Production, Consumption, and Investment All Increased... But Food and Accommodation Say "We're Struggling" [3-Minute Brief]

① Growing Anxiety Over Monthly Fluctuations in Industrial Activity Indicators
② Korea Inclusive Finance Agency Releases 2024 Youth Finance Survey
③ Diverging Fortunes in US and China Stock Markets

MARKET INDEX

○ White House: No exemption for reciprocal tariffs on April 2
○ Trump states basic policy to impose tariffs on all countries
○ Q1 growth forecast at 0.3% due to tariff impact

TOP 3 NEWS

■ ‘Fluctuating Economy’… Unstable ‘Triple Increase’ in February Production, Consumption, and Investment

○ Statistics Korea announces February industrial activity trends
○ Construction industry turns positive after 7 months... production, consumption, and investment increase
○ Increase in November → decrease in December → increase in January → decrease in February

■ 74% of Young Delinquents Are Long-term Delinquents… 2 out of 10 Have Multiple Debts

○ Number of delinquent youths: 572,347
○ Number of long-term delinquents: 425,696
○ 30% of youths have loans

■ US -5.1%, China 18.1%… Divergent Stock Market Performance Between the Two Countries

○ Mixed reactions to Trump’s tariff moves
○ China smoothly progressing with AI boom and economic stimulus
○ US facing triple challenges of inflation, consumer sentiment, and tariffs

Money-Making Law

■ Mid-to-large Firms’ Per Lawyer Revenue Comparable to Top 12 Law Firms… Peter & Kim at 1.29 Billion KRW

○ Revenue growth trend in mid-to-large firms such as Haekwang, Lin, LBK
○ Mid-to-large firms lead in individual lawyer performance
○ Peter & Kim leads with 1.29 billion KRW per lawyer revenue
☞Read article: https://www.asiae.co.kr/article/lawtimes/2025033115215456518

■ HMM, Janggeum Shipping, Korea Shipping Under Investigation for Foreign Exchange Transactions Act Violations

○ Customs Service begins investigation into HMM, Janggeum Shipping, Korea Shipping, etc.
○ Payment made to different party than actual bunker fuel supplier
○ Determined to be ‘third-party payment’
☞Read article: https://www.asiae.co.kr/article/lawtimes/2025033115262804422

■ "Card Kkang Fraud, Victims Are Card Companies"

○ Supreme Court overturns and remands computer fraud case involving ‘Card Kkang’
○ Determined that identifying victims is necessary to apply kinship exemption
○ Retroactive application of unconstitutional ruling may cause criminal disadvantage
☞Read article: https://www.asiae.co.kr/article/lawtimes/2025033116282158645

※ ‘Money-Making Law,’ a content partnership corner between Asia Economy and Law Times, is published every Tuesday and Thursday.

Graphic News: The 4th Internet Bank, the Emergence of a New Catfish… Will It Overcome Limits?

○ Examining the four consortia that have thrown their hats into the ring for the 4th internet bank
○ More stringent criteria… "Surpass the limits of existing internet banks"
○ Need for differentiated credit evaluation systems and funding capabilities pointed out

Today’s Key Schedule

○ Domestic

09:00 Korea Trade Balance (March)

○ Overseas

12:30 Australia Interest Rate Decision (April)

18:00 Europe Consumer Price Index (YoY) (March)

22:45 US Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (March)

23:00 US Department of Labor JOLTS (Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey) (February)

◇ Lunch & Commute Weather

○ Lowest temperature 5℃(▲4℃) ｜ Highest temperature: 16℃(▲2℃)
○ Precipitation probability: Morning 0%｜Afternoon 10%
○ Fine dust: Morning Moderate｜Afternoon Moderate

OK in 3 minutes, essential time-efficient economic news. Published daily at 8 AM.