Amid a global AI boom, The New York Times turned its lens on South Korea on Thursday, examining how the country's semiconductor frenzy has reshaped everyday culture and language.
The paper published an online quiz titled "The AI and Chip Boom: Test Your Knowledge of Korean Slang and Memes," posing six multiple-choice questions to introduce readers to the semiconductor craze sweeping South Korean society.
Questions included "What is Samjeonnix?", "Investors' faith in semiconductor stocks is wavering — what chant can they recite?" (answer: "Samen-Hamen," a portmanteau invoking Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix) and "What does 'Silicon Collar' mean?"
Alongside stock market slang, the quiz asked: "Apartments near subway stations have long been the most sought-after. What location is now gaining in popularity?" (answer: shuttle bus pickup points near chipmakers) and "What should you wear to make a good impression?" (answer: a vest with SK Hynix printed on the back).
The Times also highlighted the neologism "Ha-eui-chi-han-yak-su" — a play on the traditional shorthand for South Korea's most coveted graduate programs: medicine, dentistry, Korean medicine, pharmacy and veterinary science. The new version inserts "Ha," the first syllable of Hynix, at the front, signaling that landing a job at SK Hynix now rivals those elite academic paths in prestige.
The Times noted that South Korea's semiconductor industry accounts for 60 percent of global chip output and has grown strongly in the AI era. The Kospi has more than doubled over the past year, adding trillions of dollars in market capitalization, and some employees at major chipmakers stand to receive bonuses worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The semiconductor boom has become a topic of conversation everywhere, the paper said — from family dinners and smoke breaks to online gaming cafes.
Admissions industry forecasts reflect real-world surge
Meanwhile, as Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix lead what many are calling a historic semiconductor boom, South Korea's college admissions industry is forecasting that cutoff scores for contract departments — programs that guarantee graduates jobs at the two chipmakers — could rise to the level of Korean medicine schools.
According to a preliminary analysis of the June mock college entrance exam by Megastudy Education, released June 9, the minimum score needed to apply to semiconductor contract departments stood at 288 points or above on the combined Korean language, mathematics and elective subjects scale. The projected cutoff for medical school, the top-ranked natural sciences track, was 292 points. Dentistry came in at 290, Korean medicine at 288 and pharmacy at 286.
Based on those figures, semiconductor contract departments are expected to post cutoff scores on par with Korean medicine programs and above pharmacy programs in the 2027 college admissions cycle.
Semiconductor contract departments at Yonsei University, Korea University, Hanyang University and Sogang University have traditionally posted lower cutoffs than medicine, dentistry, Korean medicine and pharmacy programs, though the gap varies by admissions track. That dynamic is shifting as Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix ride a semiconductor "supercycle" and reward employees with high salaries and generous performance bonuses.
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