$900,000 Korean Chip Sector Bonuses Show K-Shaped Economy Risks

In South Korea’s booming chip sector, bonuses that bullish forecasts suggest could soon approach $900,000 are deepening concerns over widening inequality.

At SK Hynix Inc., one-off payouts tied to the artificial intelligence boom are forecast to swell to multiples of earnings in traditionally high-income professions. The windfall illustrates the Bank of Korea’s concern that the tech bonanza will skew the economy “K-shaped” — where a few workers vault ahead while the rest languish on a downward slope.