▲ AI PRISM* Personalized Economic Briefing
* Editor's note: AI PRISM (Personalized Report & Insight Summarizing Media) is an artificial intelligence-based personalized news recommendation and summary service developed with support from the Korea Press Foundation. It selects and provides six news items tailored to each reader type.
[Key Issue Briefing]
■ Overseas Expansion Under Review: SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won said the group is reviewing the construction of new memory chip plants overseas, including in Japan, signaling that an investment decision could come this year. He also left open the possibility of joint production and research and development cooperation with Kioxia, the Japanese NAND flash maker in which SK hynix (000660) is effectively the largest shareholder.
■ Upward Rate Pressure: Rising international oil prices and concerns over fiscal soundness in major economies have driven global long-term government bond yields sharply higher, intensifying upward pressure on domestic market rates. If the Bank of Korea adds further increases to its base rate, low- and middle-income households and self-employed business owners could be hit first, raising concerns.
■ Talent Concentration in the Capital Area: As labor shortages spread across large corporations, state-owned enterprises, research institutes, universities and startups alike, the concentration of core national technologies and research and development organizations in the Seoul metropolitan area has become more pronounced. Experts note that without an inflow of talent, government strategies aimed at balanced regional development could produce only short-lived effects.
[News of Interest to Corporate CEOs]
1. Chey Tae-won: "Cooperation With Kioxia Possible, Overseas Investment to Be Confirmed This Year"
- Key points: SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won said the group is reviewing the construction of a new memory chip plant in Japan and could present a concrete investment plan by year-end. In an interview with Japan's Asahi Shimbun on the 2nd, Chey assessed that memory chips for data centers are 20% to 30% short of demand. Large-scale investment already under way in South Korea alone will not be enough to meet that demand, he explained. He cited Japan as a candidate site, calling it attractive in terms of risk and culture. SK hynix is also effectively the largest shareholder in Kioxia, the Japanese NAND flash maker, through convertible bonds. Chey said the two companies could cooperate on joint production, research and development and supply chain sharing, citing Sandisk of the U.S. as a model case. According to Counterpoint Research, Samsung Electronics (005930) ranked first in global NAND flash shipments in the second quarter of this year at 25%, followed by SK hynix at 22%, raising the possibility that the market landscape could shift if cooperation between the two firms gets under way in earnest.
2. Rate Tsunami From the U.S. Hits Korea's Low-Income Households and Stretched Homebuyers First
- Key points: A surge in global long-term government bond yields is increasing upward pressure on domestic market rates. On the 2nd, three-year Korean treasury bonds closed at an annualized 3.93%, up 0.052 percentage points from the previous day, while 10-year treasury bonds finished at 4.418%, up 0.047 percentage points. The same day, the U.S. 10-year Treasury yield hovered around 4.8%, its highest since early last year, just before U.S. President Donald Trump returned to office, while the 30-year yield, used as a benchmark for mortgages, climbed to 5.27%, the highest since June 2007. Analysts say that if the Bank of Korea raises rates one or two more times, mortgage rates now topping out in the 7% range will move into the 8% range. Household debt in South Korea stood at 2,019.8 trillion won at the end of June.
- Key points: Behind the decision by the Ministry of Science and ICT, which relocated to Sejong more than seven years ago, to place the offices of a newly created organization in the Seoul metropolitan area lies a labor shortage spreading across industries. According to a 2025 survey on corporate research workforce supply and demand by the Korea Industrial Technology Association, 5,444 of 8,569 corporate research institutes in national strategic technology fields, or 63.5%, are located in the Seoul metropolitan area. In addition, an analysis by the National Assembly Budget Office of 97 institutions relocated under the first round of public agency relocation found that the average number of departing employees rose from 38 before relocation to 60 afterward. Experts said that unless the concentration of talent in the capital area is resolved, balanced development strategies such as the three mega projects and the second round of public agency relocation could produce only short-lived effects, and recommended expanding support for young adults working in the regions.
[Reference News for Corporate CEOs]
4. FDA Approval Delayed by Lack of Track Record: 95% of Bio Materials, Parts and Equipment Imported
- Key points: While major domestic bio companies expect to join the 5 trillion won revenue club this year, most of the materials, parts and equipment needed for bio manufacturing depend on foreign firms. According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, domestic bio companies imported more than 95% of their raw and subsidiary materials as of 2024, with the import share of high-value core items such as culture media and filters running even higher. A lack of track record is cited as a reason localization has been slow: if materials without a verification history are used, additional proof of their effect on quality and safety is required in reviews by overseas regulators such as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. In response, the government plans to introduce a system under which the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety directly certifies the manufacturing and quality of core raw and subsidiary materials, through subordinate legislation to the special act on contract development and manufacturing organizations set to take effect late this year.
- Key points: Combined revenue at South Korea's four major defense companies is approaching 50 trillion won this year. According to financial data provider FnGuide (064850), combined consolidated revenue at Hanwha Aerospace (012450), Hyundai Rotem (064350), Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) and LIG Defense & Aerospace (079550) is projected at 49.7607 trillion won this year, up 22.7% from 40.5452 trillion won last year. Combined order backlog stood at 98.4553 trillion won at the end of June, up 16.6% from a year earlier, while research and development spending in the first half reached 1.0544 trillion won, topping 1 trillion won for the first time on a half-year basis. Defense division employees numbered 19,156, an increase of 1,648, or 9.4%, from a year earlier, and the companies are also pouring funds into capital investment, including expansion of the Boeun plant and additional production facilities in Gumi and Gimcheon.
- Key points: Doosan Fuel Cell is entering the U.S. power market by supplying fuel cells to artificial intelligence data centers there. Doosan Fuel Cell said in a regulatory filing on the 2nd that it signed a 501.4 billion won contract to supply phosphoric acid fuel cells (PAFC, power generation equipment using phosphoric acid as an electrolyte) to HyAxiom, the U.S. subsidiary of Doosan. The contract amount is equivalent to 110.25% of last year's annual revenue of 454.8 billion won. Deliveries will be made in stages from the second half of this year through the first half of 2028, and HyAxiom plans to supply the units to AI data centers in the U.S. Meanwhile, with data centers taking about 18 months to build while large power plants and transmission and distribution network expansions require several years or more, global big tech firms are expanding on-site power arrangements, making fuel cells a leading alternative.
▶Go to article: Rate Tsunami From the U.S. Hits Korea's Low-Income Households and Stretched Homebuyers First
▶Go to article: August Prices Up 3.1%, With Living Costs Also Stirring
