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Cash Disappearing from Wallets... Only 1 in 6 Payments Uses Cash: How Far Has the 'Cashless Society' Come?
According to a Bank of Korea survey, the proportion of cash payments among domestic adults stood at 15.9% by transaction count, plunging by about 61.5% over 11 years from 41.3% in 2013, leaving only 38.5% of that previous level. The year 2023 marked the first time (at 50.5%) that methods where physical cards are not presented surpassed physical cards in domestic merchant card transactions, with the gap widening further to 52.4% in 2024 and 54.3% in 2025. Simple payment services grew to an average of KRW 1.1053 trillion per day. According to parliamentary data, commercial bank ATMs decreased by approximately 7,700 units from the end of 2020 through mid-2025, with the reduction rate generally higher in regional areas than in Seoul. However, 88% of people still had experience using cash in face-to-face transactions within the past month, making the guarantee of cash accessibility a new policy challenge. On July 15, 2026, the Financial Services Commission officially designated Project Hangang Phase 2 as an innovative financial service, expanding participating banks to 9 and the deposit token holding limit per wallet to KRW 10 million, while the exact start date for live transactions has not yet been officially finalized.
김민경 책임기자 · 08/09/2026
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KBR Research Notes
South Korean Game Market Reaches KRW 23.85 Trillion… Entering a 5-Year Phase of 'Moderate Expansion'
최수진 기자 · 08/02/2026
KBR Special Reports
Where is Population Growth Highest? South Korea's 2026 Population Map Led by Gwangmyeong, Hwaseong, and Pyeongtaek
이태민 책임기자 · 07/18/2026
KBR Research Notes
Is Soju Sales Still Tied to the Economy? The 'Inverted Correlation' Revealed by Data
이태민 책임기자 · 07/10/2026
KBR Research Notes
June 2026 CEO and Board Appointment Analysis: A Closed H1 Appointment Cycle and What Boards Chose
이태민 책임기자 · 07/04/2026
KBR Research Notes
Korean Factories Are Now Heading to the U.S.: Direct Investment Hits $10.1 Billion, Highest in 4 Years
According to the Ministry of Economy and Finance, South Korea's overseas direct investment in the first quarter of 2026 rose by 36.2% to $21.74 billion, with U.S.-bound investment surging 107.6% to $10.15 billion—a four-year high confirming the United States as the top destination for Korean factories. Country-specific statistics for the second quarter of 2025 also showed the U.S. ($5.23 billion) overwhelmingly leading, more than seven times that of Vietnam ($700 million). The U.S. is chosen due to three main factors: a 15% tariff structure finalized through Korea-U.S. tariff negotiations, a $350 billion strategic investment package comprising $200 billion in cash investments and $150 billion in shipbuilding cooperation, and localization strategies in the world's largest market. While advanced industry investments by major conglomerates—such as $26 billion by Hyundai Motor Group, $37 billion by Samsung Electronics, and $10.8 billion by SK On—are concentrated in the U.S., a dual structure persists where Asia, including Vietnam, maintains the base for small and medium-sized enterprise production sites. However, underlying challenges such as domestic manufacturing hollowing and foreign exchange burdens make concurrent domestic investments of 800 trillion won and foreign exchange market management key variables going forward.
이지영 기자 · 07/02/2026
KBR Research Notes
Samsung-SK's 800 Trillion Won Honam Bet Redraws South Korea's Industrial Map
At the Blue House National Report on June 29, 2026, it was officially announced that Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix will invest 800 trillion won to build four memory fabs in the Honam region. As Yongin and Pyeongtaek reach the limits of their power and water supply, the southwestern coast—abundant in renewable energy and water with lower land prices—was chosen as the new base. Creating a nationwide semiconductor belt spanning Honam (front-end processes), Chungcheong (packaging at 81 trillion won), and Yeongnam (materials, components, and equipment), this shifts the Seoul metropolitan area's unipolar system into a multi-core structure. However, challenges such as relocating core talent, infrastructure bottlenecks like ultrapure water facilities, and regional conflicts remain, with companies explicitly noting the possibility of investment changes in their disclosures. Because the 800 trillion won serves as a long-term guideline for the next 10 to 20 years, the success of this blueprint depends on the government's subsequent infrastructure supply, permitting, and conflict mediation capabilities.
이태민 책임기자 · 06/30/2026
KBR Research Notes
Are Salary Hikes Keeping Up with Inflation… The Widening Gap of 'Perceived Wages' in 2026
In the first quarter of 2026, the monthly average nominal wage for regular workers in South Korea rose 3.4% year-on-year to KRW 4.555 million, but inflation-adjusted real wages increased by only 1.3% to KRW 3.847 million, meaning a significant portion of salary increases was absorbed by inflation. With consumer inflation rebounding to 3.1% in May 2026—up from a stable 2.1% in 2025—and the Bank of Korea raising its annual inflation forecast to 2.7%, the possibility of real wages turning negative in the second half of the year cannot be ruled out. Wage recovery speeds varied significantly by company size; in the first half of 2025, large enterprises (300 or more employees) saw a 5.7% increase compared to 2.7% for small and medium-sized enterprises (under 300 employees), with the core of this gap stemming from special allowances such as performance bonuses. Disparities widened not only by scale but also by industry and employment type, with wages in finance and insurance versus accommodation and food services differing by more than three times, while wages for temporary and daily workers actually declined. According to OECD comparisons, South Korea's real wages grew by over 2.9 cumulatively compared to early 2021, surpassing the median value, but the recovery margin itself is modest. Ultimately, the answer to whether 'salaries are keeping up with inflation' depends entirely on which company, industry, and employment type one belongs to.
류현진 선임기자 · 06/22/2026
KBR Research Notes
Where Does South Korea's Humanoid Robot Technology Stand?
In the first half of 2026, South Korea's humanoid robot industry moved beyond exhibition demos into actual industrial site validation stages. Hyundai Motor Group showcased its fully electric Atlas at CES 2026 and presented a mass production roadmap aiming for phased deployment in U.S. plants starting in 2028. Multiple media outlets reported that Rainbow Robotics' mobile dual-arm robot RB-Y1, for which Samsung Electronics is the largest shareholder, has been deployed to Coupang logistics centers for pilot testing. Meanwhile, the government aims to invest over 1 trillion won through the K-Humanoid Alliance by 2030, targeting the development of a robot AI foundation model by 2028 and mass production of over 1,000 units annually by 2029. Strategies among major conglomerates also clearly diverge, with LG Electronics targeting a separate front in home-use humanoids. However, while hardware competitiveness is approaching global levels, AI software (physical AI) remains in a chasing phase behind the U.S. and China, leaving South Korea with the challenge of combining verified hardware with smarter brains and turning field tests into actual revenue.
최수진 기자 · 06/19/2026
KBR Special Reports
Winners and Losers in the AI Transition: How Prepared Are South Korean Enterprises?
According to a Microsoft report (January 2026), South Korea has risen to 18th globally with an AI population adoption rate of 30.7%, entering the clear 'winner' group at the national level. However, a Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) survey revealed that actual corporate AI utilization hovers in the 30% range, exposing a wide gap of about 48 percentage points compared to the 78.4% who acknowledge its necessity. While the utilization gap between large corporations and SMEs stood at 13.8 percentage points, controlling for environmental variables such as education, guidelines, and acceptance attitudes narrowed the pure scale gap to 4 percentage points, confirming that 'environment' rather than 'scale' is the real variable. The AI workforce has grown to approximately 57,000—still falling far short of the U.S. (780,000)—and the wage premium remains at just 6%, leaving a vulnerable link of talent outflow. Ultimately, the success or failure of the AI transition depends not on whether technology was adopted, but on whether the organization has established the environment to convert that adopted technology into organizational growth, presenting an opportunity to narrow the gap.
이태민 책임기자 · 06/16/2026
