Asia-Pacific

Cloud computing, artificial intelligence (AI)-based tools, digital advertising, e-commerce platforms and online human resources systems have become the most practical way smaller firms close the capability gap with larger competitors.

South Korea’s record $700 billion in exports in 2025 is an achievement. But relying on a narrow set of export champions while limiting imports and domestic productivity will not deliver durable prosperity. Korea must pivot toward economy-wide productivity growth.

If South Korea seeks a globally credible competition law framework, it should avoid implementing a model of digital antitrust regulation that is, in many ways, even more intrusive than the EU's Digital Markets Act.

Some Korean commentary misreads AGI as a threat to labor and a rationale for public compute. In reality, AGI is better understood as a productivity shock that expands economic output. Resetting the narrative is essential for Korea to pursue policies that strengthen private-sector capacity, support AI diffusion, and enhance innovation.

Lowering tariffs with India would reinforce one of America’s most important emerging technology partnerships. Completing negotiations and sustaining investment would strengthen supply chains and enhance U.S. economic and strategic competitiveness.

South Korea has quietly entered a new phase of its space ambitions. But to compete in the space economy, Seoul must focus on industrial design—not just technology. The real contest lies not in launch, but in satellite manufacturing, network infrastructure, data processing, and the services built atop them.

Transnational scam networks, often based in Southeast Asia and exploiting weak governance, have stolen billions from U.S. consumers, and effectively combating them requires bipartisan legislation, stronger public-private coordination, and sustained international cooperation.

Korea cannot match the United States on foundational model innovation or China on manufacturing scale. But it holds a unique combination of strengths that neither possesses together: semiconductor fabrication, precision manufacturing, and world-class industrial robotics deployment.

Sejin Kim speaks about harnessing the potential of AI, at the 4th Annual Geopolitics of Technology in East Asia hosted by the Stanford University Center for International Security and Cooperation (CISC).