[COVID-19 Transformation] 'Untact Services' Rise... "Need to Discover and Support Innovative Industries"

Biohealth and Telemedicine Expected to Rise 25.9% Post-COVID

Asia Economy DB=Photo by Mun Honam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bo-kyung] Experts predict that non-face-to-face (untact) industries such as online shopping and telemedicine will rise after the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19). There is an opinion that bold transformation of government policies is also necessary to foster innovative industries that will emerge in the post-COVID era.

According to the results of the 'Post-COVID-19 Emergency Diagnosis' survey conducted by Asia Economy on 112 domestic experts on the 28th, more than half of the respondents expected the untact service industry to rise after COVID-19. When asked, "Which industries and occupations do you expect to emerge after COVID-19?" the most common answer was "bio-health and telemedicine" at 25.9% (29 people), followed by "non-face-to-face distribution such as online shopping (28 people, 25.0%)" and "video conferencing and online education platforms (18 people, 16%)." More than half of the respondents anticipated that the untact service industry would be activated in the post-COVID era. Other responses included "Internet of Things (IoT), cloud, 5G (16 people, 14.3%)," "big data and artificial intelligence (AI, 14 people, 12.5%)," and "robot industry (3 people, 2.7%)."

In this regard, the Korea Labor Institute has suggested the need to build statistics and related industry analysis data to understand changes in consumption patterns such as the expansion of the online market. Kang Dong-woo, a research fellow at the Labor Institute, stated in a recent report titled "The Impact of Changes in Consumption Behavior on Employment," "Industries that grow rapidly according to changes in consumption behavior appear, and it is difficult to accurately grasp them with only existing industrial classifications and statistics," adding, "It is necessary to provide more detailed and segmented statistics that can capture changes in consumption behavior."

Experts advised that the government should prioritize discovering and supporting innovative industries and reforming the labor market to support the rapidly changing industrial sector in the post-COVID era. When asked, "What is most required in government industrial policy after COVID-19?" the most common answer was "discovery and support of innovative industries" with 31 respondents (27.7%), followed by "employment and labor market reform (29 people, 25.9%)" and "corporate regulation reform (22 people, 20.6%)."

This aligns with the Korea Economic Research Institute's argument that productivity must be improved through innovation and regulatory reform to break away from the low-growth trend. In a recent report titled "Analysis of Factors Weakening Growth," the institute stated that Korea's growth slowdown is due to a decline in the contribution of total factor productivity and recommended raising it through regulatory reform and innovation. Total factor productivity refers to the increase in added value not explained by the input of labor and capital. It is closely related to "invisible" production efficiency such as innovation in the production process, technology development, labor-management relations, and management innovation.

Additionally, respondents answered that government industrial policies need "restructuring of insolvent and declining industries (17 people, 15.2%)" and "tax system reform (8 people, 7.1%)." An industry insider mentioned in other opinions, "It is necessary to absolutely guarantee a free market economy and recruit competent experts in finance and healthcare systems." A labor sector representative emphasized, "Strengthening the social responsibility of conglomerates and solidifying public infrastructure and social services are necessary."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.