S. Korea's exports of kimchi hit all-time high of $119 million through Oct.

South Korea's exported an all-time high of $119 million worth of kimchi in the first 10 months of 2020, rising 36.4 percent from the previous year.

The volume exported during the period was also a high of 32,000 tons, according to the data compiled by the Korea International Trade Association (KITA).

Japan imported $59 million worth of Kimchi from South Korea, up 28 percent on-year. It was the largest importer of the traditional Korean side dish normally made of fermented cabbage, salt, and hot peppers, accounting for 50 percent of the outbound shipments.

The US followed with $18 million worth of kimchi imports, covering 15.7 percent of the total.

Kimchi exports of kimchi to Hong Kong reached $6.2 million.