Signal Korea imports 95 percent of energy and more than 99 percent of critical minerals

Summary

In drawing together its analysis, the KDI report sums up Korea's structural vulnerabilities in a few figures: a rapidly shrinking population, about 95% dependence on imported energy and more than 99% dependence on imported critical minerals. These sit alongside real assets such as dominance in high-bandwidth memory, world-leading manufacturing automation and top-tier R&D spending. The report stresses that assets and vulnerabilities are not separate lists but intertwined within the same structure. Chip leadership depends on imported minerals, and energy-hungry AI production collides with carbon neutrality. The report's conditional answer is that Korea can respond to the megatrends, but only if internal capacity is rebuilt in time.