CPA Exam Competition Falls to 4.4-to-1, Lowest in Six Years

**AI PRISM* Customized Economic Briefing**

*Editor's note: 'AI PRISM' (Personalized Report & Insight Summarizing Media) is an AI-based customized news recommendation and summary service developed with support from the Korea Press Foundation. It selects and provides six tailored news items for each reader type.*

K-Defense Hiring Expansion: LIG Nex1 (079550) will conduct open recruitment for more than 100 positions in the first half of 2026, selecting R&D and management support personnel across all business areas including missiles, radar, AI, and unmanned robots. The company's workforce has grown 26% over two years to 5,748 employees, and campus recruiting will be conducted at 31 universities nationwide.

AI Agentic Transition: The CEO of AWS Korea projected that by 2029, five Korean companies could achieve $100 billion (approximately 146 trillion won) in revenue with fewer than 12 employees. With more than 60% of Korean companies already operating complex AI environments, the transition is accelerating toward an agentic AI era where AI plans and acts autonomously beyond simple assistance.

Immigration Policy Overhaul: The Ministry of Justice's "2030 Immigration Policy Future Strategy" lowers barriers for highly educated foreign talent in advanced industries such as semiconductors, AI, and robotics. The ministry will establish the K-CORE visa to cultivate mid-level technical workforce through junior colleges, increase top-tier visa issuance targets from 20 to 350 by 2030, and expand K-Star visa track universities from 5 to 32.

1. LIG Nex1 Launches Major Recruitment Drive on Defense Momentum

LIG Nex1 will hire more than 100 employees in its first-half 2026 recruitment across all business areas including missile systems, electronic warfare, radar, unmanned robots, satellites, and AI. The hiring process consists of online AI competency assessment and document screening, SW coding test (for SW positions only), working-level interviews by field, and leadership interviews, with applications accepted until the 18th. As an R&D-focused company where researchers comprise approximately 60% of all employees, headcount reached 5,748 as of last month—up 1,204 (26%) in two years. The company operates workplace improvement programs including flexible work hours, L-Fresh leave system, and Family Day, and has been selected as a Ministry of Employment and Labor "Best Employer" for three consecutive years.

2. "12 Employees, 146 Trillion Won Revenue—5 Korean Companies Could Emerge with AI"

AWS Korea CEO Ham Ki-ho projected at a press conference on the 3rd, citing an IDC report, that by 2029, five Korean companies could achieve $100 billion (approximately 146 trillion won) in revenue with fewer than 12 employees. He emphasized that more than 60% of Korean companies have already built complex AI environments combining generative and diagnostic AI, with AI evolving from simple assistant roles to agentic AI systems that plan and act autonomously. Adoption cases are spreading, including Samsung C&T (028260) building an AI-based legal and specification risk review platform, and Nexon developing a game anomaly detection system with AWS. AWS Korea has established a dedicated domestic task force to support physical AI and continues its plan to invest 7 trillion won in the Korean market by 2031.

3. CPA First-Round Exam Competition Falls to 4.4-to-1, Lowest Since 2020

This year's 61st CPA first-round exam recorded a 4.4-to-1 competition ratio, the lowest level in six years since 2020 (4.1-to-1). According to the Financial Supervisory Service, previous ratios were 5.3-to-1 in 2021, 6.0-to-1 in 2022, 5.3-to-1 in 2023, 4.8-to-1 in 2024, and 4.9-to-1 in 2025, showing a clear decline this year. The exam attendance rate also fell to 83.9%, the lowest since 2020 (83.3%), with 12,263 candidates sitting for the exam. Based on a minimum planned selection of 2,800 candidates, successful applicants will be chosen in order of highest scores among those scoring at least 60% average with no failing subjects. Final results will be announced on the 10th of next month.

4. Training at Junior Colleges for Industry Placement; Small Businesses to Hire Foreign Workers Temporarily

The Ministry of Justice's "2030 Immigration Policy Future Strategy" announced on the 3rd expands top-tier visa eligibility from corporate personnel to professors and researchers to attract excellent foreign talent in eight advanced industries including semiconductors, AI, and robotics, with issuance targets increasing from 20 to 350 by 2030. The ministry will also expand K-STAR visa track universities from 5 to 32, quadrupling annual talent acquisition from 100 to more than 500. To address manufacturing labor shortages, the new K-CORE visa will cultivate and utilize foreign mid-level technical workers at domestic junior colleges, currently operating in 16 specialized technical departments including automotive manufacturing and precision machinery. The ministry is also pursuing establishment of a "Foreign Worker Wage Advisory Committee" (tentative name) to set wage floors for foreign workers by industry type, protecting domestic jobs amid expanded foreign workforce.

5. "Campus Recruiting Season Begins"—Bloom Energy Seeks Top Korean Talent

Global power solutions company Bloom Energy is participating in recruitment fairs at major Seoul universities starting with Seoul National University on the 3rd, followed by Korea University (4th) and Yonsei University (5th) to secure top talent. Bloom Energy supplies on-site power to data centers and manufacturing facilities through solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC)-based power solutions. The company posted record revenue of $2.02 billion (approximately 2.9 trillion won) last year, up 37.3% from $1.47 billion in 2024, driven by expanding global demand for hydrogen fuel cells amid delays in conventional grid expansion. Company introductions, key technology and performance briefings, and individual recruitment consultations will be conducted at the fair venues.

6. AI to Auto-Extend Corporate Loans; Staff to Focus on Credit Assessment

Woori Bank will introduce the banking industry's first AI-powered automatic extension system for corporate loans (business lending) within the year. Previously, automatic extensions were limited to individual business owner loans, but this project will expand to the corporate sector, with AI based on internal Borrower Risk Rating (BRR) replacing loan extension tasks previously handled by Relationship Managers (RMs). Woori Bank also unveiled a generative AI-based "deep research" system that automatically generates industry and company analysis reports using internal data. The group is now fully pursuing its AX (AI Transformation) master plan to establish 344 AI use cases by next year—200 in banking and 144 in non-banking sectors.