The conclusion of the 2025 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit in Gyeongju has heightened interest in the impact of the meeting on the Korean industry. The consensus is that the 'Artificial Intelligence (AI) semiconductor' sector has been the biggest beneficiary. The resolution of the Korea-U.S. tariff negotiations and the U.S.-China trade dispute during the APEC period is also seen as a positive influence.

● Beneficiary Industries: Semiconductors, AI Infrastructure, Automotive

On the 2nd, industry insiders identified semiconductors as the top beneficiary industry during the APEC period. Jensen Huang, CEO of NVIDIA, the world's leading AI semiconductor company, strengthened the 'private AI alliance' by having a 'chimaek (chicken + beer)' meeting with Lee Jae-yong, Chairman of Samsung Electronics, and Chung Eui-sun, Chairman of Hyundai Motor Group. NVIDIA agreed to supply 260,000 units of its graphics processing units (GPUs), which are in short supply in Korea.

NVIDIA also announced plans to strengthen cooperation with domestic semiconductor companies such as Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix. It intends to secure a large supply of high-bandwidth memory (HBM), essential for AI chip production, as well as DRAM and NAND flash, to bolster its 'AI Factory' business.

Samsung Electronics has emerged as one of the top beneficiaries of this APEC, having effectively secured the supply of NVIDIA's next-generation HBM, 'HBM4', and confirmed its involvement in creating NVIDIA's robotics applications (AP).

As collaborations with global AI companies like NVIDIA and Amazon Web Services (AWS) materialize, the AI infrastructure business, including data centers, is expected to significantly benefit from APEC. Most of the NVIDIA GPUs entering Korea will be used for building AI data centers.

The automotive and robotics sectors are also considered beneficiaries. Hyundai Motor Group has agreed to receive 50,000 new GPUs from NVIDIA, which will boost future businesses such as software-defined vehicles (SDVs), autonomous driving, and robotics development. Hyundai Motor Group anticipates that "NVIDIA's AI inference models and software will enhance vehicle functions and performance." The reduction of U.S. tariffs on Korean automobiles from 25% to 15% and the postponement of China's expansion of rare earth export controls during the APEC period also positively impacted the domestic automotive industry.

The shipbuilding industry gained attention as a beneficiary of APEC after U.S. President Donald Trump approved the construction of nuclear-powered submarines. With Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney visiting Hanwha Ocean's Geoje plant ahead of the final decision on Canada's KRW 60 trillion submarine project on the 30th, Hanwha Ocean is seen as experiencing a 'double benefit.'

● Steel and Petrochemicals Struggle to Find Rebound Opportunities

Conversely, the steel industry has not overcome its 'gloomy autumn.' With the U.S. and EU raising tariffs to 50% and China's continued low-price offensive, the industry faces a 'triple whammy,' and no specific measures were announced at APEC to alleviate these difficulties.

With active discussions on strengthening climate regulations at APEC, industries with high carbon emissions, such as refining and petrochemicals, are also evaluated to have been negatively impacted. Kim Dae-jong, a professor of business administration at Sejong University, stated, "For Korea, which supplies 80% of the world's memory semiconductors, strengthening cooperation with NVIDIA is a significant benefit," adding, "The resolution of the Korea-U.S. tariff negotiations during the APEC period, which reduces industrial uncertainty, can also be viewed positively."

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