[Semiconductor Money: The Trajectory of Money]

August 20 (Thu), 10 PM, KBS 1TV Documentary Insight

2,900% return, 12 billion won in net worth: The new rich created by ‘Semiconductor Money’

Monthly sales of 100 million won: The semiconductor boom spreading even to rural areas of Yongin

TSMC stock owned by 1 in 10 Taiwanese: The wealth and shadow created by semiconductors

Fierce volatility oscillating between surges and crashes: Where is Semiconductor Money Heading Now?

In the summer of 2026, the South Korean stock market, which foreign media call a ‘giant casino,’ is seething with hope and despair surrounding the so-called ‘Samsung-nix’ semiconductor money. In the entire month of July, there were only four days when neither sell nor buy circuit breakers were triggered. Driven by the expectation that anyone can become rich, people are jumping into a ‘party of money,’ while the anxiety that they cannot be left behind fuels a ‘bubble of money.’ Has the surge in semiconductor demand driven by the AI ​​revolution truly opened up a new world unlike anything before? Or is it merely yet another bubble?

■ The Landscape of People and Land Changed by Semiconductors

Kim Hye-san, 31, invested his entire fortune of 270 million won in SK Hynix by pooling together his severance pay and even his jeonse deposit. Amid the semiconductor boom, his net worth once swelled to 12 billion won.

Actress Jeon Won-ju is also reaping significant profits from SK Hynix stocks, which she purchased in the 20,000 won range and has held for the long term.

“For several years now, I have been calling the semiconductor belt an ‘expanded Gangnam.’

Money gathers where industry takes root, and from there, money circulates again.”

Kim Si-deok / Urban Scholar

The capital flowing into semiconductors is even changing the landscape of rural lands. At the construction site of the SK Hynix Yongin Semiconductor Cluster, a 25-year-old worker earns up to 7 million won per month, and the monthly revenue of nearby restaurants has easily surpassed 100 million won. Semiconductor factories built on barren land were simultaneously influencing jobs, commercial districts, and real estate prices, fundamentally altering the very structure of the region.

■ Taiwan, the Land of Semiconductors, and the Shadow of Wealth

In Taiwan, where approximately 3 million out of a population of 23 million—meaning one in ten people—owns TSMC stock, semiconductors have transcended being merely an industry and become a core pillar dominating society as a whole.

“Rising wages in the semiconductor industry are creating an illusion regarding the overall average.

Behind this dazzling growth lies another shadow.”

Wu Da-ren / Professor of Economics, National Central University, Taiwan

While there are those who have achieved financial freedom through TSMC investments, there are also semiconductor engineers who have rapidly accumulated assets with six-figure salaries. However, behind this facade, there are young people who must supplement their income by tutoring after work just to earn 2 million won a month. The income gap between semiconductor workers and non-workers is 3.5 times. Yet, semiconductor industry workers constitute only 3% of the total workforce. The dazzling growth figures were creating an ‘illusion’ across the entire Taiwanese economy.

■ For those who bought the future first, was it a time of dreams and illusions?

As semiconductor stock prices, which seemed destined to rise endlessly, plummeted, the South Korean stock market fell into chaos. Lee Seok-hyun, 33, who made a profit of 1 billion won from an investment in SK Hynix and reinvested the entire amount back into the same stock just 15 minutes later, is currently recording a loss of approximately 500 million won in just one month.

The assets of Kim Hye-san, 31, which once swelled to 12 billion won, have also shrunk by nearly half amidst fierce stock price volatility.

“Who knows what the world will be like six months from now, or a year from now?

We delude ourselves into thinking we know the future when we do not.

That conviction swept through this market.”

Kwak Sang-jun / CEO of ‘M’ Investment Advisory

While the numbers were surging, no one knew how far that money would go. Money moving in pursuit of the future of semiconductors, and human desire chasing after it. Just how far will the trajectory of that massive amount of money continue?

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