Forbes Asia Editors’ Pick — Korea Wealth Creation 2023: At A Crossroads

South Korea’s GDP recovered from the pandemic to expand 2.6% in 2022, faring better than most other developed economies in Asia. But the outlook is far more uncertain: Growth is expected to slow over this year and next on geopolitical tensions, a sluggish global economy and a challenging export sector.

The world’s tenth-largest economy sits at the crossroads of worsening relations between the U.S. and both China and Russia, as North Korea’s missile tests and threats pose constant systemic risk. Longer term, the government is grappling with a demographic crisis: the country’s rapidly aging population. South Korea’s fertility rate fell to a record low of 0.78 last year—the lowest among the OECD’s 38 members—as young people, faced with a dearth of quality jobs, expensive housing and a high-stakes education system, reconsider having children.

Read Michael’s full article on Forbes Asia here.