Reference News Network, November 25 report: The Spanish newspaper "Desarrollo" published an article titled "South Korea Seeks New Drivers of Economic Growth" on November 22. The author is José Orivel, the following is a compilation of the content:

The South Korean government and large business groups are facing a serious challenge: how to re-activate economic growth in the context of high dependence on foreign trade.

South Korea once created one of the greatest economic miracles of the second half of the 20th century and successfully built a powerful corporate ecosystem centered around giants such as Samsung, Hyundai, LG, and SK (Sungkyunkwan). Now, the vulnerability brought by high dependence on international trade has made the situation of slowing economic growth in South Korea more likely to worsen.

Last year, South Korea's GDP growth rate was far lower than the level of previous decades, at just 2%. According to the latest forecast by the International Monetary Fund, South Korea's GDP growth rate is expected to be only 1% in 2025, largely due to the impact of trade wars. It is worth noting that exports account for about 40% of South Korea's GDP.

Lee Tae-kyu, head of the global risk team at the Korea Institute for Economic Research, pointed out that according to the Bank of Korea's forecast, South Korea's GDP growth rate will continue to slow down in the coming years, reaching 0.6% by 2045. However, he still defends the growth model based on the strength of private enterprise groups, believing that this model is still effective.

In this model, the chaebols, or family-controlled business groups, have benefited from protectionist policies and have driven South Korea's economic development through continuous evolution of their business types. From consumer goods, including textiles and food, and construction industry after the Korean War for several decades, to heavy industry and chemical industries in the 1970s and 1980s, and later electronics, semiconductors, shipbuilding, and mobile communications, the business scope of the chaebols has been continuously expanding.

Large groups such as Samsung, Hyundai, LG, and SK have successfully transitioned to high-value-added businesses through significant investments in R&D, technology, human capital, and productivity improvements, thereby establishing and consolidating their leading positions internationally. Lotte Group is also among them. Its chemical division plans to invest 600 million euros in the province of Tarragona, Spain, to build its first high-end lithium copper foil factory in Europe for electric vehicle batteries.

Lee Tae-kyu believes that the chaebols must continue to serve as the driving force for South Korea's economic and industrial recovery as they did in the past, and must receive government support. In his view, the new strategy should include several aspects: consolidating the "absolute advantage" in various advanced industries, promoting industrial transformation with digitalization and ecological transition as the focus, achieving diversification of foreign trade markets and products, and accelerating innovation in industries related to artificial intelligence.

Regarding manufacturing, Lee Tae-kyu pointed out several strategic pillars of South Korea: advanced semiconductors; next-generation electric vehicle batteries; technologies based on artificial intelligence; cutting-edge pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, and medical technology; high-value-added shipbuilding industry; military and aerospace industries.

Another key to revitalizing the economy is the service sector. In this area, the South Korean government has consistently pursued clear policies supporting the development of domestic audiovisual, music, and cultural industries since 1997. Lee Tae-kyu pointed out that the export volume of South Korean cultural content has continued to grow between 2010 and 2023. He also mentioned that medical tourism is another profitable field in South Korea's service sector.

In addition to the chaebols, the emergence of some emerging companies also reflects the vitality of South Korea's business environment. One of the most notable cases is the current largest internet service company in South Korea, "Naver." This company was born from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology in 1999. In South Korea, "Naver" has become the largest search engine, surpassing Google.

South Korea has the most digitally advanced public management system in the world, which provides many conveniences for enterprises doing business in South Korea: the South Korean government launched the "KakaoTalk" application in 2010. The program currently has 49 million users, who use it to handle various administrative procedures and transactions. (Translated by Wang Meng)

Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7576575034660094491/

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