Global Scans · South Korea · Weekly Summary

WHAT'S NEXT?: South Korea may go nuclear if Trump cancels the missile deployment and leaves the country alone facing the North's threats. With the President facing an impeachment vote and mass demonstrations on the streets political and economic turmoil may follow. Chinese markets has already shaken South Korea, where central bankers downgraded their forecasts for economic growth.

• [New] South Korea's export data and manufacturing surveys on Monday will be watched for signs the AI-driven investment boom is continuing to offset weakness in more traditional sectors. financialpost
• [New] Claude usage in South Korea exceeds the expected level based on population size by more than 3.5 times. Build Fast with AI
• [New] Asia-Pacific is projected to witness the fastest growth due to aggressive deployment activities in China, Japan, and South Korea. DataM Intelligence
• [New] The agreement, mediated by South Korea's government, means Samsung will set aside 10.5% of operating profits at its semiconductor division to pay special bonuses to its chip workers. The Guardian
• [New] Recent announcements include, Indonesia's plan to develop a 100 GW solar-plus-storage capacity, South Korea's plans to triple renewables capacity to 100 GW by 2030, and efforts to accelerate renewables projects across countries including the Philippines, Thailand and the UK. Ember
• [New] In comparison, South Korea increasingly demonstrates how industrial concentration can drive both risk and regulatory change. SpringerLink
• [New] In South Korea, the provinces of Gyeonggi and Gangwon border the DMZ and have hosted a range of initiatives to explore its ecological and social potential. besjournals
• [New] South Korea's Ministry of National Defense plans to reduce the number of troops assigned to frontline guard posts (GP) from 22,000 to 6,000 by 2040 to address South Korea's declining birthrate. American Enterprise Institute - AEI
• [New] India's Department of Telecommunications launched 100 5G Use Case Labs at educational institutions under the national 5G Innovation Initiative, while South Korea's Ministry of Science allocated KRW 390 Bn to smart city 5G integration through 2027. Persistence Market Research
• [New] South Korea is prepared to invest $6.94 billion in AI by 2027. Knowledge Sourcing Intelligence
• [New] The ASP of LPDDR4X solutions will jump by at least 70-75% QoQ for 2 Q26, while the ASP of LPDDR5X solutions will see a QoQ surge of 78-83%. / South Korea TechPowerUp
• [New] Coal is an early winner: Thailand restarting coal plants, Japan and South Korea lifting caps, Italy delaying coal phase-out to 2038, Germany's coal outproducing natural gas. youth4planet
• [New] An increase in its defence budget will send signals to North Korea, China and even Russia that South Korea is part of the US bandwagon, which could trigger a counter-response in the form of an arms race and impact inter-Korean dialog. OBSERVER RESEARCH FOUNDATION ( ORF )
• [New] South Korea is accelerating indigenous tactical UAS production capacity in a manner likely influenced by regional threat escalation and reduced dependence on foreign defence supply chains. Drone Warfare
• [New] South Korea will continue to support Laos by launching a new US$ 1 million (RM4 million) project to promote environmental conservation, research, and ecotourism. Bernama
• [New] South Korea cannot negotiate transit with Iran because any arrangement would risk triggering a tariff retaliation from the Trump administration, and Iran has limited Strait crossings to countries that have maintained greater foreign policy autonomy, such as Thailand, India, and Malaysia. Bloomsbury Intelligence & Security Institute (BISI)
• [New] Global developments continue to strain South Korea through energy exposure and increasingly unpredictable U.S.-led crisis management. Fault Lines
• South Korea: Demand for frictionless retail technologies in South Korea is forecast to expand at 19.4% CAGR through 2036, supported by advanced smart retail infrastructure, strong digital payment adoption, AI-enabled customer analytics, and growing deployment of autonomous convenience stores. FactMr

Last updated: 03 June 2026