00:02You're listening to AI Prism from Seoul Economic Daily.
00:06Starting next year, big companies lose a tax break for hiring young workers,
00:11one worth $56.2 billion last year alone.
00:16Retirement pension investors, plenty of them in their 20s and 30s,
00:21just went all in on U.S. index ETFs for a second straight month.
00:26If you've never asked your bank for a lower interest rate,
00:29you might be leaving money on the table.
00:31Requests surged 77% this year.
00:35And Seoul's court data shows a foreclosure wave building
00:38in the background of every apartment surge right now.
00:41It's Tuesday, September 1st.
00:43Let's talk about a trend affecting young professionals in Korea.
00:47The government is phasing out a tax credit that rewarded large companies
00:51for hiring young, disabled or long unemployed workers,
00:55shifting instead toward direct subsidies for smaller firms and regional employers.
01:00Meanwhile, choppy swings in the COSPI have pushed retirement pension money,
01:06by nature, long-term and risk-averse, back toward U.S. index funds.
01:10And a new MyDataLinked service is making it dramatically easier for borrowers
01:15to formally request a lower interest rate from their bank.
01:19Here's what the numbers show.
01:21Large companies claimed about $56.2 billion won in youth hiring tax credits in 2024,
01:28just 1.5% of this year's $4.63 trillion won program total,
01:34before losing eligibility entirely starting next year.
01:38Retirement pension investors bought U.S. index ETFs for a second straight month in August,
01:44led by $89.4 billion won into an S&P 500 fund.
01:50Interest rate cut requests jumped 77% to 2.68 million filings in the first half,
01:57cutting household interest costs by $4.03 billion won.
02:02Forced housing auctions climbed 54.5% this year to 13,068 filings,
02:09and Seoul's apartment auction win rate stayed below 40% through July.
02:13Government support is shifting instead toward subsidies of $300,000 to $600,000 won a month
02:20for smaller firms and regional big companies that hire young workers.
02:25So what does this mean for young professionals navigating their next move?
02:29Earlier we said big company tax credits for hiring young workers are going away.
02:36Here's what that actually means for you.
02:38Fewer large employers now have a direct financial reason to prioritize entry-level hires in Seoul,
02:44so the subsidy money is moving toward regional firms and smaller companies instead.
02:49If your own loan hasn't been reviewed lately,
02:52the surge in successful rate cut requests this year
02:55is exactly the kind of leverage worth raising with your bank directly.
02:59What to watch?
03:00Whether the National Assembly revises the tax credit phase out
03:04before it takes effect next year.
03:06September's pension flow data,
03:08the third straight month tilted toward US ETFs,
03:12would confirm the shift isn't temporary.
03:14And whether foreclosure filings keep outpacing 2024's full year total
03:19as mortgage rules tighten further.
03:22That's today's AI Prism Early Careers.
03:25This episode was produced with AI assistants
03:28based on Seoul Economic Daily Reporting
03:30and reviewed by a human editor.
03:32AI Prism is a Juan Ifra award-winning series.
03:37We'll be back tomorrow.
03:38You've been listening to AI Prism from Seoul Economic Daily.
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