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BOK Issue

BOK Issue Note The Missing Men: The Downward Trend in Male Youth Labor Force Participation The labor force participation rate of male youth, ages 25‑34, declined from 89.9% in 2000 to 82.3% in 2025, indicating a substantial decrease relative to the most advanced economies. In particular, the decline in labor force participation among Millennial men (born 1981-95) persists into their late 30s. We examine this phenomenon through three key lenses: (i) shifts in the competitive structure among youth, (ii) transformations of industrial structure, and (iii) the impacts of population aging and the AI diffusion on labor market entry for youth. 2026. 04. 28
Press Releases Inauguration of Bank of Korea Governor The Bank of Korea Governor, Shin Hyun Song, was inaugurated on April 21, 2026. * Please refer to the attached file for the inaugural address. 2026. 04. 23
BOK Issue Note Structural Change in Korea’s External Sector and Its Implications on the Exchange Rates Traditionally, a current account surplus has been understood to reflect enhanced competitiveness of domestic goods and expanded net exports, accompanied by a falling real exchange rate (KRW appreciation). However, since 2023 Q2, Korea has experienced a prolonged episode in which a widening current account surplus has coincided with a rising real exchange rate (KRW depreciation). Since the Global Financial Crisis, the composition of Korea’s overseas assets has tilted toward private-sector portfolio investment, and away from public-sector reserve assets. This shift has occurred alongside rising savings and slowing domestic investment associated with demographic aging. Since the current account simultaneously reflects the outcome of net exports and net capital outflows, this structural change in external asset accumulation suggests that the factors driving fluctuations in the current account and the real exchange rate may have changed. 2026. 04. 20
BOK Issue Note Life-Sustaining Treatment, Whose Decision: Discrepancies Between Patient Preferences and Medical Reality, and Policy Implications In order to safeguard patients’ right to self-determination and dignity, Decisions on Life-Sustaining Treatment Act came into force in 2018. Since then, Korean society has made substantial progress toward discussing the end-of-life more openly and fostering a culture of thoughtful reflection on end-of-life care. As the system has become more firmly established, the number of cases in which life-sustaining treatment(LST) has been withdrawn or withheld has steadily increased, and the number of individuals who have registered an Advance Directive on Life-Sustaining Treatment has surpassed three million. Building on these achievements, it is now time to address the limitations revealed in the course of implementing the system and to further advance the framework so that patients’ wishes can be more fully realized in clinical settings. 2026. 03. 20
blog Korea's Green Transition (2): Diagnosing Barriers, Unlocking First-Mover Potential In the previous article, we highlighted that while Korea's climate technology innovation performance ranks among the global top tier, it is concentrated in few companies and technologies, with significant qualitative limitations in innovation outcomes. This is attributed to: ① prioritization of short-term results over long-term necessities, ② lack of institutional incentives to promote long-term innovation, and ③ insufficient financing for innovation 2026. 02. 25
blog Korea's Green Transition (1): High Volume, Low Impact Innovation? As global demands for addressing the climate crisis and building a sustainable economy intensify, the importance of climate technologies is becoming prominent in the transition to a carbon neutral economy where net carbon emissions are 'zero'. Climate technologies are technologies that reduce greenhouse gases and adapt to climate change while generating economic returns, serving as a key element supporting the transition to carbon neutrality. Climate technology innovation provides opportunities to minimize economic contraction and create new growth engines during the transition. 2026. 02. 25
blog The rise in the ‘Resting’ Youth: Is it Because of Their High Job Expectations? Recently, as the number of the ‘Resting’ youth continues to rise, there are growing concerns about the background and implications of this trend. The term ‘Resting’ refers to people who, for no specific reason, are not engaging in job seeking or education/training activities. The increase in the ‘Resting’ youth who are outside the labor market has negative side effects on both them as individuals and the overall economy. Against this backdrop, this blog looks at which types of youth are in the ‘Resting’ state among those facing difficulties in employment and the implications of that[1]. 2026. 02. 13
Blog Misconceptions Regarding Bank of Korea’s RP Purchases and Liquidity Supply Misconceptions Regarding Bank of Korea’s RP Purchases and Liquidity Supply 2026. 01. 16
Blog Why Is the KRW Weakening Despite Abundant U.S. Dollar Liquidity in the Foreign Currency Funding Market? Why Is the KRW Weakening Despite Abundant U.S. Dollar Liquidity in the Foreign Currency Funding Market? 2026. 01. 19
blog Misconceptions and Facts about Current Liquidity and Exchange Rate Conditions Need to assess Claims that Excessive Korean Won Liquidity Has Driven US Dollar/Korean Won Exchange Rate Depreciation Since the end of last year, the US dollar/Korean won exchange rate has risen to the mid-to-high KRW 1,400 range. Against this backdrop, some have continued to argue that excessive growth in domestic liquidity (M2) has led to a depreciation of the Korean won. However, such claims do not consistent with the data or with economic realities. They have been amplified through various channels despite lacking a factual basis, and risk fueling unwarranted expectations of further exchange rate depreciation. For these reasons, it is necessary to set the record straight. 2026. 01. 20
blog AI in Everyday Life: How Workers Use AI Generative AI is no longer just something we hear about in the news. It has already become a part of everyday life—used for brainstorming new ideas, language translation, content creation, and technical analysis in a wide range of areas. Only a few years ago, many people saw it as a technology reserved for experts. Today, it has become a tool that almost anyone can use, at work and at home. So how often—and in what ways—are people actually using AI? And has it actually improved productivity? To find out the answers to these questions, we conducted Korea’s first representative survey on the use of generative A 2026. 01. 06
blog 57,000 AI Professionals—Why Do Firms Still Say They Can’t Find Talent? : Mismatches in Korea’s AI Labor Market Amid the global “AI gold rush,” securing talent has become a key determinant of national competitiveness. An analysis of LinkedIn data covering more than 10 million job histories of approximately 1.1 million Koreans shows that Korea’s pool of AI professionals has more than doubled over the past decade. 2025. 12. 24
Monetary Policy Report Executive Summary for Monetary Policy Report (September 2025) The BOK will maintain its rate cut stance to mitigate downside risks to economic growth and determine the timing and pace of any further Base Rate cuts while closely monitoring changes in domestic and external policy environments, the resulting impact on inflation, and financial stability. 2026. 03. 12

Research Papers

BOK Issue Note The Missing Men: The Downward Trend in Male Youth Labor Force Participation [BOK Issue Note 2026-8] ① The labor force participation rate of male youth, ages 25‑34, declined from 89.9% in 2000 to 82.3% in 2025, indicating a substantial decrease r... 2026.04.28
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Korea Economic Outlook Korea Economic Outlook (February 2026) In order to provide a detailed understanding of Korea's economic outlook, a translation of the Economic Outlook is now published quarterly. 2026.04.27
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BOK Issue Note Structural Change in Korea’s External Sector and Its Implications on the Exchange Rates [BOK Issue Note 2026-9] ①Traditionally, a current account surplus has been understood to reflect enhanced competitiveness of domestic goods and expanded net exports, accompan... 2026.04.17
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BOK Regional Economic Report (BOK Golden Book) Regional Economic Report(January 2026) This is a condensed English version of the Regional Economic Report published in Korean on January 28, 2026. Regional economic conditions in the Regio... 2026.04.15
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Quarterly/Economic Analysis [Vol.32 No.1] Measuring and Analyzing the Gap Between Perceived and Real Economic Conditions Author: Yoonsuk Son(Bank of Korea), Heejoon Han(Sungkyunkwan Univ.) This paper quantitatively measures the gap between perceived economic conditions ... 2026.03.31
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Quarterly/Economic Analysis [Vol.32 No.1] Bank Liquidity Shocks and Constraints for Innovative Firms: Evidence from Firm-Bank Panel Data Author: Won Sung(Gachon Univ.), Hosung Jung(Dongduk Women's Univ.) This study empirically examines the effects of changes in bank liquidity and firms... 2026.03.31
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Monetary Policy Reports Executive Summary for Monetary Policy Report (March 2026) Monetary Policy Report at a Glance Monetary Policy Decisions [Bank of Korea Base Rate] Base Rate Kept at 2.50% Economic and Financial Develo... 2026.03.12
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BOK Issue Note Life-Sustaining Treatment, Whose Decision: Discrepancies Between Patient Preferences and Medical Reality, and Policy Implications 1. Three Million Decisions: Achievements of the Decisions on Life-Sustaining Treatment Act and Next Steps In order to safeguard patients’ right to sel... 2026.03.05
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Financial Stability Report Financial Stability Report (December 2025) - Please refer to the attached PDF file. - This is a translation prepared by the Bank's staff based on the original Korean text released on Decem... 2026.02.27
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BOK Issue Note Facilitating the Green Transition through the Stock Market: A Feasibility Study on Introducing a Korean Climate Benchmark Index 1. Green finance in Korea has evolved primarily around green lending and guarantees provided by banks and policy financial institutions, along with gr... 2026.02.09
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BOK Issue Note What Factors Drive the 'Resting' Youth in Korea? A Comparative Analysis of Non-employed Youth [BOK Issue Note 2026-3] The proportion of the ‘Resting’ people increases consistently, mainly among youth. Notably, the number of the ‘Resting’ youth who do not want a j... 2026.02.09
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BOK Issue Note Lifetime Impact of Delayed Labor Market Entry and Housing Cost Burden on the Youth Generation[BOK Issue Note 2026-2] The youth generation, by the nature of being in the entry phase of economic activity, inevitably has a weaker economic base compared to other age grou... 2026.01.28
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BOK Working Paper (in English) BOK Working Paper No.2026-4, Brains to the Capital: Wage Gaps and the Regional Sorting of Skilled Migrants in South Korea Authors: Jongwoo Chung(Bank of Korea), Hyejin Kim(Pukyong National Univ.), Jongkwan Lee(Yonsei Univ.) During the late 2010s, South Korea experi... 2026.01.27
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BOK Working Paper (in English) BOK Working Paper No.2026-3, U.S.-Korea Yield Synchronization and Its Implications for Monetary Policy Transmission Authors: Jihyun Kim·Somin Kim(Sungkyunkwan Univ.), Boreum Kwak(Soongsil Univ.) This paper develops a high-frequency measure of yield synchroni... 2026.01.27
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BOK Working Paper Paper (in Korean) BOK Working Paper No.2026-2, An Analysis of Mortgage Borrowers’ Interest Rate Choice Author: Choi Young Jun(Bank of Korea) 2026.01.26
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Korea Economic Outlook Korea Economic Outlook (November 2025) In order to provide a detailed understanding of Korea's economic outlook, a translation of the Economic Outlook is now published quarterly. 2026.01.22
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BOK Working Paper (in English) BOK Working Paper No.2026-1, Predicting the Payment Preference for CBDC: A Discrete Choice Experiment Authors: Syngjoo Choi·Bongseop Kim·Young Sik Kim(Seoul National Univ.), Ohik Kwon(Korea Univ.), Soeun Park(Seoul National Univ.) To overcome the... 2026.01.22
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BOK Issue Note Financial Frictions, UIP Premium, and the Integrated Policy Framework: The Case of Korea Emerging markets and developing economies (EMDEs) are vulnerable to external shocks. In the literature, it is well-documented that financial fric... 2026.01.15
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BOK Issue Note Labor Market and Job Mobility of AI Professionals [BOK Issue Note 2025-36] We use LinkedIn-based online profile data to comprehensively analyze the scale, wages, and mobility of AI workers in Korea. Based on data covering abo... 2026.01.09
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Quarterly/Economic Analysis [Vol.31 No.4] The Role of Permanent Demand Shocks in Economic Growth: A Case of Korea Author: Wongi Kim(Sungshin Womens' Univ.) This study analyzes the role of permanent demand shocks in explaining long-run GDP in Korea using a structu... 2025.12.31
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