🔵 Discussing Korean Economic Trends – Advanced Level (TOPIK 5–6)

Curious about Korea’s inflation, export markets, or job trends? Learn how to discuss real-world economic issues in Korean using advanced vocabulary and analysis.

“한국의 경제, 지금 어디로 가고 있을까요?”
In news reports, debates, or formal discussions, Koreans often refer to 경제 동향 (economic trends) using complex expressions. This lesson will help you break them down with clarity and confidence.

🎯 Learning Goal

Understand and use economic terminology found in Korean news and reports
Summarize economic trends using passive voice and noun-heavy sentence structures
Discuss economic comparisons, implications, and predictions in formal contexts

📈 Key Economic Terms

물가 상승률 (物價上昇率) – inflation rate
고용 시장 (雇用市場) – job market
수출입 동향 (輸出入動向) – import-export trends
경제 성장률 (經濟成長率) – economic growth rate
소비 심리 (消費心理) – consumer sentiment
기준금리 (基準金利) – base interest rate
환율 변동 (換率變動) – exchange rate fluctuation
재정 적자 (財政赤字) – fiscal deficit

📚 Advanced Grammar Patterns in Economics

1. -에 따르면 (According to...)

한국은행에 따르면 올해 물가 상승률은 3.1%로 전망된다.

2. -는 것으로 나타났다 (It was revealed that...)

조사 결과, 청년층의 실업률이 증가하고 있는 것으로 나타났다.

3. -을/를 중심으로 (Centered around...)

수출은 반도체와 자동차 산업을 중심으로 회복세를 보이고 있다.

🗣️ Practice Dialogue

Korean	English
최근 물가 상승률이 다시 오르고 있다는 보도가 있었어요.	There was a report that inflation is rising again recently.
네, 특히 식료품 가격이 많이 올랐다고 하더라고요.	Yes, especially food prices have gone up a lot, I heard.
수출은 어떤가요? 회복되고 있나요?	How about exports? Are they recovering?
반도체 산업을 중심으로 회복세가 있다고 해요.	I heard there's a recovery centered on the semiconductor industry.
정부는 어떤 대응을 하고 있나요?	How is the government responding?
기준금리를 동결하고, 소비 심리 회복에 집중하고 있어요.	They're freezing interest rates and focusing on consumer sentiment recovery.
앞으로 경제가 더 나아질까요?	Do you think the economy will improve?
내수와 수출이 모두 살아나야 회복이 가능할 것 같아요.	We’ll need both domestic demand and exports to recover for improvement.

📝 Quick Check Quiz

What is the Korean word for "consumer sentiment"?
Answer
소비 심리
Translate: “According to the Bank of Korea, inflation will rise.”
Answer
한국은행에 따르면, 물가가 오를 것이다.
Fill in the blank: 수출은 반도체 산업을 ______ 회복되고 있다.
Answer
중심으로

📰 Reading Practice

Original excerpt (from 연합뉴스, July 2024):

“6월 소비자물가지수는 전년 동기 대비 2.6% 상승했으며, 생활물가와 농산물 가격 상승이 주요 요인으로 분석됐다.”

“The Consumer Price Index (CPI) in June rose by 2.6% compared to the same period last year, mainly due to increases in everyday goods and agricultural product prices.”

🗂️ Key Vocabulary:

소비자물가지수 (消費者物價指數) – Consumer Price Index (CPI)
전년 동기 대비 (前年同期對比) – compared to the same period last year
생활물가 (生活物價) – everyday consumer prices
농산물 (農産物) – agricultural products
요인 (要因) – factor, cause
분석되다 (分析되다) – to be analyzed

👩‍🏫 Teacher’s Tips

경제 기사에서는 수동 표현과 추상적인 명사 구조가 반복되어 처음엔 어려울 수 있어요.
주어 없이 시작되는 문장(예: “상승세를 보였다”)이나 ‘-는 것으로 나타났다’ 같은 표현에 익숙해지는 것이 중요합니다. 저는 수업에서 학생들에게 기사 문장을 실제 말하기 표현으로 바꿔보는 연습을 자주 시킵니다.

Economic texts often use passive voice and abstract nouns repeatedly, which can be confusing at first.
It’s important to get used to sentence structures without clear subjects like “보였다 (was seen)” or summary phrases like “-는 것으로 나타났다 (it was revealed that…).” In my lessons, I encourage students to rephrase these as spoken Korean to strengthen practical use.

🌀 Say What?

영끌 (yeong-kkeul): This slang term is short for “영혼까지 끌어모으다”, meaning “to scrape together everything, even your soul.” It’s widely used in financial contexts to describe people borrowing money from every possible source to make a big investment—usually buying a house. The phrase became especially popular during Korea's real estate boom when young people rushed to enter the housing market despite high prices and interest rates.

Example: “요즘 2030 세대는 집을 사기 위해 영끌을 한다고 해요.”

“These days, people in their 20s and 30s go all in—even beyond their means—to buy a house.”

📌 Did You Know?

2024년 상반기 기준, 한국의 실업률은 3.0%, 청년층 실업률은 7.3%로 보고되었습니다. 특히 20대 후반과 대졸 취업준비생 사이에서 고용 불안감이 가장 높았습니다.

As of early 2024, Korea's general unemployment rate stood at 3.0%, with youth unemployment at 7.3%—particularly high among university graduates in their late 20s.

(Source: Statistics Korea, 고용동향 2024년 6월)

🌟 Final Thoughts

Understanding economic trends isn’t just for professionals—it empowers you to discuss the world around you in Korean with confidence and depth. Keep reading the news and summarizing in your own words!

📝 It’s Your Turn

Choose a recent Korean economic article and try summarizing it in 5 sentences.
Use -에 따르면, -는 것으로 나타났다, and -을 중심으로 in your writing.
Record yourself explaining one economic trend to a friend in Korean.

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