KDI Korea Development Institute

Summary

Research Monograph KOR Structural Changes in Korea’s Retail Markets and Their Economic Impacts

This report examines structural changes in Korea’s retail markets and their economic impacts, focusing on the interactions among market structure, regulatory policy, and demand-side transformation. Rapid growth in online retail channels, adjustments to offline retail regulations, and long-term demographic shifts have jointly reshaped retail market outcomes in ways that differ across regions and retail formats. The study aims to provide an integrated empirical assessment of these changes and to clarify the mechanisms through which they affect retail performance.

The analysis draws on large-scale administrative and transaction-level data, including nationwide credit card transaction panels at the sub-district level, online platform payment information, detailed records on local regulatory changes, and official population statistics. A combination of panel regression models and quasi-experimental designs is employed to identify the effects of online retail expansion, regulatory adjustment, and demographic change on offline retail sales, store counts, and market structure, while accounting for regional and format-specific heterogeneity.

The first set of results shows that increases in online retail spending are, on average, associated with declines in offline retail sales. The magnitude and direction of the effects, however, vary considerably across retail formats. Large discount stores exhibit the strongest substitution effects; meanwhile, super supermarkets (SSMs) and other mid-sized offline retailers also experience adjustment pressures in the form of declining sales and store counts. In contrast, convenience stores and certain proximity-based specialty retailers display weaker substitution effects, with some evidence of complementary outcomes at the local level. The expansion of rapid delivery services, such as same-day or next-day shipping, exerts an additional negative effect on offline sales, particularly in food and daily necessities segments, indicating that logistics innovation constitutes an independent channel of competitive pressure.

The second set of results evaluates the economic effects of policy changes that allowed large retail stores and SSMs to shift mandatory closure days from weekends to weekdays. Exploiting variation in policy timing across local governments, the analysis finds that weekday conversion is associated with a statistically significant increase in sales for large discount stores―a pattern that is robust across alternative specifications and that persists after controlling for COVID-19-related disruptions. The effects on SSMs and convenience stores are more heterogeneous and appear to depend on local market structure and consumption patterns. Notably, no systematic decline in traditional market sales is detected on average, suggesting that the regulatory adjustment does not uniformly disadvantage such formats.

The final set of results highlights the role of demographic structure in shaping long-term retail market outcomes. While population decline generally leads to market contraction, the adjustment mechanisms differ significantly across retail formats. While small-scale, proximity-based retailers (e.g., convenience stores) have shown consistent growth, they primarily respond to demand shocks through store exits, suggesting structural fragility often associated with excess entry. In contrast, corporate-type retailers, such as SSMs and supermarkets, tend to buffer the shock through adjustments in sales per store, potentially benefiting from product differentiation capabilities. Furthermore, population aging―specifically the rising share of the elderly and the shrinking baby boomer generation―is found to structurally dampen overall retail vitality. These findings suggest that policy frameworks need to move beyond uniform protection to support fundamental competitiveness, accounting for format-specific adjustment paths and the qualitative shift in demand.

Overall, these findings indicate that structural changes in Korea’s retail markets arise from the combined influence of market-driven forces, regulatory design, and demographic trends, generating heterogeneous adjustment paths across regions and retail formats. The results imply that uniform, format-based retail regulation may be increasingly misaligned with evolving market conditions, and that policy frameworks incorporating regional characteristics, retail heterogeneity, and long-term demand shifts are more likely to prove effective.

Summary

Research Monograph KOR Renewable Energy Deployment in Korea: Economic Drivers, Barriers, and Policy Implications

Despite the rapid global decline in the levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) for solar and wind power, Korea's renewable energy generation share remains markedly low. This study examines the economic drivers and impacts of renewable energy deployment in Korea through four complementary analyses: firm-level decomposition of industrial greenhouse gas emissions, cross-country panel estimation of deployment correlates, country-level learning-by-doing (LBD) estimation, and a public expenditure efficiency assessment using the Marginal Value of Public Funds (MVPF) framework.

The firm-level analysis finds that emission reductions in Korea have been driven primarily by energy efficiency improvements, while fuel switching and process-level reductions remain limited; technological lock-in among large firms suggests a heavier potential burden from carbon pricing. The cross-country analysis finds that LCOE is not significantly associated with deployment shares on average, but a negative correlation emerges among low-deployment countries; non-cost factors ― including grid quality, financial access, and revenue certainty ― are each significant on average. LBD estimates reveal that cumulative capacity and cost reductions co-move on average, but global technology spillovers account for much of this pattern; onshore wind, however, exhibits a statistically robust inverted-U-shaped learning path that persists after controlling for common trends, with learning pathways that vary across countries and are amplified by revenue certainty and technological proximity. Applying the MVPF framework to Korea's Renewable Energy Certificate (REC) scheme yields estimates of 1.33 for solar and 1.18 for wind, with learning effects accounting for 21-50% of total benefits. Taken together, the evidence points to a policy agenda extending beyond price signals: accelerating renewable deployment requires targeted interventions in grid infrastructure, financing conditions, and institutional design ― investments that the MVPF estimates confirm to be economically justified.

Summary

Research Monograph KOR Macroeconomic Impact of AI Diffusion

This report examines how artificial intelligence (AI), particularly modern, data-driven, and increasingly generative systems, is likely to affect Korea’s productivity, growth, employment, and wages over the next decade or two. Three layers of evidence are integrated within a unified task-based framework: (i) micro-level measures of AI exposure and economic viability at the task and occupation levels, (ii) firm-level panel evidence on AI adoption and productivity, and (iii) a macroeconomic general-equilibrium model that aggregates task-level shocks into total factor productivity (TFP) and long-run labor market outcomes. The study defines AI as software systems that replicate human capabilities in learning, prediction, pattern recognition, perception, and natural language processing―a definition consistent with that used in the underlying firm survey and broad enough to encompass both earlier, narrow algorithms and more recent foundation models and AI agents.

Chapter 2 offers an accessible overview of the technological evolution of AI from traditional machine learning to transformer-based large language models and emerging agent-like systems. It emphasizes two features of particular macroeconomic relevance. First, advances in general-purpose and multimodal models have greatly expanded the range of tasks technically exposed to AI. Second, effective deployment requires complementary investments in data, organizational capacity, and human capital, suggesting that technical feasibility alone is a poor predictor of short-run economic impact.

Chapter 3 develops a task-based measure of AI automation potential tailored to the Korean labor market. Using detailed work descriptions from the Korean Employment Classification of Occupations (KECO) and Workpedia, the study decomposes 537 occupations into 6,824 unit tasks and scores each task along five dimensions: measurability of outcomes, data availability and quality, context dependence, required human judgment necessity, and agentability (the ease with which an AI agent can execute a given task). These components are combined into a task-level AI score that captures effective automation potential rather than mere technical exposure. A cost-benefit framework inspired by recent work on computer vision and AI costs is then applied to identify tasks and task·firm combinations for which automation is economically viable, given realistic assumptions about data, development, inference, integration, and maintenance costs relative to labor savings. The findings are conservative by design. Under a naive exposure-only criterion, AI could potentially affect roughly 8-12% of current employment and 10-11% of current sales, concentrated in finance, insurance, R&D, ICT, and certain transport and business services. Narrowing the focus to tasks that are both technically automatable and economically viable reduces these shares to about 1-3% of employment and 1-2% of sales. This suggests that, in the near term, AI will likely induce selective and partial automation in specific occupations and industries, rather than a broad-based, immediate displacement of labor.

Chapter 4 analyzes firm-level evidence using the nationally representative Korean Survey of Business Activities for 2017-2023, which asks firms whether they use AI―defined in the questionnaire as software that replicates human learning, reasoning, perception, and natural language understanding―and other fourth industrial revolution (IR4) technologies. To address the endogenous timing of AI adoption, the analysis employs panel IV (2SLS) models with firm and year fixed effects, instrumenting AI adoption with industry-level economic viability measures from Chapter 3. In the preferred specifications, firms that adopt AI and related IR4 technologies exhibit statistically significant increases in log sales per employee on the order of 5-20%, driven primarily by higher sales rather than systematic employment cuts. Pure “AI only” effects, net of broader digitalization, are estimated with less precision, consistent with AI operating as a general-purpose technology that must be embedded in a broader digital and organizational transformation. As a robustness check, propensity-score matching and difference-in-differences estimates for AI first movers suggest modest but positive short-run effects on labor productivity, with limited evidence of strong dynamic effects within the short observation window.

Chapter 5 incorporates these micro-level estimates into a task-based general-equilibrium model following the approach of Acemoglu and Restrepo to simulate AI-induced TFP paths over the next 10-15 years. Hulten’s theorem implies that, under certain assumptions, aggregate TFP change can be approximated by a Domar-weighted sum of task-level cost savings. The model therefore combines (i) the economically viable task shares by industry, (ii) firm-level productivity effects of AI, and (iii) alternative adoption scenarios―baseline, optimistic, and pessimistic―to trace out possible TFP trajectories. Under baseline assumptions, AI contributes a cumulative TFP gain of about 2.3% over a decade, nontrivial but below some of the more optimistic global projections. These simulations focus on the task automation channel and treat parameters as exogenous. They abstract from structural transformation, intangible capital accumulation, idea-generation effects, and potential discontinuities in AI capabilities. Then the analysis turns to long-run employment and wage effects across occupations. Using a cross-section of Korean 2-digit occupational categories over 2014-2024, the analysis estimates reduced-form relationships between changes in employment and real hourly wages and measures of routine and structured task content, while instrumenting for endogenous employment changes with leave-one-out labor-demand shocks. Occupations with higher routine task shares experience lower employment growth and somewhat lower wage growth over the decade, consistent with international evidence that automation pressure exerts downward pressure on labor demand and wage growth in exposed jobs. Combined with the AI exposure metrics presented earlier, these estimates imply that, under realistic adoption scenarios, the annual displacement and wage-drag effects attributable to AI are likely modest relative to existing demographic and structural trends, but non-negligible for specific groups.

Chapter 6 synthesizes these findings and discusses their implications for policy and business. For policymakers, the central message is that AI is unlikely to trigger an immediate, economy-wide employment collapse, but will require active management of selective automation, task restructuring, and skill upgrading in exposed sectors. The study argues for a market-friendly policy mix: clarifying AI-related regulation and liability, investing in data and compute infrastructure, strengthening education, training, and retraining systems, and fostering complementary innovations and organizational change. For firms, the key insight is that productivity gains derive less from AI in isolation and more from integrating AI into workflows, data pipelines, and human capital strategies.

Summary

Research Monograph KOR Korean Real Estate Project Finance: Structure, Problems, and Policy Recommendations

Since the 2022 Legoland crisis, real estate Project Finance (PF) has emerged as a significant risk factor for the entire South Korean economy, particularly within the financial and construction sectors. These crises are not isolated events but a phenomenon that recurs roughly every decade; for instance, the massive savings bank run of 2011 was also primarily driven by non-performing PF loans. The study addresses a set of fundamental questions: What are the root causes of these recurring PF crises, and how can they be resolved? What policy measures are available, what are their projected economic effects, and what are the key points of contention considering global precedents and Korea's unique institutional and industrial context? By conducting comprehensive institutional and empirical research, the study proposes structural improvements for real estate PF in Korea.
The study is organized into four chapters.

Chapter 1 explains the structure of real estate PF, diagnosing the "low-capital, high-guarantee" structure as the primary cause of these recurring crises, and discusses various policy measures to reform this structure. In major advanced economies, developers typically raise 20-40% of the total project cost as equity, but Korea's equity ratio stands at a mere 3%. Consequently, financial institutions rely on completion or payment guarantees from construction companies instead of rigorous project feasibility assessments. This chapter argues that this structure transfers risk to the entire society by encouraging reckless investment and system-wide instability. It then discusses policy recommendations such as tax deferrals on land contributions in kind to encourage equity expansion. Other related issues are examined, including equity loans―where developers borrow cash to fund their equity contribution―which critics argue can nullify the effect of equity increases. Policymakers may need to determine what constitutes qualified equity and what does not.

Drawing on a proprietary dataset of approximately 800 PF sites evaluated between 2013 and January 2025, Chapter 2 provides an in-depth empirical analysis of how low equity affects the soundness of PF projects. The analysis reveals that higher equity ratios significantly reduce pre-sale, financial, and construction risks. Furthermore, it demonstrates that higher equity ratios lead to lower total project costs, specifically in construction, financial, and miscellaneous expenses, suggesting that resolving the low-capital structure can improve both the stability of projects and the affordability of housing supply.

Chapter 3 complements the preceding chapter by analyzing site-specific PF data from the United States (via MSCI) to examine the relationship between financial structure and final project performance. The findings indicate that: (1) higher Loan-to-Value (LTV) ratios increase the probability of default; (2) higher LTV ratios reduce the likelihood of recovery after a default occurs; and (3) higher LTV ratios hinder post-completion transactions, such as refinancing into permanent loans or successful divestment (exit). Taken together, these results underscore that high debt dependency creates multifaceted risks throughout the project lifecycle.

Chapter 4 employs a Dynamic Stochastic General Equilibrium (DSGE) model to analyze the macroeconomic implications of PF regulatory changes. The model reflects Korea's unique "finance-real economy cross-structure," where non-bank financial institutions (NBFIs) provide about 70% of PF loans due to regulatory asymmetries. The analysis shows that while temporary tightening of capital requirements primarily causes credit reallocation between institutions, a permanent increase in NBFI capital requirements leads to long-term benefits. Although it may cause a temporary dip in housing supply, the accumulation of capital eventually improves credit supply capacity, leading to increased housing stock, stabilized prices, and higher total national output. In contrast, "cost-based" regulations that impose continuous costs on leverage were found to suppress credit supply and reduce aggregate production in both the short and long term.

Summary

Research Monograph KOR The Effects of Serious Accidents Punishment Act on Labor Market Outcomes

This study examines the effects of the Serious Accidents Punishment Act (SAPA) on labor market outcomes to derive policy implications. SAPA was enacted in January 2021 and implemented in January 2022.

Chapter 2 summarizes the institutional structure and introduces key research questions. Specifically, this chapter reviews the legislative background, the structure of the law, early judicial trends, and existing literature on SAPA. Based on this review, I provide theoretical predictions regarding the effects of SAPA using a simple model where firms choose their level of safety investment and labor demand. The model predicts that while SAPA is likely to reduce accidents by increasing safety investment, it may simultaneously lead to a reduction in labor demand.

Chapter 3 analyzes data from an original firm-level survey to examine current situation of the Safety and Health Management Systems. I find that firms increased their safety investment following the implementation of SAPA. However, despite the quantitative expansion of safety investment, I find that the qualitative improvement of the Safety and Health Management Systems remains limited.

Chapters 4 through 6 present causal analyses of SAPA’s effects. In Chapter 4, I study the effects on the labor market for safety experts, a key input for safety investment. By applying Synthetic Difference-in-Differences (SDID) to observations from the Regional Employment Survey, I find that SAPA increased the employment of safety experts, with the effect growing from 2022 to 2024. However, the effect on wages was pronounced only in the short run; while SAPA increased wages in the second half of 2022, the effect became smaller and statistically insignificant by the second half of 2024, implying a highly elastic supply of safety experts.

Chapter 5 examines effects on workplace accident fatalities, the primary policy objective of SAPA. Using a Difference-in-Differences (DID) framework that exploits industry-level variation in exposure to SAPA, I find that the Act reduced three "traditional" types of workplace accidents: falls, crushes, and collisions. However, there is no evidence of significant effects on other accident types.

Chapter 6 investigates the effects of SAPA on labor demand for high-risk occupations. I combine information on occupation-level risk exposure and labor market outcomes using an empirical strategy in Continuous Treatment Difference-in-Differences framework. The results indicate that following the implementation of SAPA, employment levels in higher-risk occupations decreased relative to those with lower risk exposure.

Chapter 7 concludes the study by synthesizing the empirical findings and deriving policy implications.

Summary

Research Monograph KOR Who Cares for Us?: Policies on Eldercare Workers

South Korea reached the super-aged mark in December 2024, with over 20% of its population aged 65 and older. Eldercare jobs, labor-intensive and emotionally demanding yet accessible to low-skilled workers at low wages, are globally undesirable, leading to labor shortages in advanced economies. As baby boomers (born 1955-1963) enter the late elderly (75 and older) after 2030, demand for eldercare services is projected to surge, worsening supply-demand imbalances.

This study examines the current state and limitations of Korea’s eldercare workforce to propose policy improvements. It estimates eldercare labor supply and demand to forecast the scale of labor shortage and discusses strategies for workforce expansion. Additionally, an empirical analysis assesses how quantitative and qualitative workforce expansion impacts the quality of life for residents in long-term care facilities, providing policy insights.

Chapter 2 forecasts demand for eldercare services and estimates the eldercare labor supply to assess the scale of labor shortage and analyze supply-demand imbalances at the national and metropolitan/provincial levels. The findings indicate that the rapid rise in the super-aged population will sharply increase demand, outpacing the growth of care worker supply and deepening supply-demand imbalances. Regional variations in aging and available workforce are expected to widen the regional supply disparities, suggesting the need for proactive and region-specific workforce expansion policies. This chapter also estimates demand for services that reflect improvements in elderly health in the past decade, highlighting that workforce expansion alone is insufficient to resolve the supply-demand gap amid sustained demand growth. Managing demand for long-term care services through elderly health promotion and functional improvements is essential.

Chapter 3 investigates how expanding the eldercare workforce in long-term facilities affects health outcomes for care recipients. Using health insurance claims and long-term care insurance data, it examines the impact of the 2018 minimum wage increase and the 2022 staffing requirement changes on facility employment and recipients’ medical service utilization. The results indicate that workforce expansion is associated with reduced medical service use, leading to positive health outcomes, suggesting investment in care worker expansion can be a cost-effective policy measure.

Chapter 4 empirically analyzes the impact of enhancing nursing functions in eldercare workers on care recipients and discusses the need for improving their expertise. This chapter examines how changes in nursing staff skill composition following the 2018 minimum wage increase and the specialized nursing care unit pilot program launched in 2019 affected recipients' medical service utilization. The analysis shows that strengthening medical functions in long-term care facilities significantly reduces residents' use of high-cost inpatient services, leading to lower overall healthcare expenditures. While the increased costs of long-term care services partially offset these savings, the results suggest that the specialized nursing care unit program aligns with policy goals of optimizing healthcare utilization among facility residents.

Chapter 5 identifies the characteristics of foreign care workers using administrative data, albeit to a limited extent, aiming to enhance understanding of migrant labor in the eldercare sector. With restricted foreign worker employment in eldercare roles in Korea, this chapter assesses the potential impacts of their integration through existing literature. Furthermore, it reviews specific policy responses from countries utilizing migrant worker policies to mitigate eldercare labor shortages and discusses implications for Korea's eldercare sector.

Chapter 6 proposes future policy directions for eldercare workforce expansion based on the findings from the preceding chapters. First, quantitative workforce expansion enhances job quality, reduces workload through care technology, and utilizes migrant labor. Second, elevating the professional competence of the eldercare workforce involves strengthening nursing functions in long-term care facilities, clarifying the scope of nursing care that can be provided within such facilities, and enhancing education and training in geriatric medicine for facility staff. Third, managing care demand through health promotion entails implementing mental health and chronic disease management strategies to delay the need for eldercare. By addressing these areas, this study aims to contribute to the development of sustainable policies that ensure adequate workforce supply while improving the quality of eldercare services in Korea.

Summary

Research Monograph KOR Revisiting the DPRK Economy: Structural Evidence from Firms and Industries

This study aims to analyze the structure of the North Korean economy by utilizing an industry-firm database constructed from North Korean media reports. By examining firms and industries at the micro level and cross-validating findings with satellite-based indicators, the study assesses whether media reports can provide meaningful insights into actual economic activities.

Chapter 2 reconstructs the original database obtained from the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade (KIET), covering the period from 2000 to 2024. Separate annual datasets were consolidated into a unified format, with duplicate entries removed and inconsistencies in firm names standardized. In cases where firm identifiers differed despite referring to the same entity, a single identifier was adopted, and additional information, such as industry codes and administrative regions, was supplemented when necessary. As a result of this reconstruction, the number of observed firms increased from 3,557 to 3,973, while the total number of media reports expanded from 86,116 to 153,047 compared to the original KIET database.

Chapter 3 analyzes the distribution and evolution of North Korean firms, demonstrating that media coverage carries economic implications beyond purely propagandistic purposes. At the industry level, the share of media coverage shows a strong correlation with the Bank of Korea’s estimates of industry-specific GDP shares. Investment-related reports are found to be significantly associated with increases in production-related reports one to two years later, with the impact of investment coverage exceeding that of political coverage. At the firm level, the analysis also identifies firms that gained prominence or declined during specific periods. Firms that expanded after Kim Jong Un’s accession to power include Chongchongang Cascade Hydropower Plant, Tanchon Power Plant, and Sunchon Chemical Complex; those that experienced decline include Sinchang Coal Mine, Komdok Mine, and Huichon Machine Tool Factory. Following the imposition of international sanctions, rising firms include Sunchon Phosphate Fertilizer Factory, Equipment Assembly Complex, and Kosong County People’s Power Plant; declining firms include Chosan Youth Power Plant, Sariwon Coal Mine, and Kumya Youth Coal Mine.

Chapter 4 conducts a multidimensional analysis of North Korean industries using the reconstructed database. Trends in industry-related and non-industry-related coverage vary over time, reflecting fluctuations in production and investment activities across sectors. The regional distribution of major industries also differs substantially, shaped by natural, geographic, and demographic factors. With respect to the “20×10 Policy for Regional Development,” the analysis finds that some regions were selected based on their importance as benchmarks for policy success, while others ― characterized by poor living conditions ― were prioritized in line with the policy’s stated objectives.

Chapter 5 combines the reconstructed database with satellite-based nighttime light data and applies panel regressions and event study methodologies to examine whether reported investment and production activities are linked to actual increases in operations and electricity usage. The results indicate that both investment and production reports are positively and significantly correlated with nighttime light intensity. In the event study, investment reports are treated as events, with the month preceding the report serving as the reference period. The average post-event effect over 0~12 months shows an approximately 7.1% increase in nighttime light intensity, statistically significant at the 5% level, with positive and significant effects concentrated in the 7~12 month window. This suggests a persistent increase in nighttime illumination around firms following reported investment activities. Furthermore, a weighted nighttime light index based on the frequency of investment and production reports exhibits high correlations with the Bank of Korea’s estimates of GDP by economic activity, particularly in the energy, light manufacturing, and heavy and chemical industries.

Overall, this study treats North Korean media reports not merely as propaganda but as a source of indirect evidence for understanding economic policy directions, sectoral priorities, and firm-level activities. While media reports do not directly capture macroeconomic fluctuations, the findings suggest that they can function as a useful tool for tracking micro-level industrial and firm dynamics. The analytical potential of this approach may be further enhanced through continued validation using alternative data sources such as satellite imagery.

Summary

Research Monograph KOR Cultivating and Scaling Innovative Firms: Strategies for Creating New Growth Engine in Korea

Scale-up firms play a pivotal role in injecting new vitality into the economy and enhancing national competitiveness. Given the stagnant growth potential, it is increasingly important to create an ecosystem optimized for scale-up firms to grow and to establish an environment where high-growth firms can continuously emerge. However, in reality, many firms in Korea face various barriers during the scale-up process, including difficulties in securing skilled talent, utilizing digital tools, and expanding into global markets.

In response, this study examines whether Korea’s business ecosystem provides an environment where innovative and competitive firms can continuously grow beyond the domestic market into the global market. And by focusing on areas where such an environment is insufficiently provided, it presents policy directions and implementation strategies for transitioning to a more desirable ecosystem.

Consisting of four main chapters, the study emphasizes the following policy suggestions. First, as the decline in the proportion of high-growth firms weakens economic dynamism and job creation, the government must shift toward scale-up policies and establish an integrated management system to support these firms. Second, to enhance the global competitiveness of startups, it is essential to introduce a specialized visa focusing on innovation and growth potential, streamline permanent residency pathways, and expand tax benefits. Third, to encourage firms to pursue sustained growth in export markets, it is necessary to design export promotion programs that are performance-based and tied to their success in export markets. Fourth, revitalizing industry-academia-research collaboration requires a demand-driven policy approach, increased participation from large and mid-sized firms, patent box incentives, and strengthened industry linkages with public research institutes.

Summary

Research Monograph KOR Monetary Policy Transmission to the Korean Bond Market

This study quantitatively examines the transmission channels through which domestic and external monetary policy shocks affect the yields of Korean Treasury Bonds (KTBs). To this end, it proposes a new methodology that decomposes long-term KTB yields into expected policy rate paths and term premia and analyzes the interaction between monetary policy and the government bond market through this decomposition. Specifically, the study develops and estimates a four-factor linear term structure model that incorporates gradual structural changes in the level of the KTB yield curve. A comparison with the conventional three-factor model shows that the proposed four-factor model is statistically superior.

The estimation results indicate that, when yields are decomposed into trend and cyclical components, cyclical fluctuations account for a larger share of yield variation at shorter maturities, whereas trend components dominate at longer maturities. The expected policy rate path is extracted from the estimated term premia, suggesting that policy rates are expected to remain broadly stable in the near term and decline gradually thereafter. Analysis of the interaction between monetary policy and the bond market shows that policy rate shocks significantly raise expected policy rates, while shocks to expected policy rates also lead to increases in the actual policy rate. This implies a high degree of mutual credibility between the central bank and the government bond market.

Using this decomposition, the study examines the effects of domestic and U.S. monetary policy shocks on KTB yields. Domestic monetary policy shocks generate significant spillovers across the entire yield curve, from short- to long-term maturities. Short-term yields respond mainly through changes in the expected policy rate path, whereas long-term yields respond more strongly through adjustments in term premia. In contrast, U.S. federal funds rate shocks do not exert statistically significant effects on KTB yields. However, U.S. forward guidance and quantitative easing shocks exert meaningful impacts. Quantitative easing shocks produce larger short-term effects, while forward guidance shocks exhibit greater persistence. Nevertheless, these spillovers are considerably shorter-lived than those from domestic monetary policy shocks, highlighting the relative independence of Korea’s monetary policy.

The study also analyzes the Korean corporate bond market in the context of domestic and external monetary policy. Although the corporate bond market has expanded steadily in terms of outstanding issuance, secondary market liquidity remains limited, with turnover ratios substantially lower than those in the government bond market and trading concentrated in financial bonds. U.S. monetary tightening is found to reduce corporate bond trading volumes and widen credit spreads, with a 25 bp increase in the U.S. policy rate leading to an immediate spread widening of 11―13 bp. Over a horizon of one to three months, corporate bond spreads increase by 28―56 bp. Domestic monetary policy shocks also have significant effects on corporate bond yields, with particularly pronounced responses in lower-rated (BBB-) bonds. By contrast, firm-level financial conditions do not appear to systematically influence the sensitivity of corporate bond yields to U.S. monetary policy shocks, likely reflecting a flight-to-quality behavior during tightening episodes.

Summary

Research Monograph KOR North Korea-Russia Alignment: Impacts on the North Korean Economy and Implications

This study conducts a multifaceted analysis of the evolving relationship between North Korea and Russia following the Russia Ukraine war, employing objective data and rigorous quantitative methodologies. Using big data based indicators that quantify interstate relations, the study first examines trends in North Korea Russia relations over the past decade. The analysis shows that bilateral relations deteriorated sharply after 2016, when Russia, as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, joined international sanctions against North Korea. Relations began to recover gradually after 2018, as North Korea pursued summit diplomacy and sought re-engagement with the global community. In 2020, this recovery was again disrupted when North Korea sealed its borders, citing COVID-19 preventive measures. This trajectory reversed once more following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, ushering in a swift alignment of strategic interests and closer bilateral ties that brought cooperation to a level unprecedented in recent history.

The study next examines North Korea Russia external economic relations through a data-driven lens. North Korea’s foreign trade structure remains heavily oriented toward China, with Russia accounting for only a marginal share. Nevertheless, Russia continues to serve as a key supplier of strategic goods, including petroleum products and power generation equipment. Russian investment in North Korea has been largely confined to transportation and logistics infrastructure, and Russian firms have generally maintained a cautious stance due to high political risks and the burden of international sanctions. However, the outbreak of the Russia Ukraine war has altered this dynamic. Russia’s acute labor shortages have coincided with North Korea’s need to secure foreign currency, and there are indications that the overseas dispatch of North Korean workers has continued despite the sanctions environment. In the tourism sector, while North Korea has sought to attract Russian tourists, foreign currency earnings remain negligible, suggesting that the economic spillover effects from tourism cooperation are likely to remain marginal.

Furthermore, the study empirically evaluates the impact of North Korea Russia military cooperation on the North Korean economy. Combining the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade (KIET)’s North Korean Industry and Enterprise Database with satellite nighttime light imagery and jangmadang(market) exchange rate and price data, the analysis finds that production activity increased significantly in regions centered on heavy industry and military-related industries following the strengthening of military cooperation. In particular, nighttime light intensity rose sharply for firms producing artillery shells and small arms, directly related to the Russia Ukraine war. In contrast, industrial activity in light industries, including food processing, declined, indicating an intensifying pattern of unbalanced, military-centered growth. This trend is also corroborated by the Bank of Korea’s estimates of North Korea’s economic growth rates. Since 2023, heavy and chemical industries have shown notably strong growth, while light industries have remained stagnant. These findings suggest that while military cooperation has bolstered productivity in specific sectors, especially military and heavy industries, these gains have not extended to the civilian economy. Moreover, given recent spikes in exchange rates and prices, it remains debatable whether Russian supplies of food and petroleum products have improved general living standards. Overall, the post-cooperation growth of the North Korean economy appears structurally skewed toward the military sector rather than a broad-based industrial recovery.

These findings offer several policy implications. North Korea is widely viewed as one of the primary beneficiaries of the Russia Ukraine war. Although the specific goods and quantities North Korea has received in exchange for military supplies and troop deployments remain unclear, the exchange has likely had a positive impact on the North Korean economy. This study demonstrates that heavy and chemical industries, including munitions factories, have been the principal beneficiaries of the deepening alignment. However, the expansion of military supplies to Russia warrants close attention, as it may induce broader changes to North Korea’s industrial structure and technological capabilities that extend beyond simple military cooperation. While increased munitions production stimulates core heavy industrial sectors, including metals, machinery, chemicals, and electronics―potentially catalyzing civilian industries and improving household welfare to some extent―the domestic markets are mired in severe instability, marked by soaring prices, exchange rate volatility, and intensified state control following the COVID-19 pandemic. This appears to have exacerbated the polarization between the formal sector, which reaps the rewards from closer ties, and the marginalized informal sector. Should the Russia Ukraine war end, the munitions-driven special demand of Russia will subside. If the North Korean regime maintains its strict control over jangmadangs(markets) after the boom, the economic hardships facing the North Korean population are likely to intensify.

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