NYT Highlights South Korea's Semiconductor Frenzy with Unique Quiz
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The New York Times used a unique quiz format featuring Korean slang and memes to explain the country's semiconductor boom, driven by AI, highlighting its impact on education, real estate, and corporate culture.
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‘What is Samjeonnix?’ ‘What mantra can investors chant as their faith in semiconductor stocks wavers?’ (Answer: Sammen, Hamen). ‘What is Silicon Collar?’
The New York Times (NYT) on April 11 (local time) shed light on South Korea’s ‘semiconductor craze’ amid the global artificial intelligence (AI) fervor. In particular, its unique quiz-style report, utilizing the latest Korean slang and memes, has drawn attention.
In an article titled ‘AI and Semiconductor Frenzy: Take a Quiz on New Korean Words and Memes,’ published on its online edition that day, the NYT introduced South Korea’s semiconductor craze through six multiple-choice questions.
The newspaper stated that in Korean online culture, memes and new words serve as indicators that reflect the political and social atmosphere in real-time, mentioning not only stock market slang but also changes in the real estate market like ‘shuttle rights’ and changes in corporate culture and college admissions, such as ‘SK Hynix oversized jacket’ and ‘Ha-ui-chi-han-yak-su.’
There were also questions like, ‘Apartments near subway stations have long been the most sought-after. So, what is gaining popularity now?’ and ‘What kind of clothes should you wear to make a good impression on others?’
The answers were ‘company shuttle bus boarding point’ and ‘an oversized vest with SK Hynix printed on the back,’ respectively.
Introducing the new term ‘Ha-ui-chi-han-yak-su’ (Ha-eui-chi-han-yak-su), where ‘Ha’ from Hynix is added before the traditionally top-tier preferred fields of ‘medical, dental, oriental medicine, pharmacy, and veterinary medicine’ (의치한약수), the article highlighted the fierce competitive atmosphere in the education sector, where the status of semiconductor contract departments has risen to the same level as medical schools.
The NYT reported that South Korea’s semiconductor industry, which accounts for more than 60% of the world’s semiconductor production, has grown rapidly in the AI era.
The KOSPI index more than doubled in the past year, increasing its market capitalization by trillions of dollars, and employees at some major semiconductor companies received bonuses of hundreds of thousands of dollars, the newspaper explained.
It added that the semiconductor industry boom has become a topic of conversation everywhere, from family dinners to smoke breaks and online game rooms.
