More than half of Korea's corporate management forecast the economy positively this year. In particular, the most positive sentiment in five years was recorded.
Global accounting and consulting firm EY Han Young on Feb. 6 released the results of a survey of major domestic business leaders who attended the "2026 EY Han Young New Year economic outlook seminar" held in Jan. This survey included 242 executives at domestic corporations.
This year, 53% of respondents predicted the Korean economy "positively," topping half. The result contrasts with last year's survey, in which "negative" responses reached 91%. It is analyzed that corporate executives' perception of the economy has entered a clear recovery.
Companies' confidence in their performance also recovered. Fifty-five percent of respondents expected their company's performance to grow this year from a year earlier. That is up 14 percentage points from last year's 41%. In contrast, the share of respondent corporations expecting a deterioration in performance was 12%, the lowest level in five years.
Perceptions of external risks also eased somewhat. Sixty-four percent cited "economic slowdown and uncertainty (high exchange rates, inflation, etc.)" as a key risk to corporate operations this year, still high but down 12 percentage points from 76% a year earlier.
In addition, ◇ instability in global supply chains and rising raw material prices (50%), ◇ major countries' protectionist policies (trade, commerce, etc.) (46%), and ◇ changes in legal, institutional, and regulatory environments (31%) were found to be structural external variables that continue to affect corporate management.
While economic perceptions improved, companies' strategic direction still tilted toward strengthening fundamentals rather than expansion. The innovation strategies corporations will focus on most over the next two years were operational efficiency and automation (35%) and strengthening existing businesses and maximizing revenue (33%).
As key means to strengthen competitiveness, product and service innovation and research and development (R&D) (55%) and digital transformation (AI, etc.) (50%) were chosen most.
This is interpreted as reflecting a tendency to prioritize internal innovations with relatively higher feasibility over outward expansion amid an uncertain external environment.
Adoption of and investment in artificial intelligence (AI) also spread compared with a year earlier. Corporations that introduced AI across the company or in some areas reached 73%, a sharp rise of 21 percentage points from 52% a year earlier. Twenty-six percent said they have not yet adopted it but plan to do so, while only 1% said they have no plans. In addition, 89% said they plan to make additional AI investments within two years, up 7 percentage points from a year earlier.
Companies that have introduced AI or plan to do so most often cited expected benefits such as operational efficiency including automation (77%), improved data analysis and forecasting accuracy (71%), and product or service innovation and development (55%).
The effects felt by corporations that actually adopted AI were concentrated in internal operations, including ▲ improving operational efficiency and reducing expense (75%), ▲ strengthening data-driven decision-making (62%), and ▲ changes in workforce structure such as task automation and role redefinition (52%). In contrast, perceived effects in the value-creation stage, such as ▲ improving customer experience and service quality (27%) and ▲ creating new business models (11%), remained relatively limited.
The top difficulty faced by corporations that have introduced AI or plan to do so was "a shortage of AI experts and internal capabilities" (72%). That was followed by a lack of a clear AI strategy and companywide implementation framework (47%) and insufficient data quality and consistency and limits to utilization (40%).
However, concerns about uncertainty relative to investment fell to 38% this year from 57% a year earlier, regulatory and legal risks fell to 6% from 24%, and ethical issues fell to 1% from 6%, indicating that overall perceptions of AI are gradually improving.
EY Han Young CEO Park Yong-geun said, "AI-based operational efficiency has already become commonplace, and many companies are feeling the effects, but expansion into the value-creation domain is still at an early stage," adding, "Strategically reallocating workforce and resources secured through AI to R&D and product and service innovation, and designing a collaboration structure between humans and AI, will determine future competitiveness."