SEOUL  -  South Ko­rea’s export of agricultural and food products hit a new high in the first quarter due to higher demand from the United States and Europe, government data showed Tuesday. The outbound ship­ment of locally-made food and farm goods rose 3.4 percent from a year earlier to reach a fresh quarterly high of 2.27 billion U.S. dollars during the January-March quarter, ac­cording to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. Exports to the United States gained 14.2 percent to 352 million dollars, while those to the European Union (EU) and Britain jumped 27.4 percent to 166 million dollars. Shipment to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) added 3.0 percent to 464 million dollars, but those to Japan declined 7.6 percent to 329 million dollars.