How chip-fuelled wealth is reshaping South Korea

AN UNKEMPT man walks into a pricey shop. The staff dismiss him—until he takes off his jacket and reveals a gilet emblazoned with “SK Hynix”, a semiconductor firm known for handing out massive bonuses. This imagined scene—a recent skit on a South Korean comedy show—lampoons real ones unfolding as AI-driven wealth floods the country. Companies that help arrange marriages report a big uptick in the desirability of engineers from SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics, another semiconductor maker. They are now nearly as sought after as doctors and lawyers. An AI windfall is reshaping South Korean society.

Speaking in Silicon Valley on July 25th, Lee Jae Myung, South Korea’s president, compared the dawn of the AI era to the discovery of fire and called it “a truly new opportunity for Korea”. But the new era also brings new risks: South Korea’s benchmark stock index, KOSPI, has doubled in...

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