South Korea's 2026 Chip Boom Risks K-Shaped Inequality, Experts Warn

2 articles · Updated · BusinessKorea · Aug 21

At an Aug. 20 policy seminar, economists said South Korea’s 2026 semiconductor-led boom is lifting growth, exports and conglomerate profits without clearly spreading gains to domestic demand, jobs or low-wage workers.
Professor Lee Kang-kook argued the export-to-income link has weakened since the 2000s as industry became more capital- and technology-intensive, leaving private consumption, wages and household income lagging.
Lee backed the Lee Jae-myung administration’s AI and semiconductor push and fiscal expansion, but warned profits could stay concentrated in a few chaebol and regular workers because semiconductors have a low employment-inducement effect.
He also flagged systemic and climate risks around the three mega projects—semiconductors, physical AI and AI data centers—saying an AI investment bubble could hit the broader economy directly.
Proposed fixes ranged from stronger bargaining power for SMEs and non-regular workers to fair-trade rules, profit-sharing funds and even broader tax increases, as participants debated how to turn high-tech growth into socially shared gains.