The Bank of Korea's Regional Economics Division published an updated manufacturing production and supply chain map on May 27, marking the first revision in three years since August 2023. The report tracks structural shifts across 11 major manufacturing sectors, including semiconductors and automotive industries, analyzing regional production distributions and global supply chain configurations. The update captures significant changes driven by AI infrastructure expansion and electric vehicle market growth, with detailed percentage breakdowns for production shares and trade flows across Korean regions and international partners.
Seoul Metropolitan Area Expands Semiconductor Production Share to 82.3%
The Seoul metropolitan area increased its share of Korea's semiconductor production from 80.7% in 2021 to 82.3% in 2024, according to the Bank of Korea report. Major facilities in the region include Samsung Electronics' Hwaseong, Pyeongtaek, and Giheung plants, SK Hynix's Icheon plant, and Amkor Technology Korea's Songdo plant. The Chungcheong region's production share declined from 15.8% to 14.7% during the same period, with facilities including SK Hynix's Cheongju plant, Samsung Electronics' Onyang and Cheonan plants, and LX Semicon's Daejeon site. The Yeongnam and Honam regions accounted for 1.9% and 1.0% of production respectively.
 specialized for AI computation, solidifying a global AI semiconductor supply chain centered on NVIDIA (GPU) in the United States, TSMC (advanced packaging and foundry) in Taiwan, and Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix (HBM) in Korea.
 lithography equipment essential for advanced semiconductor manufacturing. The report documented increased imports of materials, components, and equipment alongside expanding semiconductor production.
China Surpasses Germany as Korea's Largest Auto Import Partner
China became Korea's largest automobile import source with 37.2% share, narrowly surpassing Germany's 37.0% in the latest period. The United States' import share plummeted from 28.9% in 2022 to 11.1% in 2025. The Bank of Korea reported that Chinese-made vehicles account for approximately 70% of Korea's imported electric vehicles, totaling $2.2 billion in import value. The report noted that Korea depends entirely on China for all imported electric bus volumes. In automotive production distribution within Korea, the Southeast region's share increased from 40.8% to 42.9% and the Honam region from 14.7% to 15.9% between 2021 and 2024, while the Seoul metropolitan area's share decreased from 35.5% to 33.6%.
 specialized for AI computation, strengthening the supply chain between NVIDIA, TSMC, Samsung Electronics, and SK Hynix.
Which country became Korea's largest automobile import source?
China surpassed Germany to become Korea's largest automobile import source with 37.2% share, with Chinese-made vehicles accounting for approximately 70% of Korea's imported electric vehicles totaling $2.2 billion in import value.
