Korea JoongAng Daily - Daily News from Korea

This article is by Shin Ha-nee and read by an artificial voice.

After two decades in the industry, singer Taeyang of K-pop legend Big Bang returns to the basics — his quintessential self, reimagined in his first full-length album in nine years, "Quintessence."

"When I first started working on this album, what I focused on most was figuring out what could feel the most like me while still being new," Taeyang said during a press conference held at Cube Convention Center in Mapo District, western Seoul, on Monday.

"I've made a lot of music for the past 20 years, so challenging myself with something new was difficult in some ways," he continued. "Still, I deliberated a lot about what I could do at this point to try something new. All those thoughts and experiments are reflected throughout this album."

Taeyang debuted as a member of the boy band Big Bang in 2006. As a soloist, he is best known for his 2014 hit "Eyes, Nose, Lips," a slow-tempo R&B ballad.

Yet his latest lead single, "Live Fast Die Slow," marks a clear shift in tempo — "probably the most fast-temp song I have ever released," according to Taeyang — reflecting his attempt to venture into new musical territory. The upbeat, fast-paced pop track centers on lyrics that serve as "a declaration of the time spent fiercely living while holding onto his own center amid a fast-moving reality," according to his agency The Black Label.

Taeyang's latest album, "Quintessence," is the vocalist's first full-length solo release in nine years since his third studio album "White Night" (2017), and comes three years after his second EP, "Down to Earth" (2023).

"Quintessence" features 10 songs: the lead track, "Live Fast Die Slow," along with B-sides "Bad," "Would You," "Movie," "Open Up," "Love Like This," "Yes," "Now," "G.O.A.T," and "4U."

The Kid Laroi is featured on "Open Up," while Tarzazan and Woochan of Allday Project — labelmates to Taeyang under The Black Label — are featured on "Would You."

Renowned producers from The Black Label, including Teddy Park, Kush, Vince and VVN, worked closely with Taeyang on the release, alongside global producers such as Paul Blanco, who is credited on multiple tracks including "Love Like This" and "Yes." Rapper Tablo of Epik High is also credited for writing lyrics for multiple songs, including "Movie."

The collaboration with Blanco started with an offer from the Korean Canadian producer, who grew up listening to Big Bang songs and therefore had a personal understanding of Taeyang's discography and legacy, according to the singer.

"He really loved our early R&B tracks like 'A Fool of Tears' [2006]," Taeyang said, expressing gratitude to Blanco's commitment in producing the album.

As for The Kid Laroi, Taeyang said the collaboration was a result of a streak of luck. His team had already envisioned the Australian singer as an ideal collaborator for "Open Up," but had not had the chance to reach out when The Kid Laroi happened to visit Korea for a Spotify event, leading to a dinner meeting, a studio tour and, ultimately, the collaboration.

The collaboration with Allday Project's Tarzzan and Woochan, on the other hand, was Taeyang's idea, as the group reminded him of Big Bang's early days as rookies.

"Watching Allday Project debut, for some reason, reminded me a lot of how it felt when we debuted," he said. "When they recorded the verses, I felt that it brought in the kind of freshness and texture we had back when we first debuted."

Looking back on the full year he spent preparing for the album, Taeyang said he began the project to dig into the core of his musical identity, seeking an answer — and ultimately decided that a quintessence cannot be defined in a single word.

"What I realized in the process is that even if you think you've found your essence, defining it as one thing and ending it there doesn't mean you've truly found it," he said. "For example, when we talk about freedom or love, there are so many layers that make up those words, an...

This article is by Lee Jae-lim and read by an artificial voice.

Samsung Electronics' largest labor union is sticking with a plan to strike beginning Thursday, even as a court order requires key operations to continue at normal levels, with unions facing fines of 100 million won ($67,000) per day should they violate the court decision.

The Suwon District Court partially granted an injunction sought by Samsung against its unions on Monday. While stopping short of prohibiting the strike outright, the court ordered that operations at semiconductor factories be maintained at normal levels of staffing, operating hours and scale in key areas throughout any collective action. The court also barred unions from occupying facilities related to production and core business operations.

Unions found in violation face fines of 100 million won per day, while union chiefs would each be obligated to pay 10 million won per day.

During the same day, the second round of post-mediation talks opened at 10 a.m. at the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC) in Sejong, roughly a week after the first round collapsed without an agreement. Though the union had initially indicated it would resume talks only after the walkout, both sides returned to the table following a public appeal for dialogue from the government and Samsung Electronics Executive Chairman Lee Jae-yong.

Mediation talks between Samsung Electronics' management and labor ended Monday without a conclusion. Discussions are set to resume Tuesday at 10 a.m. in what is shaping up to be a final effort to avert an 18-day strike the unions have announced over unmet demands on wages and bonus distributions.

The Bank of Korea on Monday cited the possibility of a strike as a major risk to the Korean economy. In a worst-case scenario, the central bank estimated that a full production halt could result in damages of 30 trillion won, shaving 0.5 percentage points off this year's economic growth rate. Following the court ruling, however, it is unlikely that chip manufacturing production will come to a full stop.

Yet how significantly an 18-day strike would disrupt chip manufacturing operations remains a matter of dispute, as management and labor have staked out conflicting interpretations of what the court meant by "normal levels" of staffing.

While the court defined "normal" as referring to ordinary weekdays, or ordinary weekends and holidays, the Samsung Electronics chapter of the Samsung Group United Union (SGUU) argued that the court's ruling permits weekend and holiday staffing levels to apply even on weekdays, contending that the definition of "normal" in the court's decision could mean any of the three time designations.

The union said the strike will be carried out as planned, with the number of workers required to remain on duty falling below Samsung's requested 7,000 — leaving the vast majority of its roughly 46,000 members free to participate.

Management struck back, arguing that the ruling is unambiguous. It said that weekday-level staffing must be maintained on weekdays, and weekend and holiday-level staffing on weekends and holidays.

"The company will separately notify employees in departments required to report to work as normal during the strike period," Samsung said in a statement following the ruling, adding that it would do everything possible to minimize operational disruption.

Samsung's legal representative, Jipyong, reinforced the management position in a separate statement. "The claim made by the cross-affiliate union and its legal representatives that maintaining weekend and holiday staffing levels during a strike is sufficient to operate safety protection facilities and carry out security operations is an interpretation that contravenes the injunction ruling," the firm said.

A flashpoint is whether the government will invoke its emergency arbitration powers should mediation collapse. Under Korean law, emergency arbitration can be triggered when a strike is determined to ...

This article is by Cho Jung-woo and read by an artificial voice.

Foreigners visiting Jeju Island for a "workcation" may soon see their visa-free stay limit tripled to 90 days alongside a halved income requirement, a policy shift aimed at lowering entry barriers for global remote workers.

Under the proposed guidelines, eligible travelers entering the island without a visa will be allowed to extend their stay up to 90 days, provided they secure a recommendation from the provincial governor and meet the newly relaxed financial threshold. Currently, international tourists from all but 23 designated countries are permitted to enter and remain on Jeju visa-free for only 30 days.

According to the Jeju Special Self-Governing Province on Monday, the Ministry of Justice recently accepted the local government's proposals to overhaul the existing visa exemption framework. The planned administrative adjustment aims to lengthen the temporary stay period and substantially relax the income threshold required under the national digital nomad visa, officially known as the F-1-D visa.

The policy shift addresses a primary criticism of Korea's broader digital nomad initiative. Launched as a pilot program in January 2024, the nationwide F-1-D visa requires applicants to earn at least twice Korea's per capita gross national income (GNI) from the previous year. This translates to a strict annual threshold of 98.76 million won ($66,000), or roughly 8.32 million won per month.

By comparison, Malaysia sets its digital nomad income cap at a much lower annual rate of $24,000, while Spain requires twice its national minimum wage, amounting to 34,188 euros ($40,000) per year. Japan, meanwhile, introduced a similar annual threshold of around $65,000 in March 2024, which grants eligible remote workers a six-month stay.

The anticipated Jeju-exclusive adjustment will slash the current income requirement by half, allowing remote workers earning 4.16 million won or more per month to secure the 90-day extension.

"We plan to review each application based on an official recommendation letter issued by the Jeju provincial government," a Ministry of Justice official said, adding that the province is expected to first vet candidate documents to verify that applicants are genuinely arriving for workcation purposes and that they meet the adjusted GNI baseline.

Regarding the formal adjustment, a Jeju provincial official noted that multiple administrative steps still remain.

The policy push also comes as Jeju experiences a rise in international arrivals. The number of foreign visitors to the island has risen steadily in recent years, reaching a nine-year high last year. According to data compiled by the Jeju Tourism Association, foreign arrivals surged to 2.24 million last year, a 17.7 percent increase compared to the previous year.

Catering to this influx of international travelers, the Jeju Center for Creative Economy and Innovation, which runs the Jeju workcation offices and centers, has been spearheading targeted workcation initiatives for foreign nationals since last year, establishing dedicated coworking spaces and programs in scenic coastal areas.

"The initiative is currently in a trial phase, but we are actively planning to host another specialized workcation program for international visitors this coming June," an official at the Jeju Center for Creative Economy and Innovation said.

According to the provincial government, a total of 100,360 people had traveled to Jeju for workcation purposes as of December last year.

This article is by Kim Nam-young and read by an artificial voice.

More people now disagree with the idea that mothers should stay home to care for their children, according to a recent survey that showed people against the idea surpassing those who agree for the first time since the survey was conducted in 2007.

A total of 34.1 percent of the 7,300 respondents disagreed overall with the statement that children should be cared for at home by their mother, according to a survey by the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs in the first half of this year.

The figure combines the 27.9 percent who said they disagreed and the 6.3 percent who said they strongly disagreed. On the other hand, a total of 33.83 percent agreed with the statement, with 26.91 percent agreeing and 6.92 percent strongly agreeing.

Another 32.05 percent said they neither agreed nor disagreed with the statement.

The health and social affairs institute has been announcing the same survey every three years since 2007. This year is the first time that respondents opposed to the idea surpassed those in support of mothers staying home to care for children.

Results from the inaugural survey in 2007 show a stark contrast.

At the time, 64.7 percent of all respondents agreed overall with the statement that mothers should stay home to raise their kids, with 48.3 percent agreeing and 16.4 percent strongly agreeing.

Only 17.7 percent disagreed overall, which included 15.9 percent who said they disagreed and 1.7 percent who said they strongly disagreed.

Over the past 18 years, the share of respondents who agreed overall that mothers should stay home fell 30.87 percentage points to 33.83 percent. During the same period, the share of those who overall disagreed rose 16.42 percentage points to 34.12 percent.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.

This article is by Sarah Chea and read by an artificial voice.

Mercedes-Benz opened its fifth global brand showroom in eastern Seoul's Seongsu-dong, a neighborhood widely regarded as a cultural hub for young Koreans, on Monday.

Named "Mercedes-Benz Studio Seoul," the venue is part of the German luxury car marque's global initiative — marking the 140th anniversary of the brand — aimed at deepening customer engagement and expanding immersive brand experiences across 18 major cities worldwide. The Seoul opening follows those in Copenhagen, Stockholm, Tokyo and Prague.

Open to both Mercedes owners and the general public, the space will host vehicle launches, showcase the marque's heritage and offer test-drive programs.

"Mercedes-Benz Studio Seoul is a space created for Korea and for our customers and fans. Here, it represents our commitment to becoming even closer to Korean customers [...] and offering experiences that truly reflect the spirit and wellness of music," Mathias Vaitl said on Monday in his last press event as Mercedes-Benz Korea CEO.

The automaker also unveiled the face-lifted Mercedes-Benz S-Class and Mercedes-Maybach S-Class at the showroom. Preorders for both began on Monday ahead of their domestic launch in the third quarter.

The latest Mercedes-Benz CLA, the first model equipped with the company's proprietary Mercedes-Benz Operating System, was also on display.

The CLA is the model that will incorporate Nvidia's Alpamayo autonomous-driving platform, which is expected to debut in Korea next year.

Meanwhile, Mercedes appointed Shirin Emeera, who currently serves as head of dealer model market management and global network development at Mercedes-Benz AG, as the new CEO of Mercedes-Benz Korea. Her term begins on July 1.

Vaitl, who had led the Korean unit since September 2023, was promoted to head of marketing and sales of vans at Mercedes-Benz AG.

This article is by Kim Chang-yong and read by an artificial voice.

An employee restroom at a department store in southern Seoul's Gangnam District fills up stall by stall every day at 3:30 p.m. They're there to do business — but not the expected kind. Instead, they're checking how their stocks did today amid the Kospi boom.

"My team leader disappears every day at 3:30 p.m.," said an employee surnamed Kim, who works at the department store. "I later found out it was because they feel awkward checking the stock prices in the office, so they go to the restroom instead."

"Ever since my team leader started investing in stocks recently, they've been doing it every day."

Department stores are far from the only places where such scenes unfold.

Choi, who works as a caregiver in a provincial city, has recently started arriving at work an hour early to participate in what workers call an "ajumma stock-reading room" in the staff lounge. Ajumma refers to a middle-aged woman, and reading rooms are private chat groups or online communities through which participants share stock tips, investment strategies and real-time trading recommendations.

"It's become routine for employees on the same shift to gather before work, share returns and discuss stocks," Choi said. "As stories spread about how much money someone made in the group, I also felt compelled to participate regularly."

As the stock investment craze spreads across all ages and genders, more retail investors — commonly referred to in Korea as " donghak ants," a term for individual domestic stock investors — are reacting with extreme sensitivity to anything that may affect stock prices. With such investors emerging as a major force in shaping public opinion, politicians and government officials, in turn, are becoming increasingly mindful of them.

The number of people holding shares in listed companies reached 14.56 million last year, according to the Korea Securities Depository, meaning that more than one in four Koreans invested in stocks.

The figure has likely surged, given that the benchmark Kospi has recently extended gains. According to the Korea Financial Investment Association, the number of active stock trading accounts stood at 105.22 million as of May 4 — up by 6.93 million from the end of last year.

As the number of retail investors grows, so does the number of cases in which people grow more sensitive and link everyday government policies or policymakers' remarks directly to stock prices.

Kim Yong-beom, the presidential director of national policy, proposed on May 12 a public dividend plan to redistribute excess tax revenue collected from AI companies to the public. Following his remarks, the Kospi plunged nearly 7 percent, led by major semiconductor stocks, such as SK hynix.

It remains unclear whether Kim Yong-beom's comments directly affected stock prices. However, after foreign media outlets, such as Bloomberg, reported that his remarks had rattled the market, people harshly criticized him on online stock forums, with some claiming that "the policy director bet against SK hynix."

The Korean Pediatric Association, which is not directly related to the financial market, even filed a complaint against him with the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office at 2 p.m. that day, accusing him of violating the Financial Investment Services and Capital Markets Act.

"The capital market is a legitimate path for young people to build wealth, but Kim [Yong-beom]'s comments undermined trust in the market," said Lim Hyun -taek, the head of the association.

There have also been cases in which people issued death threats over ordinary policy discussions by civic groups, claiming that they could affect stock prices. For instance, after it became known that some civic groups, including the People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy, would hold an emergency forum titled "How should excess profits from semiconductors be shared?" on May 13, posts threatening to kill participants appe...

This article is by Shin Ha-nee and read by an artificial voice.

Boy band ZeroBaseOne was given two and a half years from the start. After reaching what was once supposed to be its ending point, the group is beginning anew — this time as a five-member act.

Its sixth and latest EP, "Ascend-," comes at a delicate moment as the group has nearly halved in size at the height of its popularity, from a nine-member group to a quintet. Yet the remaining five are still looking upward.

"The album's title, 'Ascend-,' signifies moving upward, while the hyphen at the end is also a key part of the album's message," said leader Sung Han-bin during a group interview with journalists in southern Seoul on Friday. "The hyphen represents how we are carrying on — now with the five of us."

ZeroBaseOne debuted in 2023 as a project group consisting of the nine winners of the first season of Mnet's audition program "Boys Planet" (2023), destined from the beginning to disband after its contracted promotion period of two and a half years.

The contract was later extended by two months into March, when the group held its farewell concert as members Sung, Kim Ji-woong, Seok Matthew, Kim Tae-rae and Park Gun-wook remained ZeroBaseOne, while the other four members — Zhang Hao, Ricky, Kim Gyu-vin and Han Yu-jin — have departed from the group, to debut anew as AND2BLE, along with former EVNNE member Yoo Seung-eon.

The farewell, which Sung described as "the greatest sadness I have ever felt in my life," took an emotional toll on the group, if the tearful ending of its March concert was anything to go by. But the shift also posed a practical challenge: ZeroBaseOne, which had sold more than a million copies with each of its six consecutive albums since debut, now has to keep that momentum with nearly half its original headcount.

"It would be a lie if I say we had no concerns about that," Park said. "But those concerns only fueled our passion as a team. As we prepared for this album, our goal became making music persuasive enough that people would want to keep listening to it, rather than focusing on album sales figures and achievements."

"We do feel a sense of responsibility, but we want to make something that may stay in people's hearts and memories," said Kim Ji-woong. "If we can do that, the momentum will follow. What matters most is reaching people's hearts."

The group's sixth EP, "Ascend-," comes eight months after its first full-length album, "Never Say Never" (2025), and marks the group's first new release since the shake-up.

The album features seven songs: the lead track, "Top 5," and B-sides, "Intro.," "V for Vision," "Customize," "Exotic," "Changes" and "Zero to Hundred." "Customize," in particular, is a song written by member Park, marking his first self-produced song to be included in an album.

The lead single, "Top 5," leans into contemporary R&B with a minimalistic instrumental, which the group's agency, WakeOne, described as "a modern reiteration of the 2000s dance pop."

According to Seok, the song instantly reminded him of Usher, Michael Jackson and Justin Timberlake.

"The moment I heard the tune, I could imagine how the performance would look like," he added.

"Because the title is 'Top 5,' I initially thought this song would be about our declaration going forward," said Park. "But it's more about being drawn to someone, which was unexpected. But I think it's going to be a good synergy."

At the same time, the group is taking a more stripped-down visual approach, with lighter makeup and everyday, casual outfits in its promotional images — a minimalist turn meant to signal the members' maturity in the second chapter of their career.

"This time, we opted for a cleaner style rather than something flashy," said Sung. "What we realized during this album's preparation was that we still have so many things we want to do and try. So when we put forward minimalism in our concept this time, it meant that we want to preserve what remains inside us — th...

This article is by Lee Jae-lim and read by an artificial voice.

[NEWS ANALYSIS]

From semiconductors and camera modules to displays, Apple has long wielded enormous influence over suppliers thanks to its massive order volumes and the prestige that comes with being part of its supply chain. But when it comes to memory chips, that dominance is slipping.

The device manufacturer now finds itself competing for chip supply against other U.S. tech giants since the AI boom upended the industry's established order.

Demand is tilting increasingly toward U.S. hyperscalers such as Nvidia and Google, which are aggressively moving to secure high-end memory chips that are already in prolonged short supply. That supply flows primarily from two Korean chipmakers, Samsung Electronics and SK hynix.

Apple, alongside its rivals, is now scrambling to secure dynamic random access memory (DRAM) chips, the prices of which continue to surge as memory suppliers shift focus toward high-performance chips known as high bandwidth memory (HBM), driven by massive orders from Nvidia. The pivot toward profitable HBM has, paradoxically, driven up consumer DRAM prices due to a supply shortage.

The AI boom has also changed the way Apple secures chip agreements with Korean manufacturers. Where procurement contracts were once largely informal and short-lived, tech giants are now lining up to sign long-term supply deals spanning up to five years with the two Korean chipmakers.

"Before the AI era, long-term supply agreements were not binding or as lengthy as the ones that are being contracted now," said a senior executive at the semiconductor industry who requested anonymity. "Back then, big buyers like Apple held the power. Even when contracts spanned a year at most, there were no penalties if they chose not to fulfill their end of the bargain. The agreements were signed on the basis of trust."

Samsung and SK hynix have not disclosed which companies they have signed long-term supply agreements with, but Samsung has already secured several, according to its latest earnings calls.

Since January, multiple reports have noted that sales executives from Big Techs such as Apple, Amazon, Google and Dell have been stationed at business hotels in Gyeonggi, where Samsung's and SK hynix's chip facilities and headquarters are located.

Apple's position is further complicated by the fact that even high-performance consumer DRAM, such as low-power double data rate (LPDDR) chips, is increasingly being channeled to AI servers, leaving device makers competing for a far smaller slice of the supply.

"LPDDR products with the highest reliability and the highest capacity are no longer being developed with personal devices in mind," said a source in the semiconductor industry, requesting anonymity. "All three major DRAM manufacturers — whether it's Samsung, SK hynix or Micron — are producing these components in Socamm form factors to be integrated with CPUs in AI servers."

Socamm modules consist of repackaged LPDDR chips originally designed for smartphones, allowing CPUs to access low-power memory within AI servers.

Kim Dong-won, an analyst at KB Securities, also attributed the memory crunch to U.S. hyperscalers absorbing DRAM supply for their data centers.

Second-quarter DRAM and NAND prices are anticipated to exceed earlier projections, with an on-year price increase of 194 percent for DRAM and 244 percent for NAND in 2026, according to KB Securities.

"Current second-quarter price appreciation is being driven primarily by server DRAM and enterprise SSDs [solid-state drives], with AI data center operators absorbing 70 percent of total memory shipments," Kim said.

This leaves device manufacturers like Apple with little choice but to procure chips at a costly price. Reports indicate that the U.S. company is now securing large volumes without negotiating separate price discounts, a move widely interpreted as an effort to assert greater control over its component procurement pipeline and s...

Won Ok-kum

The author is a representative of the Migrant Center Donghaeng and is originally from Vietnam.

As warm spring sunlight fills the streets, colorful campaign banners have begun appearing across neighborhoods ahead of the June 3 local elections. For some, they may be little more than part of the seasonal scenery. But for migrants such as myself who have made Korea our second home, the slogans on those banners carry a different meaning. When candidates promise to "change residents' lives," I cannot help but wonder whether migrants are included in that vision as well.

Local elections carry a different significance from presidential or parliamentary races. They concern matters closely tied to everyday life: meals served at our children's daycare centers, the streetlights along the roads that we walk each evening and the small interactions shared with neighbors. Korea's local elections are especially meaningful because certain categories of foreign residents are granted voting rights, offering migrants a chance to speak as genuine members of the community. However, many migrants are still unfamiliar with the act of going to the polls and do not fully believe politics can shape their lives.

Six years ago, I experienced this reality firsthand. I was recruited by a political party under the label of the "first migrant woman" and entered a proportional representation primary ahead of the general election. At the time, I believed I could help bring migrants' struggles into public view. But the barriers proved far higher and more rigid than I had expected. As a migrant woman with little political experience and no established support base, I felt as if competing under the same standards as veteran politicians was less of an opportunity than a predetermined elimination process.

After the party's welcoming ceremony ended, I felt abandoned in a harsh field. Passion without preparation left deep scars, and I lacked the tools needed to transform migrants' expectations into political reality. That defeat was not simply a personal disappointment; it exposed the broader limitations facing migrant participation in Korean politics.

Every election season, political parties speak of diversity and seek migrant representatives. But such invitations should not remain symbolic gestures aimed at improving a party's public image. Migrants are members of society who pay taxes, fulfill obligations and possess the right not only to vote but also to seek office. The time has come for migrants to move beyond waiting for a seat at someone else's table and begin preparing our own.

I believe migrant women, in particular, need to build stronger collective networks. That may sound ambitious, but it begins with something simple: gathering our modest demands and supporting one another. When migrants organize and speak collectively, political parties are more likely to treat us as serious partners rather than temporary symbols of inclusion. If one of us chooses to run for office, a strong community must stand behind that person so they are not left to face political storms alone.

Still, migrants' efforts alone are not enough. Migrant women entering politics in an unfamiliar country need strategic support from political parties. This is not a matter of charity or tokenism. Parties should establish incubation programs to help migrant political newcomers understand Korea's political system and gain practical experience. They should also consider separate pathways within proportional representation systems that reflect the unique circumstances facing migrant candidates.

The maturity of a multicultural society can be measured by whether socially vulnerable groups can speak confidently in public life. Local councils exist to address the concerns of neighborhoods. If migrants live in those communities, it is only natural that migrants themselves should participate in the discussions shaping local policy.

Helping neighbors who miss welfare benefits because of l...

Lee Hyun-sang

The author is a columnist at the JoongAng Ilbo.

Korea's semiconductor boom arrived almost overnight. As recently as 2023, Samsung Electronics' Device Solutions division and SK hynix posted operating losses of nearly 15 trillion won ($10 billion) and 8 trillion won, respectively. But the explosive rise of generative AI in the second half of that year rapidly reversed the industry's fortunes. Investments in AI data centers fueled the soaring demand for high bandwidth memory chips, or HBM, turning Korea's memory chipmakers into some of the biggest beneficiaries of the global AI race.

Korean semiconductor firms were able to seize the opportunity because they possessed strong technical capabilities. However, it would be difficult to argue that this extraordinary boom resulted solely from their own skill. Luck also played a major role.

The enormous bonus demands now emerging from semiconductor workers reflect a growing tendency to mistake favorable circumstances for personal achievement alone. Samsung Electronics' labor union has reportedly demanded that 15 percent of the company's operating profit be institutionalized as employee bonuses. Some estimates suggest memory chip employees could receive a cumulative 2.6 billion won per person over the next three years if the proposal were adopted. Both the scale and distribution of such compensation appear detached from economic reality.

Large corporate unions in Korea have long faced criticism for enjoying privileged status, but these demands go beyond that. If realized, they could deepen social tensions and intensify feelings of relative deprivation throughout society. Resistance would likely come not only from shareholders but also from workers in other divisions, as well as subcontractors and nonregular employees. Taiwanese media have already warned that prolonged semiconductor strikes in Korea could damage long-term investment plans and reduce tax revenue — observations that inevitably carry strategic implications from a competing semiconductor economy.

In many ways, the current conflict was foreseeable. Last year, SK hynix formally tied bonuses to 10 percent of its operating profit, raising expectations throughout the industry. Competition between Samsung Electronics and SK hynix to secure semiconductor talent encouraged aggressive compensation policies with little consideration for the long-term consequences. What began as a desperate effort to retain engineers amid chronic labor shortages has now become a major risk factor for the industry itself. The government also bears responsibility for failing to cultivate a sufficient pipeline of advanced technical talent.

The sense of intoxication is not limited to the semiconductor industry. Policymakers who were once associated with fiscal restraint are also shifting their tone. Kim Yong-beom, the presidential chief policy secretary and a former vice finance minister known for emphasizing sound public finances, recently argued that excess tax revenue generated by AI-driven productivity gains should be redistributed to the public.

If today's semiconductor boom and resulting tax revenue surge are truly structural rather than temporary, that would indeed be welcome news. But the evidence remains thin. From the Great Depression of 1929 to the dot-com bubble in 2000 and the global financial crisis in 2008, many economic collapses began with the belief that "this time is different."

The presidential office later clarified that Kim's remarks reflected a personal opinion about how excess tax revenue might be used rather than a proposal to redistribute "excess profits." But that explanation misses the broader issue. The government has already drafted a record-high budget this year while planning to issue 110 trillion won in deficit bonds. Deciding how to use unexpected tax revenue is ultimately a policy choice. But economic experts who once emphasized fiscal discipline should approach such windfalls differently from politician...