Try the Daily Briefing
Try the Daily Briefing for your country of choice for two weeks--free of charge and with no obligation.
Have a service or subscription question? We'd be happy to hear from you.
Intelligence for Better Decision Making
| Domain | Causal Chain | Possible Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Macroeconomics & Growth | (Semiconductor export boom ↑ → Terms-of-trade index ↑ → Current-account balance (% GDP) ↑ → Potential GDP growth revision ↑ → Real GDP growth ↑) | The enhanced terms of trade and external surpluses will underpin upward revisions to potential output and drive stronger real GDP growth. |
| Macroeconomics & Growth | (Memory chip price surge ↑ → Import-price pass-through ↑ → Headline CPI/Core CPI ↑ → Inflation volatility ↑ → Inflation-targeting credibility ↓) | Rising import-price pass-through and inflation volatility may erode confidence in the central bank’s ability to keep inflation near its 2 percent target. |
| Competitiveness | (Semiconductor export boom ↑ → Trade-openness & preferential access ↑ → Real export market-share change ↑ → High-value-added export share ↑ → Total-factor productivity level vs frontier ↑) | Greater preferential access and high-value trade gains will accelerate productivity convergence toward the global frontier. |
| Macroeconomics & Growth | (DRAM price surge–driven profits ↑ → Capital-formation rate ↑ → Business fixed-investment growth deviation ↑ → Private fixed-investment growth ↑ → Potential GDP growth revision ↑) | Surging profits will finance elevated business investment, prompting analysts to hike potential GDP growth estimates. |
| Macroeconomics & Growth | (Memory chip price surge ↑ → Global-value-chain reconfiguration velocity ↑ → FDI net inflow (% GDP) ↑ → Foreign-owned green-field project count ↑) | Accelerated value-chain shifts will draw substantial FDI and increase foreign-owned greenfield semiconductor projects. |
| Firms | (South Korean PPI inflation ↑ → Supply-chain restructuring cadence ↑ → Supplier-delivery-times index ↓ → End-to-end supply-chain lead-time deviation ↓ → Capacity-utilisation in manufacturing ↑) | Faster supply-chain restructuring and reduced lead-time variability will boost manufacturing capacity utilization. |
| Technology & Innovation | (Strategic-sector export risk ↑ → Dual-use export-control restrictiveness ↑ → Semiconductor fab utilisation rate ↓ → AI inference cost index shift ↑ → AI adoption GDP uplift ↓) | Tighter export controls will reduce fab utilization, raise AI inference costs, and dampen AI-driven GDP gains. |
Erudite Risk takes an all risks approach to intelligence reporting. We categorize key intelligence into one of 40 different risk intelligence categories.
The goal is to provide intelligence that allows decision makers to avoid being blindsided by what they may have missed, while informing them to make better decisions as well.
Erudite Risk also includes operations categories so you can monitor the environment for better decision making. Everything is tied together--what happens in risk affects operations and what happens in the market impacts risk profiles.
We categorize key intelligence into one of 30 different operations intelligence categories.
Different roles and functions within the organization can monitor different key issue areas. HR may monitor employment, wages, regulations, labor and management relations, etc., while P&L leaders may monitor overall developing trends.
Korea becomes 1st nation to enact comprehensive law on safe AI usage
Joongang Ilbo | English | News | Jan. 23, 2026 | Regulation
Korea has become the first country to enact a comprehensive law regulating the safe use of AI, known as the AI Basic Act, which took effect on January 22, 2026. The law was passed by the National Assembly on December 26, 2024, with overwhelming support. It establishes a regulatory framework aimed at combating misinformation and other harmful impacts of AI technologies.
The AI Basic Act introduces the concept of "high-risk AI," referring to AI models that significantly affect users' lives, such as those used in employment, loan reviews, and medical advice. Companies using high-risk AI must notify users and ensure safety. AI-generated content must carry watermarks to indicate its origin, a measure designed to prevent misuse such as deepfake content.
The law requires global AI service providers meeting specific financial or user thresholds to appoint a local representative in Korea. OpenAI and Google currently meet these criteria. Violations can result in fines up to 30 million won, though a one-year grace period has been established for compliance adjustments. The government will also promote the AI industry, with the science minister mandated to release a policy blueprint every three years.
1500원 환율의 공습… 식탁 물가 '마지막 방어선' 무너졌다 [프라이스&]
1500 Won Exchange Rate Assault… Dining Table Prices’ Last Line of Defense Collapsed [Price&]
Hankyung | Local Language | News | Jan. 23, 2026 | UndeterminedInflation
The South Korean government announced support measures including discounts on mackerel of up to 60% and plans to diversify import sources in response to a sharp rise in imported mackerel prices, driven by decreased catches in Norway and exchange rate effects. Import prices for major agricultural, livestock, and fishery products increased by more than 8% at the end of last year, with staple items such as napa cabbage, radish, and cutlassfish experiencing price surges of at least 50%, and in some cases doubling year-on-year. This raises concerns over grocery price inflation ahead of the Lunar New Year.
Data from the Korea Customs Service as of December showed import unit prices for 105 agricultural, livestock, and fishery products rose 8.5% year-on-year. Radish and napa cabbage prices surged by over 100%, and finished kimchi products rose nearly 20%, impacting costs for both households and restaurants. Seafood prices have also increased significantly; cutlassfish rose 54.3%, halibut 42.5%, octopus 35.2%, and mackerel 30.7%. These increases reflect both high absolute prices and substantial price pressures on consumers.
Other imported items heavily reliant on foreign supply also saw steep price hikes. Frozen lamb surged 65.1%, chilled lamb 27.7%, pineapple rose 31.5%, and coffee prices increased 27.6%. These products have limited domestic alternatives, making consumers likely to bear these increased costs. Industry experts expect import unit price pressures to persist, largely due to complex global factors and especially the exchange rate which is nearing 1,500 won per US dollar, significantly impacting import costs.
Cold Wave Peaks Today With -19°C Perceived
Chosun Ilbo | English | News | Jan. 23, 2026 | Extreme Weather Events
On January 22, the cold wave in South Korea is expected to peak, marking the coldest day of the winter so far, with Seoul experiencing a morning temperature of minus 13 degrees Celsius and a perceived temperature of minus 19 degrees Celsius. The Korea Meteorological Administration attributes this to a cut-off low-pressure system—a mass of Arctic cold air at minus 35 degrees Celsius—moving southward. Morning temperatures are forecasted between minus 19 and minus 5 degrees Celsius, with daytime highs ranging from minus 7 to 2 degrees Celsius. Strong winds will cause perceived temperatures to be 5 to 10 degrees lower than actual measurements.
Since January, cold waves with temperatures below minus 10 degrees Celsius have become more frequent in Seoul. On the 21st, the city's lowest temperature reached minus 12.2 degrees Celsius, with a perceived temperature of minus 17.9 degrees Celsius. Seoul has had five days this month with temperatures below minus 10 degrees Celsius, and the forecast predicts at least four more such days by the end of January, totaling nine days—roughly one cold wave every three days. Nationwide impacts include frozen seawater observed at Dadaepo Beach in Busan.
Despite global warming leading to milder winters over the past five years, this January has seen an intensification of cold waves due to frequent cut-off low-pressure systems. The weakening jet stream, influenced by global warming, allows Arctic cold air to escape more often. Unlike typical winters dominated by Siberian high-pressure systems at around minus 15 degrees Celsius, this winter has seen more frequent exposure to colder air masses near minus 35 degrees Celsius. Additionally, an unusual persistent high-pressure system east of Korea since January 20 has sustained cold northwesterly winds, prolonging the cold wave. This high-pressure "wall" is expected to maintain the cold conditions for about six days until the weekend.
Try the Daily Briefing for your country of choice for two weeks--free of charge and with no obligation.
Have a service or subscription question? We'd be happy to hear from you.
info@eruditerisk.com
The Daily Briefing is delivered Monday through Thursday via email.
Each day's reports include a combination of:
Takes
Takes are our deep dives into a topic of enduring interest or concern. Takes include copious references to all the media resources we gathered to build them.
Developments
Developments are key issues and incidents being heavily reported on in country. These are the centers of local thought gravity around which everything else revolves.
Risk Media
Summaries and analysis of the most important risk issues reported on in media, arranged by risk category. Learn about risk trends and issues while they are developing--before they blow up.
Ops Media
Summaries and analysis of the most important operational issues reported on in media, arranged by operations category. See what's changing in your market, and what's not.
Government Releases
Government press and data releases on key economic data, regulation, law, intiatives, incidents. Straight from the government's press to your eyes in less than a day.
Embassy and Business Association Releases
Statements and news releases from foreign embassies and business/industry associations, including chambers of commerce.
The Daily Briefing can run 50-100 pages each day!
Luckily, Erudite Risk tailors every report specifically to you.
Content Filtering
We try hard to ensure that every piece of information included in each day's reports will be of interest to our readers.
To fulfill our goal of comprehensively monitoring the intelligence landscape and also keeping reports readable, we build big reports--then deliver only the information that applies to you.
Each Daily Briefing is a bespoke report matched to your concerns. Tell us what you want in it, or we can match it to your professional needs. It's that easy.