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 is expected to post 35.2% CAGR through 2036 as insurers connect health engagement, rewards and reinsurance validation. FactMr
• [New] Overall, South Korea plans to acquire 60 small and micro-sized satellites by 2030 so that the military can monitor the Korean peninsula every thirty minutes. itaadmin
• [New] Global financial firms are pivoting to South Korea, and are taking a more measured approach to China as they balance commercial opportunities and the regulatory environment. Icas
• [New] South Korea risks strategic entanglement with the US as defence cooperation increases, thereby alienating China and Russia. OBSERVER RESEARCH FOUNDATION ( ORF )
• Asia Pacific is the fastest-growing region at 26.5% CAGR, projected to exceed US$ 3,053.2 Mn by 2033, driven by Digital China, India's API Setu, industrial IoT adoption in Japan, and South Korea's high cloud / AI penetration. Persistence Market Research
• All of South Korea's military forces will be trained as drone operators in a sweeping overhaul of its warfare strategy. The Guardian
• In global green trade, the first shipment of green ammonia produced at Envision's Chifeng Net Zero Industrial Park was delivered to LOTTE Fine Chemical in South Korea, marking a milestone in the emergence of green oil as a global zero-carbon commodity. Cision PR Newswire
• Japan, South Korea and Taiwan have increased coal procurement as a hedge against LNG disruptions, while additional support stems from reduced Indonesian domestic supply and a forecast super El Nino event lifting cooling demand in the Northern Hemisphere. Westpac IQ
• The skeptical commentary identifies the risk Seoul would have to manage: a U.S.-DPRK process that prizes leader-level optics, election-year achievement, or partial threat reduction to the United States over South Korea's interest in denuclearization, extended deterrence, and alliance-based security. Fault Lines
• The Middle East crisis is reaching South Korea through energy prices, shipping risk, and defence demand at the same time. Fault Lines
• By 2030, 5G connections are expected to make up 95% of all mobile connections in South Korea, Canada, and the United States. IMARC Group
• South Korea's Financial Services Commission is developing a small-business scoring model that uses Naver SmartStore transaction data and Naver Place local business ratings, shifting early-stage business lending away from simple income checks toward growth potential. Mordor Intelligence
• South Korea has announced plans to deploy nuclear-powered submarines in the late 2030s. UPI
• The IMF cut its 2026 growth forecast by 0.22%, the OECD said global GDP growth is expected to slow from 3.4% in 2025 to 2.8% in 2026, with many Asian countries, such as South Korea, India and Thailand, among the most exposed. Zero Carbon Analytics
• Anthropic signed an MOU with South Korea's Ministry of Science and ICT, committing to collaborate on AI safety and cybersecurity, model evaluation in the Korean language with the Korea AI Safety Institute, and information-sharing on AI-enabled cyber threats. Build Fast with AI
• The Compression Threat: Breakthroughs in AI software efficiency, such as Google's TurboQuant, could fundamentally reduce the physical memory capacity required per server, potentially dampening long-term demand. / South Korea Bingx Exchange
• Japan and South Korea face higher exposure to Gulf energy risks. Insurance Asia
• South Korea's local elections outcomes in key swing provinces will indicate public approval of the Lee Jae Myung administration and ensure its policy momentum. American Enterprise Institute - AEI

Last updated: 08 July 2026