Semiconductor feast, household squeeze

The semiconductor industry is the standout engine of the current upswing, with AI-related demand pulling export and investment figures upward. Yet the benefits are concentrated in a narrow sector, while employment conditions for the general public and youth remain strained — the defining feature of the K-shaped divergence highlighted in the claim.

Record highs, but caveats remain

While there is evidence consistent with a record-high income level, the official attribution of the surge to AI has not been formally confirmed, and portions of the cited figures depend on media calculations rather than official statistics.

Youth burden persists

Young Koreans in particular face a labor market that has not shared in the semiconductor sector's gains, deepening the sense among ordinary households that the boom is passing them by.

Korea's split between a thriving chip industry and struggling ordinary and young households broadly matches the observable record, though the AI causality remains officially unconfirmed and some figures rest on media estimates — the claim is, on balance, Mostly True.