00:02You're listening to AI Prism from Seoul Economic Daily.
00:30Job Hopping just hit a record low, and that's squeezing everyone else's talent pool.
00:35SK Group's Che Taewon says if he were 20 again, he'd skip chips entirely and found
00:40something that solves a harder problem.
00:43And private equity is moving too.
00:45Bain Capital just injected billions of won into one of its own portfolio companies ahead
00:51of a corporate split.
00:53It's Monday, October 19th.
00:55Let's look at what this means for startups and entrepreneurs in Korea.
01:00The Ministry of SMEs and Startups selected 48 projects under its AX Sprint program to commercialize
01:06AI tools for real factory floors, spanning auto parts, food, and publishing.
01:12Separately, Pohang's Steel Industrial Complex is launching a four-year AI transformation
01:18project backed by steelmakers, universities, and tech firms.
01:22Both programs aim to give small and mid-sized manufacturers access to AI they couldn't otherwise
01:28afford to build alone.
01:30Here's what the numbers show.
01:32The government selected 48 AX Sprint projects worth a combined 124.2 billion won, or about
01:4092.7 million dollars, spanning safety, production, management, and consumer-facing AI.
01:48Pohang's Steel AX project runs through 2029 with 23.5 billion won, or about 17.5 million dollars,
01:57in combined national and local funding across 15 companies and research institutions.
02:03Semiconductor industry job switching fell roughly 50 percent in the first half of this year, compared
02:09with a 30 percent drop in 2025 and a 14 percent drop in 2024.
02:15Entry-level chip postings jumped 47 percent over the same period last year, pushing overall
02:21semiconductor hiring growth to 20 percent versus a 14 percent average across other industries.
02:27Bain Capital will inject 64 billion won, or about 47.8 million dollars, into eco-marketing,
02:35ahead of splitting off its Andar apparel brand on November 1st.
02:39SK Group Chairman Jae Tae-won, in an EBS lecture aired October 12th to 16th, said AI-era founders
02:46should tackle problems like water scarcity and food supply rather than chase existing industries
02:52like chips.
02:53So, what does this mean for founders building in Korea?
02:57Earlier, we said semiconductor job hopping just hit a record low.
03:01Here's what that actually means for you.
03:04Competing for talent against the Chebors just got harder.
03:08So your pitch to candidates needs to lean on equity, mission, and speed, not salary alone.
03:15Watch which AX Sprint applicants actually reach production.
03:19The 48 selected projects are the clearest signal yet of which manufacturers are ready to buy AI
03:25tools, not just pilot them.
03:27Watch the Pohang testbed as a template.
03:30If steelmakers in universities can share one AI testbed in a single industrial city, that
03:36model could replicate in other regional manufacturing clusters where you're trying to sell.
03:42That's today's AI Prism.
03:44Founders.
03:45This episode was produced with AI assistants based on Seoul Economic Daily reporting and reviewed
03:51by a human editor.
03:52A.I.
03:53Prism is a WANIFRA award-winning series.
03:56We'll be back tomorrow.
03:57You've been listening to AI Prism from Seoul Economic Daily.
04:01k
04:02We'll be back tomorrow.
04:04Thanks're back for down the slowday story.
04:04Here we go.
