Global Scans · South Korea · Weekly Summary

WHAT'S NEXT?: South Korea may go nuclear if Trump cancels the missile deployment and leaves the country alone facing the North's threats. With the President facing an impeachment vote and mass demonstrations on the streets political and economic turmoil may follow. Chinese markets has already shaken South Korea, where central bankers downgraded their forecasts for economic growth.

• [New] Japan's AI Promotion Act and South Korea's 2026-2028 AI Action Plan are both designed to build domestic capability rather than rely on imported models. Digital in Asia
• [New] South Korea seeks to avoid the economic risk of angering the PRC by appearing to endorse Taiwanese independence. American Enterprise Institute - AEI
• [New] The European Union, Japan, South Korea and Switzerland will be subject to 15% tariffs on their pharmaceuticals, while the U.K.'s will be 10%. Edge and Odds -
• [New] Trump's plan is expected to exempt generic drugs and maintain more favourable tariff rates for drugs produced in the European Union, Japan, South Korea and Switzerland. The Guardian
• [New] South Korea's petrochemical industry said on the 19th that it is experiencing serious difficulties across its operations - including production disruptions, delivery delays, and deteriorating profitability - amid soaring raw material prices for naphtha and supply instability. Seoul Economic Daily
• [New] South Korea this month became the latest country to unveil new plans around integrating AI into agriculture, joining recent national initiatives from India, the UAE, Saudi Arabia to help farmers navigate climate change, the impacts of war, trade tensions, and unpredictable supply chains. AgFunderNews
• [New] Demand for video games in South Korea is projected to rise at 3.7% CAGR through 2036. FactMr
• [New] Pyongyang's cyber forces are capable of achieving a variety of strategic objectives against diverse targets, including in the U.S. and South Korea, while its growing use of human insider access to circumvent cybersecurity measures threatens targets with stronger defensive measures. Industrial Cyber
• [New] The reported return of two THAAD launchers to Seongju after all six had earlier been moved to Osan has moderated the initial fear that Washington was stripping South Korea's only high-altitude missile defence battery for immediate use in the Middle East. Fault Lines
• [New] South Korea is consulting with the United States and other partners on possible contributions to protect shipping in the Strait of Hormuz as war disruption threatens energy supplies. The Asia Cable
• [New] South Korea, a major importer of crude and exporter of fuels into Asia and beyond, is seeing increasing risks of inflation heating up and the conflict weighing on growth for a nation dependent on Middle Eastern energy imports. Energy Connects
• [New] Memory chips produced by Samsung and SK Hynix in South Korea carry the highest direct risk because of South Korea's 65% helium dependency on Qatar. Carra Globe
• [New] As China's satellite surveillance network strengthens, it will become more difficult for the United States to contain Beijing, and South Korea and Japan will inevitably come under greater pressure.
• [New] Risks include leaked API keys, embedded personal data and excessive permissions granted to AI agents operating in South Korea. Digital Watch Observatory
• South Korea's renewed investment in gun-based air defence suggests a structural reorientation of its layered defence architecture, likely influenced by observed cost-exchange failures in Ukraine where high-value interceptors were expended against low-cost drone threats. Drone Warfare
• The disbanding of South Korea's Drone Operations Command represents an institutional seam that, if exploited through coordinated drone ISR and special operations integration, could degrade counteroffensive cohesion before armored contact is established. Drone Warfare
• Predictive Analysis: South Korea will likely initiate formal legislative or military review to reconsolidate counterdrone command authority at the division level, given the documented disbanding of the Drone Operations Command and ongoing public analysis of the resulting capability gap. Drone Warfare
• By 2028 South Korea will mandate ISSB-aligned climate reporting for major companies, a move that further advances global alignment around consistent, investor-focused sustainability disclosures. We Mean Business Coalition
• The United States is pressing new demands outward from the Iran war, extending alliance expectations beyond Northeast Asia even as its shifting priorities expose South Korea to energy disruption, trade pressure, and uncertainty over deterrence assets. Fault Lines
• As naphtha prices in Asia have surged and supplies tightened, petrochemical producers in Japan and South Korea have begun cutting ethylene output, warning customers of possible force majeure, and facing growing pressure on feedstocks central to plastics and chemical manufacturing. Fault Lines
• South Korea's overseas naval deployments, including anti-piracy missions, have focused more on conventional threats than on complex, multi-layered drone and missile attacks. UPI

Last updated: 08 April 2026