performance by domestic manufacturers. According to data released Thursday by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, the nation's drug exports climbed 12.4 percent year-over-year to reach 15.5 trillion won ($10.44 billion), breaching the psychologically important $10 billion threshold for the first time. Combined with a 5.9 percent increase in imports to $8.93 billion, the surge propelled Korea to a record-high pharmaceutical trade surplus of $1.51 billion. The export boom coincided with unprecedented activity at home. Total domestic pharmaceutical production rallied to 33.85 trillion won, marking the highest volume recorded since the government began compiling the industry's data in 1998. Overall, the domestic pharmaceutical market expanded slightly by 0.03 percent to a total value of 31.71 trillion won. At the heart of this growth is Korea’s highly competitive biopharmaceutical sector, which has transformed