February 28 (Friday) News Headline

Economy

• Another Year of 'Utility Bill Bombs'… Heating Costs Up 60% in 32 Months… Electricity and Gas Prices Have Risen Over 40% in Three Years… Additional Public Utility Fee Hikes Seem Unlikely Amid Increased Household Burdens

• Car Purchases Plunged by 10.4% Last Year… Group Travel Costs Surged 30%… Car Purchases Fell Over 10% in 2023, with a Steep 29% Drop in Q4… Spending on Food, Lodging, and Entertainment Increased Due to 'Revenge Spending'… Group Travel Costs Rose 29.8% YoY as Travel Demand Recovered… “High Inflation and Rent Burdens Persist… Durable Goods Consumption Likely to Remain Weak This Year”

• Household Labor Income of Low-Income Families Dropped 4.3%… Largest Decline in Five Years… First Quintile Household Labor Income Fell for Three Consecutive Quarters Due to Aging Population… Top Quintile Household Income Increased, but Spending Decreased, Slightly Improving Income Distribution

• Households Earning 5.21 Million KRW per Month Tighten Their Wallets Amid Record Surplus… Q4 Income Growth Rate at 3.8%, Only 2.2% When Adjusted for Inflation… Economic Uncertainty Leads to Consumer Spending Contraction… Spending Growth Rate at 2.5%

• Flood of 'Fake Goose Down'… Retailers Worry About 'Supply Chain & Sales Risks'… Despite Counterfeit Controversies, Ineligible Products Are Increasing, Prompting a Fair Trade Commission Investigation… Platforms Face Accountability, Conducting Full-Scale Investigations and Partnering with Certification Agencies

Finance

• Government Tightens Control on Household Loans While Maintaining 60 Trillion KRW in Policy Loans… Financial Authorities’ ‘Household Debt Management Plan’… Household Debt Growth Rate Managed Within 3.8%… Even Loans Under 100 Million KRW Now Require Income Assessment… Largest-Ever 11 Trillion KRW in Support for Low-Income Financing… Plans to Expand Loans for Revitalizing Regional Real Estate

• Japanese Stock Market Stuck in a Box as Yen Strengthens… Japanese Retail Investors (‘Ilhak Ants’) Buy on Dips… Japanese Stock Holdings Have Increased in February… Risks Include Japanese Interest Rate Hikes and U.S. Tariff Pressures

• Capital Outflows from Bitcoin… Fell Below $85,000… U.S. Tariffs and Economic Uncertainty Add to Market Concerns… Risk-Averse Sentiment Drives Capital Migration… Spot Bitcoin ETFs Witness $1 Billion Daily Outflows… Investors Preparing for a Potential Drop to $70,000

• South Korea’s Net External Financial Assets Surpass $1 Trillion for the First Time… Becomes the 7th Country to Achieve This Milestone… Bank of Korea's ‘2024 International Investment Position’ Report… Net Foreign Assets at $1.1023 Trillion, Up by $292 Billion… Joins the ‘$1 Trillion Club’ Alongside Japan and Germany… Surge in Overseas Stock Investments and Battery Plant Expansions Contributed to the Increase… Short-Term Foreign Debt Ratio Rises Slightly from 20.9% to 21.9%

• KOSPI Drops 1% to 2,610 Level During Trading… NAVER Plunges 5%… Institutional Investors Sell 3.866 Trillion KRW While Retail Investors Buy 6.287 Trillion KRW… Weakness Seen in Medical Precision, Telecom, and Electricity & Gas Sectors… HD Hyundai Electric and KT&G Drop Over 4%… Kakao Up 4%, HYBE Gains Over 2%

Corporates

• Samsung & LG on High Alert as China Ramps Up Competition… Counterpoint Research’s Q4 2023 TV Market Share Report… Samsung Maintains No.1 Overall TV Market Share, But Only 2 Percentage Points Ahead of China’s TCL… LG Electronics Falls to Third Place in Premium TV Market Share Behind TCL

• Steel Industry Moves to File More Anti-Dumping Cases to Block Influx of Cheap Chinese Steel… Government Imposes Up to 38% Tariffs on Imported Steel Plates to Protect the Industry… Dongkuk Steel Files Anti-Dumping Complaint Against China’s Coated and Color-Coated Steel Exports to Prevent Circumvention

• NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang Announces ‘Blackwell Ultra’ Launch in H2 2025, Boosting SK & Samsung… “Demand Is Tremendous… Strong Growth Expected This Year”… New ‘Rubin’ Chipset Set for Release Next Year… HBM Supply Chain Orders Increasing for South Korean Firms… Strengthens SK Hynix’s ‘Three-Way Alliance’

• NVIDIA Remains Strong Despite 'DeepSeek Shock'… Sales and Profits Up 78% and 80% YoY, Respectively… Despite the Rise of China’s Budget AI Chip ‘DeepSeek,’ Demand for NVIDIA’s Equipment Remains High… Q1 Sales Expected to Increase Further, but Trump-Era Trade War Risks Loom

• Amazon Unveils Generative AI-Powered ‘Alexa+’—Its First Upgrade in 11 Years… Subscription Service Priced at $19.99 per Month Starting in March… First Time Alexa Is Being Monetized… Will It Regain Popularity After ChatGPT’s Market Domination?

Real Estate

• Soaring Gangnam Home Prices Worsened by Land Transaction Permit Zone Policies… Korea Real Estate Board’s Weekly Apartment Market Report… Songpa District Prices Surge 0.58%… Prices in Recently Deregulated Areas Jump by 200-300 Million KRW… Rents in Gangnam Also on the Rise

• Home Prices Now Depend on Elementary School Locations… Among the Three Major School Districts, Only Daechi-dong Prices Have Risen… Changes in Student Population Deepen Real Estate Polarization… Over the Past Five Years, Gangnam’s Elementary Student Population Increased by 347, While Nowon Lost 4,810 and Yangcheon 2,680… Raemian Daechi Palace Prices Jump by 800 Million KRW… Areas Like Sanggye and Mokdong Still Below Previous Peaks… “Prices May Rise After Redevelopment Projects Are Completed”

• Farmland the Size of 28 Yeouidos Disappeared Last Year… Statistics Korea’s 2024 Farmland Survey Shows 12th Consecutive Year of Decline… Rice Paddies Account for 50.6% of Farmland, Dry Fields 49.4%

• Over Half of First-Priority Housing Applicants Used Their Housing Subscription Savings Here… 55% of 1.5 Million First-Priority Applicants Used Their Savings for Price-Capped Apartment Complexes… Last Year, Price-Capped Complexes Had a 51% Subscription Closing Rate

• Government Plans to Reduce Construction Site Fall Accidents by Over 10% Annually… MOLIT & MOEL Announce Safety Measures… Over Half of Construction Site Fatalities Are Due to Falls… Strengthening Regulations Even for Private Construction Projects… Emphasis on Installing Proper Safety Equipment and Improving Worker Awareness

Society

• 64% of Seoul Citizens Support Raising the Age for Free Subway Rides for Seniors… Survey of 1,144 Seoul Residents Shows 6 in 10 Support Increasing the Eligibility Age… Main Reasons Include Concerns About the Financial Burden on Younger Generations and Changing Social Perceptions of Seniors

• Prosecution Launches Dedicated Task Force to Investigate Virtual Asset Crimes… South Korea’s Southern District Prosecutors' Office Upgrades Crypto Crime Investigation Team to a Formal Division

• Vietnamese Nationals Entering South Korea for Marriage or Work Involved in Drug Trafficking… Police Arrest 41 Suspects, 15 in Custody… Ringleader Fled to Vietnam, Now on Interpol’s Red Notice List

• Weekend Temperatures to Rise to 10°C Before Snow and Rain Hit… Heavy Snowfall of Up to 50cm Expected in Gangwon & North Gyeongsang After March 1st… Snowfall Alert Could Expand to Inland Areas Including the Seoul Metropolitan Region… Risk of Freezing Rain and Road Icing

• Abandoning Pets Will Result in Fines of Up to 5 Million KRW… Government Strengthens Animal Welfare Laws… Starting in 2026, Animal Welfare Education to Be Introduced in High Schools

International

• U.S.-Ukraine Mineral Agreement Signed, But Details Remain Unclear… Ukraine to Contribute Half of Its Resource & Infrastructure Revenues to a Joint Fund… Uncertainty Surrounds ‘Security Assurance’ Clauses… “Resource Development Impossible Without Territorial Security”

• U.S. Surge in Chinese Direct Imports Could Mean Tariff Impacts Are Worse Than Reported… “$800 and Below” Duty-Free Goods Not Accounted for in U.S. Import Data… Discrepancies Between U.S. and Chinese Trade Figures… Potentially $50 Billion Worth of Underreported Trade

• Musk Outshines Vice President at Cabinet Meeting… Trump Tells Discontent Officials to Leave… Musk Given First Speaking Slot, While VP Spoke for Only 36 Seconds… Trump Orders DOGE Representative in Every Government Department

• Iran Stockpiles Enough Enriched Uranium for Six Nuclear Bombs… Israel Warns of Possible Military Action

Seoul Tribune (c)

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