When US president Donald Trump imposed a 25% tariff on foreign steel earlier this month, it was done with the stated aim of boosting the US’s domestic economy, but the move appears to be having the unintended consequence of boosting South Korea’s turbulent pop industry.
As reported by The Guardian and Korea Times, shares in the country’s four major K-Pop companies – SM, YG, HYBE and JYP Entertainment – have hit 52-week highs in the past few days, which analysts suggest is fuelled by investors seeing the K-Pop industry as a safe bet amidst the threat of a looming trade war.
