AI Widens Job Gap Between Capital Region and Rest of Korea

* Editor's note: AI PRISM (Personalized Report & Insight Summarizing Media) is an AI-based personalized news recommendation and summary service developed with support from the Korea Press Foundation. It selects and provides six news items tailored to each reader type.

1. AI Has Further Widened the Employment Gap Between the Capital Region and the Provinces

Key summary: The Bank of Korea analyzed regional exposure by type of AI — generative, agentic and physical — and found that 93,000 of the 105,000 increase in workers in occupations highly exposed to agentic AI, or 88.3%, were concentrated in the capital region. By contrast, regions with a high share of manufacturing, such as North Gyeongsang, South Jeolla, North Chungcheong and Ulsan, showed high exposure to physical AI, and employment in those occupations has been on a long-term decline in both the capital region and the rest of the country. For people in their 20s, the view was raised that new entrants could be at a relative disadvantage as companies favor workers with expertise, experience and social skills. Shin Hyun-song, governor of the Bank of Korea, stressed that raising AI's productivity effects requires "complementary innovation" that changes production methods, organizations and workforce capabilities together, rather than merely adopting the technology.

2. Support for Setting Up SPCs in Employee Buyouts Will Make Fundraising Easier

Key summary: The special law on employee buyouts being pursued by the Democratic Party of Korea is expected to include a structure under which employees establish a special purpose company (SPC) and use guarantees from policy finance institutions such as the Korea SMEs and Startups Agency and the Korea Credit Guarantee Fund to raise acquisition funds without taking on personal debt. Under the current approach, individual employees must set up a separate corporation and take out loans according to their own credit standing, which takes a long time and carries a heavy debt burden. Lee So-young, the nominee for minister of SMEs and startups, expressed support for employee succession of companies the same day, and observers say the bill could gain momentum. For job seekers, it is drawing attention as a career path in which joining a small or midsize company and staying long term could lead to acquiring management control.

3. Lee So-young: "The Uniform 52-Hour Regulation Should Be Improved"

Key summary: At her confirmation hearing, Lee So-young, the nominee for minister of SMEs and startups, said the provision imposing prison terms of up to two years on business operators who violate the 52-hour workweek does not match the trend toward diversified forms of work and needs to be improved. On the comprehensive wage system, she noted that there are industries and companies for which paying allowances based on working hours is not appropriate, and said a blanket ban or legal restrictions could add to companies' difficulties. The remarks came while she was still a nominee, before taking office, but they are being read as a signal of the policy direction under the ministry and of changes in workplace standards at startups and smaller companies. Job seekers, who are sensitive to actual working conditions after joining a company, are advised to watch how working-hour standards change by industry at the companies they plan to join.

4. Patent Reviews for Young Founders' Startups Cut to One Month

Key summary: Starting in November, startups founded by young entrepreneurs will be able to apply for ultrafast patent examination regardless of their technology field. The program cuts a wait that had averaged 14.7 months across all fields — and 21.3 months in AI — to within one month, allowing companies to confirm early whether their core technologies can be patented and to move faster on attracting investment and commercialization. Securing a patent quickly at home through ultrafast examination also allows companies to obtain overseas patents rapidly in the United States, China and Japan through the Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) program. For job seekers preparing to start a business, it is seen as laying the groundwork to secure rights to technology ideas sooner and enter the market ahead of competitors.

5. In Japan, the Government Guarantees Loans for Employee Buyouts: "A Solution That Protects Both Technology and Jobs"

Key summary: Among 1,500 small and midsize companies with agreements at Woori Bank's corporate banking centers, 59.1% have a chief executive aged 60 or older, and 44.8% of those companies are considering a sale to a third party. Japan enacted a law to facilitate business succession after entering a super-aged society in 2007, and as of 2024 the shares of succession by relatives and by employees had become equal at 35% each. The United States supports employee buyouts through leveraged employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs), with the Small Business Administration providing guarantees of up to 85%. Ahn Dong-hyun, a professor at Seoul National University, said that "small and midsize companies need accompanying support such as guarantees from policy finance institutions or acquisition financing," and discussions on expanding such programs are gaining traction in Korea as well.

6. "Slowing AI Is the Wrong Strategy": Jensen Huang Backs Trump's Argument

Key summary: Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang directly rebutted calls to slow AI development at the All-In Summit in Los Angeles, dismissing claims that AI is replacing jobs as lacking evidence. Citing the example of radiologists, he stressed that jobs do not disappear even when AI automates tasks, and said demand is instead rising for workers with the ability to use AI. President Donald Trump said in a call that the country that wins in AI wins, and that data centers will be the oil of the next 20 to 25 years. With AI technology continuing to spread rapidly, observers say job seekers would do better to internalize AI as a capability to use rather than view it as a competitive threat.