South Korea’s exports of instant noodles and kimchi products rose sharply in the first nine months of the year on the back of rising demand for ready-to-eat meals and healthy foodstuffs amid the new coronavirus pandemic, data showed Monday.

Outbound shipments of instant noodles jumped 36.3 percent on-year to $456 million during the January-September period, while those of kimchi jumped 38.5 percent to $109 million over the cited period, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food, and Rural Affairs.

The country’s combined agricultural exports increased 6.5 percent to $5.5 billion over the first nine months of the year. (Yonhap)