South Korean Lawyers Top AI Exposure Study as 19.1% of Workers Hold High-Risk Jobs
Updated
Updated · The Korea Herald · Aug 31
South Korean Lawyers Top AI Exposure Study as 19.1% of Workers Hold High-Risk Jobs
2 articles · Updated · The Korea Herald · Aug 31
Summary
2.92 million South Korean workers covered by employment insurance—19.1% of those analyzed—were in highly AI-exposed occupations, with lawyers ranking first in a government labor study.
Text-heavy and analytical roles dominated the list: legal assistants, patent attorneys, biological science technicians and accountants followed lawyers, while physical on-site jobs such as plasterers and meat-processing workers ranked among the least exposed.
Workers in their 30s were most concentrated in AI-exposed roles, with 53.1% employed in medium- or high-exposure jobs, pointing to broad AI overlap in prime working-age occupations.
Among workers under 30, the 2025 employment index fell to 86.6 in highly exposed jobs versus 92.5 in low-exposure roles, but the institute said the gap cannot be pinned on generative AI alone because declines predated ChatGPT and demographic pressures also weighed.
The report urged occupation-specific AI competency indicators to help job seekers gauge their skills and match with roles as concerns grow over entry-level opportunities.