Korea's Doosan Corp. named preferred bidder for wafer maker SK siltron SEOUL, December 18 (AJP) - Heavy-equipment-strong South Korean conglomerate Doosan Group has moved closer to the chipmaking segment after being named the preferred bidder to acquire SK siltron, the world’s third-largest maker of silicon wafers. SK Inc. said in a regulatory filing Wednesday that it had notified Doosan Corp. of its selection as the preferred negotiating partner for the sale of its stake in SK siltron. SK Inc. holds 70.6 percent in the wafer entity. Given the market-estimated valuation of around 5 trillion ($3.4 billion), the transaction is expected to be worth roughly 3 trillion to 4 trillion won, depending on final terms. It remains unclear whether the deal will involve remaining 29.4 percent stake held by SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won. “Details of the transaction will be determined through negotiations with the preferred bidder,” SK Inc. said, adding that a follow-up disclosure would be made once terms are finalized or within three months. SK siltron-held technology is labeled "national core technology" as it is the country's sole specialized producer of semiconductor wafers, a core base material for chip manufacturing, and ranks third globally by market share in 12-inch wafers. It supplies Samsung Electronics and SK hynix and has not posted a loss since joining SK Group. Its medium- to long-term outlook is viewed as relatively solid, supported by expanding AI-driven chip demand and rising utilization rates at major customers. The potential acquisition comes as Doosan accelerates a strategic pivot toward semiconductors as part of a broader portfolio reshuffle. The group has already expanded into the sector through the acquisition of semiconductor testing company Doosan Tesna and its subsidiary Enzion, while also strengthening its materials and equipment businesses. If the SK Siltron deal is completed, Doosan would build a vertically integrated semiconductor portfolio structured around three pillars: Doosan Tesna, which specializes in non-memory chip testing; Doosan Corp.’s Electronics BG unit, which produces copper-clad laminate (CCL) used in semiconductor substrates; and SK Siltron, which would supply customized wafers. Doosan Corp.’s Electronics BG unit posted standalone revenue of 439.9 billion won in the third quarter, with cumulative revenue through September reaching 1.319 trillion won — already surpassing last year’s full-year figure of 1.0072 trillion won. SK Group has sought to divest SK siltron since early this year as part of an ongoing restructuring aimed at reallocating resources toward core growth engines. Several domestic and overseas private equity funds conducted preliminary due diligence in the first half of the year, but talks stalled amid differences over valuation and deal terms. 2025-12-18 07:59:54

LG Energy Solution ends $6.5 bn deal with Ford amid EV slowdown SEOUL, December 17 (AJP) -South Korea's LG Energy Solution said Wednesday it has terminated an electric vehicle battery supply contract with Ford Motor worth an estimated 9.6 trillion won ($6.5 billion), after the U.S. automaker decided to halt production of some EV models amid shifting policy conditions and a softer demand outlook. In a regulatory filing after the stock market closure, the South Korean battery maker said the termination followed formal notice from Ford, which recently reassessed its EV production plans in response to changes in the policy environment and cooling expectations for electric vehicle demand. The contract, originally disclosed on Oct. 15, 2024, was signed on Oct. 14 and covered battery supplies for multiple Ford EV models. LG Energy Solution said the disclosed termination amount was calculated by applying battery prices at the time of contract signing to the originally agreed supply volume, making the figure an estimate rather than a realized loss. The company added that the reference to recent sales in the filing was based on its consolidated financial statements as of the end of 2023, while the termination date reflects the day it received the cancellation notice from Ford. Ford has been scaling back its EV ambitions as costs rise and demand growth proves slower than initially expected. The automaker recently canceled or delayed several EV models, signaling a more cautious rollout strategy amid weaker consumer uptake, margin pressure and lingering infrastructure constraints. Shares of LG Energy Solution closed Wednesday, mildly down 0.6 percent at 415,500 won after a 6-percent slide on the previous day. LG Energy Solution, one of the world’s largest EV battery suppliers with clients spanning North America, Europe and Asia, has recently emphasized efforts to protect its intellectual property and diversify its customer base as competition intensifies and growth expectations moderate. 2025-12-17 18:20:05

USD-KRW tests 1,480 on capital outflows amid Japan rate-hike fears SEOUL, December 17 (AJP) - The South Korean won fell past the 1,480 mark against the U.S. dollar on Wednesday, defying a broadly weaker greenback as fears of capital outflows resurfaced on expectations of a rate hike by the Bank of Japan. The dollar index slipped 0.16 points to 97.79 following higher-than-expected U.S. jobless data. Yet the won weakened sharply, underscoring its vulnerability to shifts in global capital flows rather than dollar strength alone. Institutions came to rescue the Korean markets, buying 335.3 billion won in KOSPI alone versus heavy foreign selling, a move widely seen as led by the National Pension Service (NPS) under government guidance to shore up the currency through foreign-exchange hedging. Earlier this week, South Korea’s foreign-exchange authorities extended a $65 billion currency-swap arrangement with the NPS through the end of 2026, signaling official resolve to stabilize the won amid rising external risks. The defense, however, appeared insufficient against growing volatility in global markets. The dollar slipped back to 1,479.90 won, still up 5.40 won from previous close, as of 5:00 p.m. Foreigners also dumped 223 billion won worth of KOSDAQ shares, pointing to a broader pullback reminiscent of the “yen shock” seen in August, as investors brace for a second rate hike by the BOJ this year. The Japanese central bank is widely expected to raise its policy rate by 25 basis points to 0.75 percent at Friday’s meeting, up from 0.50 percent, which would place borrowing costs at their highest level in roughly three decades. A BOJ tightening is feared to unwind the yen carry trade — a strategy that borrows in ultra-low-yielding yen to invest in higher-return assets abroad — a key source of funding for emerging markets including South Korea. Morgan Stanley estimates that about $500 billion in yen-funded carry positions remain outstanding globally. 2025-12-17 14:37:53

"No Other Choice" , "Golden" enter Oscar shortlists for 98th Academy awards SEOUL, December 17 (AJP) -South Korea has secured two high-profile spots on the Academy Awards shortlists, with “No Other Choice” advancing in the International Feature Film category and “Golden,” from animated feature K-Pop Demon Hunters, shortlisted for Best Original Song, according to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. No Other Choice — a darkly comic thriller that examines moral compromise and social pressure through an ordinary man pushed to extremes — is among 15 non-English films shortlisted from submissions by 86 countries and regions, marking Korea’s sole entry in the international feature race at this stage. The shortlist features a geographically diverse lineup, including Argentina’s Belén, Brazil’s The Secret Agent, France’s It Was Just an Accident, Germany’s Sound of Falling, India’s Homebound, Iraq’s The President’s Cake, Japan’s Kokuho, Jordan’s All That’s Left of You, Norway’s Sentimental Value, Palestine’s Palestine 36, Spain’s Sirât, Switzerland’s Late Shift, Taiwan’s Left-Handed Girl and Tunisia’s The Voice of Hind Rajab. In the Original Song category, “Golden” advanced as one of 15 shortlisted tracks, selected from 65 eligible submissions. Featured in K-Pop Demon Hunters, the song blends K-pop production with an animated action narrative and has gained strong global traction. It has also earned a Grammy nomination, underscoring its crossover appeal beyond film and into the global music industry. Earlier, No Other Choice earned three Golden Globe nominations, including Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, Best Non-English Language Film and Best Actor for Lee Byung-hun. K-Pop Demon Hunters was also nominated at the Golden Globes for Best Animated Feature, Best Original Song and Box Office Achievement. At the Critics Choice Awards, No Other Choice received nominations for Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Foreign Language Film, while K-Pop Demon Hunters was shortlisted for Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song for “Golden.” Academy members will vote on nominations from Jan. 12 to Jan. 16, 2026, with the final list of nominees to be announced on Jan. 22. The 98th Academy Awards ceremony will take place on March 15, 2026, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood and will be broadcast live on ABC. While only five nominees will ultimately be selected in most categories, placement on the shortlist marks a critical milestone — keeping Korean cinema and pop culture firmly in the global awards conversation as the Oscars race enters its decisive phase. 2025-12-17 08:04:21

OPINION: When a language becomes a barrier Every society reveals its anxieties in its exams. South Korea revealed quite a lot this year. The English section of the College Scholastic Ability Test, the Suneung, became so difficult that it briefly escaped the country’s borders. The BBC compared it to deciphering an ancient script. The New York Times, with a mix of bemusement and challenge, presented readers with excerpts from the test — a passage invoking Immanuel Kant, another steeped in gaming jargon — and invited them to try solving it themselves. For many Koreans, this reaction felt embarrassing. For others, vindicating. The world, it seemed, was finally seeing what students had long known: English in Korea is no longer treated as a language. It has become a barrier. The question at the heart of the controversy is not really about difficulty. It is about purpose. Are we teaching English as a living tool for communication, or as an abstract puzzle designed to separate winners from losers? For years, the system has quietly chosen the latter. Reading passages have grown denser, sentence structures more tortuous, and multiple-choice options more devious. Speaking, listening and writing — the ways real humans actually use language — have been sidelined. Students learn how to eliminate distractors, not how to introduce themselves. They master test-taking strategies, not conversations. The result is a peculiar national paradox: students who score near-perfectly on English exams yet freeze when asked a simple question by a foreigner. Excellence without fluency. Precision without confidence. This distortion worsened after English was converted to an absolute grading system in 2018. The idea was sensible. English would be treated as a basic competency, not a competitive weapon. The pressure would ease. Private tutoring costs would fall. Instead, this year’s exam quietly betrayed that promise. The share of top scorers was cut roughly in half, from around 6 percent to about 3 percent. An absolute evaluation had begun behaving like a relative one. The system wanted its rankings back. Global data suggest the consequences are already visible. In EF Education First’s 2025 English Proficiency Index, based on millions of adult test-takers worldwide, South Korea ranked 48th out of 64 non-English-speaking countries, with a score of 522 — firmly in the “moderate” range. This places Korea below several countries with far fewer educational resources, and uncomfortably close to the middle of the global pack. This is not because Koreans do not study English. They do — intensely. But the structure is mismatched to the goal. According to the U.S. Foreign Service Institute, it takes roughly 4,300 hours of study to develop professional working proficiency in a foreign language. Korea’s entire formal education system — from elementary school through university — provides barely a quarter of that. Time matters. So does direction. Then there is artificial intelligence, hovering over this debate like a tempting shortcut. Translation apps are improving. AI chatbots can draft emails, summarize articles, even simulate conversation. It is increasingly fashionable to ask whether English still matters at all. This is the wrong question. The real danger is not that English will become obsolete, but that inequality will deepen. A 2025 report titled Digital Literacy in the Age of AI warns of what it calls “the AI Empowerment Divide, where only some communities gain the skills and opportunities needed to benefit from the next generation of technology.” AI does not distribute power evenly. It amplifies existing capabilities. Those who already possess language skills, critical judgment and digital literacy will use AI as leverage. Those who do not will rely on it blindly. In that sense, English is becoming less optional, not more — especially in an AI-mediated world where evaluating, correcting and contextualizing machine output requires human judgment and linguistic nuance. What follows is not mysterious. English education needs a philosophical reset. Classrooms must shift away from treating English as a riddle to be solved and toward treating it as a medium to be used. Speaking and listening must reclaim equal status with reading. Writing must be more than filling in blanks. AI tools, if deployed thoughtfully in public education, can help personalize practice and reduce reliance on private tutoring — but only if access gaps in devices, connectivity and teacher training are addressed first. Assessment must change as well. In an era when machines can generate polished answers in seconds, evaluating final products alone is pointless. What matters now is the reasoning process: how students interpret information, question sources, and refine ideas — including those produced by AI. Finally, the English section of the Suneung must remember its original promise. An absolute evaluation should confirm basic proficiency, not reintroduce competition by stealth. When a test breeds aversion rather than confidence, it has already failed. English is not merely a subject. It is the operating system of global exchange — cultural, economic, and increasingly technological. When a society turns that language into a gatekeeping device, it pays a long-term price. The world’s amused reaction to this year’s Suneung should not be dismissed as mockery. It should be read as a mirror. *The author is the managing editor of AJP 2025-12-14 12:16:49

South Korea, Japan join U.S.-led 'Pax Silica' alliance to secure AI chip supply chains SEOUL, December 13 (AJP) -South Korea and Japan on Saturday joined a new U.S.-led strategic grouping that goes beyond the so-called “Chip 4” alliance, bringing together the core microchip and artificial intelligence supply chain — from critical minerals and energy to chipmaking equipment, design and advanced manufacturing — across the Asia-Pacific and allied economies. The initiative, branded Pax Silica, reflects Washington’s growing push to reinforce a trusted technology bloc amid mounting concerns that China could weaponize its dominance over key materials essential to semiconductor and AI chip production. According to the U.S. State Department factsheet, inaugural meeting was held Saturday in Washington D.C. with officials from Japan, South Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Israel, the United Arab Emirates and Australia — countries that collectively host many of the world’s most advanced semiconductor, AI, equipment and infrastructure firms. South Korea is home to global memory chip leaders Samsung Electronics and SK hynix; Japan supplies essential chipmaking materials, precision components and equipment; the Netherlands hosts ASML, the world’s sole producer of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography machines required for advanced-node manufacturing; Israel is a hub for semiconductor design, cybersecurity and AI software; the United Kingdom plays a central role in chip architecture and advanced research; Singapore serves as a regional manufacturing, logistics and data-center hub; the United Arab Emirates is emerging as a major investor in AI infrastructure and energy-intensive computing; and Australia provides critical mineral resources vital to semiconductor and battery production. Seoul's foreign ministry did not issue a separate statement on the alliance, a low profile reflecting its awkwardness towards the hidden political agenda. Notably absent is India, despite its rising profile in semiconductor design, electronics manufacturing and critical mineral sourcing, underscoring unresolved frictions in U.S.–India relations under the Trump and Modi administrations. Unlike Chip 4, earlier supply-chain coordination efforts focused narrowly on fabrication or export controls, Pax Silica is designed as an end-to-end framework spanning the entire technology stack — from upstream mineral refining and energy inputs to semiconductor design, advanced packaging, AI computing infrastructure and logistics. The State Department described Pax Silica as a “secure, resilient and innovation-driven silicon supply chain” initiative rooted in cooperation among trusted partners, with the explicit aim of reducing coercive dependencies while enabling large-scale deployment of artificial intelligence. While the department did not name China directly, the timing and scope of the initiative coincide with growing alarm in Washington and allied capitals over Beijing’s tightening export controls on rare earth elements and other materials critical to military, semiconductor and electronics manufacturing. China accounts for more than 70 percent of global rare-earth mining and processing capacity, a concentration that U.S. officials increasingly view as a strategic vulnerability in an AI-driven economy. U.S. officials framed Pax Silica as part of a broader shift in economic statecraft, where secure supply chains, trusted technology and resilient infrastructure are increasingly seen as pillars of national power and long-term growth. The initiative responds to rising demand from U.S. partners for deeper coordination on technology and economic security, the recognition that AI will reorganize global value creation, and the need to protect sensitive technologies and critical infrastructure from undue access or control by countries of concern. “AI is reorganizing the world economy,” the State Department said, noting that economic value will increasingly flow through all layers of the AI supply chain — driving demand for semiconductors, energy, advanced manufacturing, data centers, transportation logistics and new markets yet to be created. The name “Pax Silica” draws on the Latin word pax, meaning peace and stability, paired with silica, the compound refined into silicon — the foundation of modern computing chips. U.S. officials likened the concept to earlier geopolitical orders such as Pax Americana, positioning Pax Silica as an economic and technological framework for an AI-driven era. Under Secretary of State Jose W. Fernandez Helberg directed U.S. diplomats in Washington and overseas to operationalize the summit’s outcomes by identifying infrastructure projects and coordinating economic security practices across missions, the department said. 2025-12-13 09:04:48

OPINION: The compass for Seoul's FX policy now points to Tokyo The Federal Reserve has cut its rate target range again this week, but the news barely rippled across Korean markets. The dollar strengthened, Korean stocks softened and yields inched upward — hardly the reaction one expects after a major policy decision from Washington. That muted response reflected an important shift in global finance: the Fed may still set the rhythm, but it no longer commands the stage. Markets registered the U.S. rate cut and immediately turned their gaze to Japan, where far more consequential changes are brewing. For more than a decade, investors have been conditioned to read every signal from the Fed as a defining market event. This time, they moved on. And they were right to. The Fed’s third consecutive cut — bringing the policy range to 3.50–3.75 percent — was fully anticipated and delivered with unmistakable caution. This was not a return to accommodative policy; it was a technical adjustment in an environment where the Fed’s room for maneuver is limited. The narrowing of the U.S.–Korea rate gap may ease some pressure on the won, but it won’t reverse the powerful outward flow of Korean capital into global markets. Nor does it free the Bank of Korea from its domestic constraints, including a housing market sensitive to any hint of loosening. Simply put, the U.S. rate cut has already played its part. The story now moves elsewhere. Japan’s Shift Is the Real Disruptive Forc Japan, long the quiet spectator in global monetary dynamics, is suddenly the decisive variable. After decades of anchoring global liquidity with near-zero rates, the Bank of Japan is edging toward normalization. Even a modest rate hike — a move unremarkable in most economies — would send tremors through the global financial system. That is because the yen carry trade is not a niche strategy; it is a structural pillar of global liquidity. Trillions of dollars in positions worldwide have been built on the assumption that Japanese money will remain cheap, the yen will stay weak and volatility will remain low. These conditions are evaporating. Japan’s 10-year government yield has been pressing toward multi-decade highs, speculative yen shorts are stretched and the currency is no longer one-directional. Markets know the implications. Every major episode of global market stress over the last 25 years — from the 1998 Asian crisis to the 2008 collapse, to the 2015–16 turbulence and the early-2020 shock — involved a surge in the yen and a disorderly unwinding of leveraged positions. Japan’s normalization would not merely shift sentiment; it would reprice risk across every major asset class globally. In that sense, the Bank of Japan’s next step is not a regional issue. It is the defining global risk of the coming year. Korea Lies Directly on the Fault Line Korea is one of the markets most exposed to this shift — not because its fundamentals are weak, but because it sits at the intersection of global capital flows shaped by both the United States and Japan. A disorderly carry-trade unwind would push up volatility in the won, trigger foreign rebalancing and pressure both equities and bond yields. But Korea also stands to benefit if it positions itself strategically. As rate differentials across the United States, Japan and Korea narrow, and as weaker emerging markets struggle with instability, Korea’s institutional credibility and relative resilience could enhance its standing as a safe regional alternative. The opportunity is real — but only if it is earned through preparation, not assumed by default. Policy Must Catch Up With Reality Korea’s macro playbook must evolve as the global axis of risk shifts. First, monitoring Japan must become as central as tracking the Fed. The yen’s trajectory, Japanese government bond yields, shifts in speculative positioning — these are now core indicators, not peripheral curiosities. Second, Seoul must treat interest rates, currencies and capital flows as an integrated system. Fragmented management will not withstand the level of volatility Japan could unleash. Third, Korea must strengthen its market infrastructure. Thin liquidity in FX and derivatives markets amplifies shocks. That vulnerability is no longer tolerable. Fourth, the country must communicate risk more directly to households and retail investors, whose aggressive overseas allocations have become a structural feature of the Korean market. The volatility ahead is not cyclical; it is systemic. The U.S. rate cut may dominate headlines, but it is no longer the hinge on which the global financial system turns. Japan’s slow exit from ultra-loose monetary policy represents a far more consequential shift — one that could reshape liquidity, valuations and volatility across the world. Korea does not get to choose whether this transformation happens. It only gets to choose how prepared it will be. What is clear is that the axis of global financial risk has already begun to tilt. It is no longer aligned solely with Washington. It is moving unmistakably toward Tokyo. And Korea’s ability to navigate the next phase depends on how quickly it internalizes that change. * The author is the managing editor of AJP. 2025-12-11 19:52:42

SK hynix mulls ADR listing in US SEOUL, December 10 (AJP) - South Korea's memory giant SK hynix is deliberating to list its treasury shares on a U.S. stock market in the form of American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) to further bolster its corporate value. In a disclosure responding to the Korea Exchange's request on ADR rumors, the company said Wednesday it would report further details within a month. Shares in Seoul opened 4 percent higher at 588,500 won ($400) upon the disclosure posted before the market opening and closed at 585,000 won. According to a report by Korea Economic Daily, SK hynix has received multiple proposals from global investment banks to convert some of its treasury shares — roughly 2.4 percent of total outstanding, or 17.4 million shares — into ADRs for trading in the United States. An investment-banking official familiar with discussions said the initiative is being “pursued with sincerity at the group level as part of a broader push to enhance corporate value,” adding that the company is expected to begin selecting underwriters soon. Depositary receipts are alternative securities issued to facilitate overseas trading when the underlying shares remain held by a custodian in the home market. When issued in the United States, they are known as ADRs. For SK hynix, the potential listing represents a bid to break free from what has become a chronic valuation discount. Shares of the company trade only in Korea, limiting exposure to U.S. passive investors and long-only funds restricted to U.S. markets. If ADRs are listed in New York, analysts say, SK Hynix could tap a far deeper investor pool and be assessed against global peers on equal footing — particularly Micron Technology, whose business structure, earnings cycle, and product mix closely mirror those of SK hynix. Yet their valuations diverge sharply: SK Hynix trades at 11.4 times expected 2024 earnings, compared with Micron’s 28.7 times. Despite SK hynix’s central role in the artificial-intelligence semiconductor “alliance” anchored by Nvidia — supplying high-end HBM chips that have become the industry’s hottest commodity — it remains absent from major U.S. semiconductor ETFs. In VanEck’s SMH, TSMC’s ADRs account for 9.1 percent; in SOXX, they represent 3.77 percent. SK hynix holds a 0 percent weight in both. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company offers perhaps the clearest precedent. When TSMC listed its ADRs on the New York Stock Exchange in 1997, the move helped global investors apply a higher valuation multiple based on U.S. semiconductor comps. Over time, TSMC expanded its ADR issuance from 2–3 percent of outstanding shares to nearly 20 percent. A persistent premium of ADR prices over the Taiwan-listed shares ultimately propelled a broader revaluation of the company in its home market — an outcome SK Hynix aims to replicate. The timing also aligns with Korea’s “value-up” initiative and with ongoing debates over mandatory treasury-share cancellation. Because ADR issuance uses existing treasury shares rather than destroying them, the policy goals remain intact while allowing a company to unlock greater value. The proposal could also reshape traditional shareholder-return practices in Korea, which have centered almost exclusively on dividends and share buybacks. SK hynix, which shifted into a net-cash position in the third quarter, has faced mounting pressure to boost shareholder payouts. An ADR listing offers a “third path,” potentially raising its market value without resorting to new borrowing or issuing fresh equity. A U.S. listing would require compliance with America’s stringent disclosure and accounting standards, improving transparency and governance while broadening access to capital. Shareholders would benefit from any rerating of the stock, while the company could gain the option to raise significant funds at a later stage. Questions remain over supply. Aside from portions of treasury shares already tied to a 2023 exchangeable bond, SK hynix holds roughly 2.4 percent of its outstanding shares that are usable for ADR issuance — equivalent to about 10 trillion won. An industry official cautioned that such a float would still rank only as a mid-cap in the U.S. market, suggesting the company may need to repurchase additional shares if it aims to secure material valuation impact. Its local rival Samsung Electronics trades ADRs over the counter, without listing them directly on the New York Stock Exchange or Nasdaq. 2025-12-10 09:15:28

One in 20 in South Korea is of migrant origin SEOUL, December 08 (AJP) - Migration backgrounds spanning naturalized Koreans, foreigners, second-generation immigrants, and North Korean defectors – counted for the first time - made up 5.2 percent of South Korean population as of November 2024, according to the first comprehensive dataset tracking the rise of multicultural diversity in the traditionally homogenous society. According to the 2024 Migration Background Population Statistics published by the Ministry of Data and Statistics, 2.715 million people living in Korea as of last November last year were either not originally from South Korea or had at least one parent of a migration background. The figure represents 5.2 percent of the total population and marks a 0.3 percentage-point increase from a year earlier. About a quarter are Korean citizen and the rest registered as foreign nationals who have stayed in the country for more than three months. The demographic profile skews distinctly young. Youth and working-age individuals dominate the group, with 2.223 million (81.9%) in the 15–64 age bracket, 344,000 (12.7%) aged 14 or under, and only 148,000 (5.5%) aged 65 or older. Men outnumber women at 52.5 percent, producing a sex ratio of 110.7 men for every 100 women. The 20s and 30s make up the largest cohorts, at 21 percent and 24.3 percent respectively. Compared with the overall Korean population, this group is markedly younger with a much smaller share of elderly,” said Kim Seo-young, head of the Population Census Division. Migration-background residents are heavily concentrated in the greater capital area, with Gyeonggi Province alone accounting for 32.7 percent, followed by Seoul (17.5%) and Incheon (6.6%). The cities with the largest absolute populations are Ansan, Hwaseong and Siheung, while Yeongam County in South Jeolla Province and Eumseong County in North Chungcheong Province record the highest ratios relative to their total populations. Children and adolescents under 24 account for 738,000 people — 27.2 percent of the migration-background population — reflecting Korea’s accelerating demographic diversification. Among this group, domestic nationals grew 3.4 percent from last year to make up 49.7 percent, while foreign residents increased 12.8 percent to 50.3 percent. The nationality of parents shows Vietnam as the most common origin at 27.2 percent, followed by China (16.5%) and Korean-Chinese (12.0%). Among naturalized citizens, 34.5 percent trace their origin to China, while 33.3 percent of second-generation immigrants come from Vietnam. Kim noted that the agency included North Korean defectors in the data set for the first time to ensure “no group is overlooked in policy planning,” adding that the rise in foreign workers, international students, and marriage immigrants continues to expand Korea’s migration-background population. 2025-12-08 14:39:50

When will South Korea get off the treadmill? Samsung, SK, Hyundai Motor and LG aren’t just South Korean brands anymore; they’re global fixtures, as ubiquitous as fast Wi-Fi and K-dramas on long-haul flights. There are few corners of the world where someone hasn’t heard of South Korea. In cultural visibility, the last decade has felt as dizzying as the old Han River Miracle — a second, soft-power-driven version. The artificial intelligence boom literally cannot operate without Korean memory chips. K-pop is sung, danced, copied, envied and, in equal measure, admired from São Paulo to Stockholm. K-dramas routinely sit atop global streaming charts. Streets in Seoul no longer look like tourist sites in a single country but like a sampling of the entire human palette. The country now boasts a Nobel literature laureate, Oscar winners and—judging from the nomination chatter—possibly a Grammy next year. Even Google’s search rankings reflect the moment: K-pop Demon Hunters, a whimsical mash-up of Korean tradition, modern culture and idol fantasy, landed at No. 2 in global searches this year. And the stock market? The Kospi has nearly doubled from its 1,961 close in 2015 to above 4,000 this year. By all outward appearances, the country is soaring. Except for one problem: strip away the shiny names and South Korea looks like a nation running on a treadmill. Lots of motion, not enough movement. In just ten years, Korea has had four presidents—not two—because two were impeached along the way. The potential growth rate has withered from 3.3 percent in 2014 to under 2 percent today. The economy grew 2.8 percent in 2015; this year it will limp in at around 1 percent. GDP per capita is stuck in time. Korea has wandered in the $30,000 range for more than a decade. This year’s estimate — $37,430 — puts the country behind Taiwan at $38,066. It is a far cry from projections made in 2015, when Hyundai Research Institute imagined a best-case scenario of hitting $50,000 by 2024. Even their worst-case forecast of 2030 now looks oddly optimistic. Much of this stagnation is tied to the currency. While the Taiwanese dollar has been steady at around 30 per U.S. dollar for a decade, the Korean won has plunged from 1,100 to about 1,480. Had the won remained stable, Korea might already be celebrating the $50,000 milestone. Some critics say the culprit is Korea’s “America habit”—the outsized investment its corporations, pension funds and individuals make in the United States. And the numbers do tell a story. Koreans spent a record $5.93 billion abroad on credit cards in the third quarter. Foreign visitors in Korea spent just $3.76 billion — barely half. Outbound travel hit 7 million people. The travel account logged yet another deficit, because Koreans spend abroad far more enthusiastically than foreigners spend here. Why? Because, as one economist put it, “Korea is expensive.” Official inflation may be 2 percent, but real inflation—when housing is included—feels above 4 percent. The appetite for global assets is even starker. Koreans poured $99.8 billion into overseas securities this year — more than triple the foreign money coming into Korea. The country’s net external financial assets grew from $12.7 billion in 2014 to over $1 trillion today. The National Pension Service (NPS) alone holds 580 trillion won abroad. “Seohak ant” retail traders, once a quirky niche, are now a force. Korean corporations are investing record amounts overseas. And the NPS — now the world’s third-largest pension fund — has become such a whale in global markets that policymakers have informally asked it to help stabilize the won. But here is the uncomfortable truth: money follows returns. Koreans invest abroad because the returns look better there than at home. Which leads to the real issue — not outbound investment but domestic weakness. If a country wants people to study, invest, spend, build, visit and live here, it needs fundamentals that reward those choices. And Korea’s fundamentals have been eroding. The institutions feel fragile. The politics feel turbulent. The demographic outlook feels claustrophobic. And the economic model that powered the last 40 years is now more exhausted than triumphant. A strong currency, a high per-capita income, a magnetic society — these don’t emerge by accident. They come from confidence, predictability, openness, and an economy that feels full of promise rather than boxed-in limits. Without a broad, structural overhaul — one that tackles demographics, service-sector rigidity, education bottlenecks, regulatory clutter and the overcentralized political system — Korea risks becoming a country that is globally famous but internally stalled. And if nothing changes, hitting $50,000 per capita won’t be a milestone. It will remain a beautifully constructed dream — one that fades the moment you step off the treadmill. The author is the managing editor of AJP. 2025-12-06 20:47:34