South Korean corporate earnings surged in the first quarter, driven by strong performance among electronics and semiconductor-related firms as global demand for AI hardware boosted sales and profitability, according to Bank of Korea (BOK) data released Tuesday.

Sales at electronics, video and communications equipment companies rose 75.7% from a year earlier, while their operating profit margin climbed to 42.2% and pretax profit margin reached 50.3%. By contrast, non-manufacturing firms recorded sales growth of 3.7%, and the median listed company posted sales growth of just 2.7%, compared with an average of 21.4%, suggesting that gains were concentrated among a relatively small