"In Pangyo Cafes, Headhunters Are Handing Out Business Cards"... Korean Developers Earning 'At Most 100 Million Won' Receive Love Calls [AI Talent Lost to Big Tech ②]

Average Annual Salary for AI Talent: 80 Million Won in Korea, 400 Million Won in the U.S.
Even Top Domestic Companies Offer Just Over 100 Million Won
"In Korea, Salaries Are Often Based on Seniority Rather Than Research Achievements or Performance"
Baek Kyunghoon Appointed as Minister of Science and ICT
"Plans to Support the Development of AI Talent"

According to the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) '2025 Global Talent Tracker' report, among approximately 33,000 AI talents moving internationally, 26% flowed into the United States, while South Korea accounted for less than 1% of the total inflow.

AI talents from Seoul National University, the most prestigious university in South Korea, are showing a clear preference for employment at the five major U.S. big tech companies (Apple, Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Meta), largely due to compensation and treatment. With overflowing AI investments and a global rush for talent, the value of Silicon Valley developers is skyrocketing. Korean developers find it difficult to turn down the salaries offered by big tech companies. There are growing concerns that if this trend continues, South Korea's AI competitiveness could decline even further, highlighting the urgent need for countermeasures.

According to the U.S. salary comparison site levels.FYI on July 17, the average annual salary for software engineers in South Korea is around 80 million won, whereas developers in Silicon Valley earn up to 400 million won. Graduates with master's or doctoral degrees from leading domestic universities such as Seoul National University and Yonsei University, who join major corporations like Samsung Electronics, LG, or SK, can expect an annual salary in the low 100 million won range at best. However, if they go straight to leading overseas big tech companies, their salaries can soar to between 500 million and 600 million won.

Kim Janghyun, a doctoral candidate at Seoul National University who is set to join Apple, said, "In Korea, even if you have a Ph.D. and join a large company, most places do not place much weight on research achievements or performance. Instead, salaries are determined simply by seniority. This is why U.S. big tech companies are so attractive." Another domestic university graduate who has secured a job at Meta pointed out, "There are many talented Koreans at companies like Google, Meta, Microsoft, and OpenAI. Even if they want to return to Korea for family reasons, they end up staying in the U.S. because of the salary gap."

BCG·OECD: "Serious Outflow of Korean AI Talent"

The outflow of AI talent from South Korea is at a critical level. According to the recently published '2025 Global Talent Tracker' report by Boston Consulting Group (BCG), among approximately 33,000 AI talents moving internationally, 26% flowed into the United States, while South Korea accounted for less than 1% of the total inflow. The retention rate of incoming talent in South Korea was only 0.4, lower than that of India (0.5) and China (0.6).

The OECD AI Policy Observatory's 'AI Talent Mobility Index' also classified South Korea as the fourth largest net talent exporter among 38 countries, with a score of -0.36. This means that 0.36 AI talents per 10,000 people left the country. This is not merely a numerical figure but an indicator of a structural trend. Not only are talents not coming in, but even those who do quickly leave, as confirmed by the statistics.

The sense of talent outflow is even more acute among companies. At Kakao, a core developer with 5 to 10 years of experience recently moved to a large language model (LLM) subsidiary of Japan's SoftBank. The fact that this developer was a key contributor to Kakao's recently launched AI service 'Kanana' reportedly caused significant internal shock.

Within the industry, the migration of core developers to global big tech companies is no longer seen as an exception but as a growing trend. An industry insider said, "When developers switch jobs, they receive at least 1.5 times their previous salary, and usually stock options as well, so the difference in compensation is significant." A representative from NAVER Cloud also commented, "After gaining about a year of experience at a domestic company, many interns end up moving to Silicon Valley or large Japanese corporations." In Pangyo, a hub for IT companies, there are even rumors that headhunters are handing out business cards at nearby cafes.

As technology advances even faster, competition among big tech companies to secure core AI talent is expected to intensify. Lee Honglak, Vice President of LG AI Research Institute, said, "In the early days, our institute attracted top talent. But as our achievements have grown and their value has increased, concerns about talent outflow have also risen." An AI industry expert warned, "What we need now is not just generalists who can say 'I did AI,' but practical experts specialized in areas like LLMs or data pipelines. If we don't secure them now, the very foundation of the domestic AI industry could collapse in two or three years."

The government is also taking steps to retain talent. Baek Kyunghoon, Minister of Science and ICT, said in his inauguration speech, "We will realize a nation strong in AI and science and technology, which is the core of the national innovation ecosystem. We will create an environment where domestic talent can pursue their dreams without going abroad, and we will also prepare support measures to nurture top-tier AI talent, such as establishing AI-focused universities."