[Anchor]

The government projects that the Korean economy will grow by 3% this year, fueled by a semiconductor boom. Despite the higher-than-expected growth rate, the outlook for jobs remains bleak.

Reporter Jung Jun-ho has the story.

[Reporter]

While announcing its economic growth strategy for the second half of the year, the government raised its forecast for this year's real GDP growth to 3%.

This is a 1 percentage point increase from the 2% forecast made in January, and it is higher than the projections from the Bank of Korea, the IMF, and the OECD.

The primary reason is the unprecedented boom in semiconductor exports, which are at the core of global AI infrastructure.

The nominal growth rate, which reflects inflation, is projected to reach 12.3%, the highest in 30 years, due to the sharp rise in semiconductor export prices.

The current account surplus is expected to reach a record high of 290 billion dollars.

The government explained that despite the negative impact of the war in the Middle East, the 26 trillion won supplementary budget has significantly mitigated the shock, adding that the growth forecast also reflects the administration's policy commitment.

[President Lee Jae-myung: "I ask for your collective efforts so that this year will be remembered as the inaugural year for Korea to leap forward as an irreplaceable nation with a potential growth rate of 3%, ranking among the top four in global trade, and achieving a per capita income of 50,000 dollars."]

To achieve this, the government plans to swiftly pursue the so-called "three mega-projects"—semiconductors, AI data centers, and physical AI—to secure a super-gap in the global market.

Furthermore, it intends to use tax revenue generated from the semiconductor sector to create a future response fund, focusing investments on youth, regional development, and education to boost growth potential.

The government also decided to strengthen regional-led growth by training 200,000 young professionals for high-tech industries and selecting regional growth engines in the third quarter to provide investment incentives.

However, despite the high growth rate, the job outlook remains dim.

The number of employed people this year is expected to increase by only 150,000, which is 10,000 fewer than the forecast made in January.

This is because growth is concentrated solely in the semiconductor industry, which has a low job creation effect.

[Heo Jun-young / Professor of Economics, Sogang University: "Jobs are not being created in sectors like manufacturing, while the semiconductor industry is thriving alone, pulling up the economic growth rate by itself..."]

In addition, the inflation forecast for this year has been raised from 2.1% to 2.6% due to the aftermath of the war. Experts point out that how the government responds to the impact of high inflation, high interest rates, and a high exchange rate on the public's livelihood will be a major challenge for the second half of the year.

(Video Editing: Kim Jun-hee)