Editing Economy of South Korea (section)

===The economy after the COVID-19 pandemic===
South Korea faced a turning point in its economy in 2023. With the constant growth of mainland China's manufacturing industry and the impact of COVID-19, South Korea's manufacturing sector is experiencing a consistent decline. According to SP Global, South Korea's export of manufactured goods to mainland China, one of the biggest trading partners of South Korea, had decreased by 4.4% in the fourth quarter of 2022 and by 31% in January 2023.<ref name="auto">{{Cite web |date=2023-02-03 |title=South Korea's economy faces rising headwinds in 2023 |url=https://www.spglobal.com/marketintelligence/en/mi/research-analysis/south-koreas-economy-faces-rising-headwinds-in-2023-feb23.html |access-date=2023-10-08 |website=IHS Markit}}</ref> On the other hand, their primary electronic manufacturing industry is facing a downturn. While information and communication technology maintained 34% of South Korea's total 2022 exports, at the end of the year, it decreased to 24%.<ref name="auto"/> The government had to incur a massive fiscal spending in 2020, leading a rise in the fiscal deficit as projected in their budget.<ref>https://english.moef.go.kr/ec/selectTbEconomicDtl.do?boardCd=E0002&seq=4852</ref> Moreover, their forecasted debt-to-GDP ratio jumped to 41.2% of GDP in 2020 from 37.1% of GDP in 2019. In 2021, the government unveiled a $29 billion extra budget to aid small businesses and boost employment.<ref>https://hr.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/industry/south-korea-unveils-29-billion-extra-budget-to-aid-small-businesses-expects-to-add-164000-jobs/84024884</ref> In 2024, the government forecast a debt-to-GDP ratio was 47.4% of GDP.<ref>https://english.moef.go.kr/pc/selectTbPressCenterDtl.do?boardCd=N0001&seq=5943</ref>

With downturns in many manufacturing industries, South Korea has been facing a recession. Many economists state the reason for industries' slowdown as deteriorating global conditions. The inflation rate in South Korea is regularly rising, and the problems in the domestic economy, such as household debt, population problems, and productivity problems, are the key fiscal and monetary factors that hold South Korea's economic growth.

Due to the sudden evolution of COVID-19, private consumption decreased, and a bottleneck in the supply sector occurred. With this situation, the Bank of Korea indicated that the consumer inflation rate rose about three percent after COVID-19 evolved. Assuming that South Korea's interest rate was low compared to other countries, raising house prices and household debt became one of the problems in South Korea's economy.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-02-04 |title=South Korea's strong economic performance faces post-pandemic challenges |url=https://www.eastasiaforum.org/2022/02/04/south-koreas-strong-economic-performance-faces-post-pandemic-challenges/ |access-date=2023-11-26 |website=East Asia Forum |language=en}}</ref> To stabilise the inflated economy, the government has passed the "Korean New Deal Program" to invest 144 billion dollars.<ref>{{Cite web |title=South Korea's Green New Deal in the year of transition |url=https://www.undp.org/blog/south-koreas-green-new-deal-year-transition |access-date=2023-11-26 |website=UNDP |language=en}}</ref> This expansionary fiscal policy promoted private consumption and increased the number of jobs. This expansionary fiscal stimulus is designed to recover the economic and social impact of COVID-19 from the existing climate and environmental dangers. The New Deal policy is divided explicitly into healthcare and green industries.

South Korea's Ministry of Economy and Finance asserted the New Growth Strategy 4.0 in August 2023. The New Growth Strategy  suggests projects for South Korea's long-term industry growth.<ref>{{Cite web |title=New Growth Strategy 4.0: Measures to address challenges in carrying out primary projects |url=https://english.moef.go.kr/popup/20230825_policyFocus/popup.html |access-date=2023-10-08 |website=english.moef.go.kr}}</ref> The South Korean government advocates these policies as a New Growth 4.0 project, which aims to generate tangible outcomes in the future by setting the focus of policy and investments towards emerging industries. To achieve these goals, the strategy outlines the following key guidelines:

# Foster AI semiconductor industries and build up a collaborative ecosystem between businesses.
# Dominate the global market of the Urban Air Mobility (UAM) industry.
# Secure Clean Hydrogen Production Technology via Water Electrolysis.
# Advance Autonomous Driving Technologies.
# Promote the Battery Re-manufacturing and Reuse Markets.
# Expand the Private Sector-led My Data Based Services.
# Streamline the Ordering Process of Research Equipment or Facilities to Alleviate Administrative Burdens.

Besides this, South Korea is one of the countries with excellent healthcare systems, biomedical technology, and AI technology. While South Korea's value in the medical industry is projected at around 6.7 billion dollars, the medical technology market is projected to reach 11.5 billion dollars.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=cycles |first1=This text provides general information Statista assumes no liability for the information given being complete or correct Due to varying update |last2=Text |first2=Statistics Can Display More up-to-Date Data Than Referenced in the |title=Topic: Medical technology in South Korea |url=https://www.statista.com/topics/9716/medical-technology-in-south-korea/ |access-date=2023-10-08 |website=Statista |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Medical Technology - South Korea {{!}} Statista Market Forecast |url=https://www.statista.com/outlook/hmo/medical-technology/south-korea |access-date=2023-10-08 |website=Statista |language=en}}</ref> The annual projected growth rate of the medical industry is over 6%, which indicates a bright future for the industry. Many economists suggest that by adopting AI technology, South Korea will be a bio-medical industry-leading country. An article about the future data-driven healthcare industry in South Korea suggests that AI technology helps the medical industry provide customised medical services for patients and can utilise the benefits and costs.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Choi |first1=Ji-Young |last2=Lee |first2=Hee-Jo |last3=Lee |first3=Myoung-Jin |date=2022-04-21 |title=Future Scenarios of the Data-Driven Healthcare Economy in South Korea |journal=Healthcare |volume=10 |issue=5 |pages=772 |doi=10.3390/healthcare10050772 |issn=2227-9032 |pmc=9141477 |pmid=35627908 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

In April 2025, the incorporation of Korean government bonds into the "World Government Bond Index" was postponed from November this year to April next year. After being listed as a prospective candidate for incorporation in September 2022, it was successfully included in the regular market classification report in the second half of October 2024.<ref>{{Cite web |last=뉴시스 |date=2025-04-09 |title=한국, 세계국채지수 WGBI 편입 확정…시점 내년 4월로 연기 |url=https://www.newsis.com/view/NISX20250408_0003131469 |access-date=2025-04-14 |website=뉴시스 |language=ko}}</ref>