Group 1 - The economic downturn in South Korea has led to a significant increase in business closures, with the number of reported closures surpassing 1 million for the first time since 1995, reaching 1,008,200 [1] - The business closure rate has risen for two consecutive years, reaching 9.04% in 2024, indicating that nearly 1 in 10 businesses ceased operations that year [1] - Poor business conditions are the primary reason for closures, with 506,200 businesses citing this as their reason, accounting for 50.2% of all closures, marking the highest proportion since 2010 [1] Group 2 - The retail and restaurant sectors are particularly affected, together accounting for approximately 45% of total business closures, with 299,600 retail businesses and 15.2% from the restaurant industry [1] - The overdue loan rate for vulnerable individual business owners reached 12.24% by the first quarter of 2025, the highest level since Q2 2013 [1] - The South Korean government has introduced a supplementary budget of 31.8 trillion KRW (approximately 100 billion CNY) to support livelihoods, including consumer vouchers aimed at boosting household spending [2] Group 3 - Despite government support measures, there is a consensus that these are temporary fixes and not structural solutions to the ongoing issues faced by individual business owners [2] - Calls for a systematic "exit strategy" to address the oversupply of individual businesses have emerged, highlighting the need for long-term institutional design to tackle structural challenges [2] - The competitive landscape for individual businesses is characterized by a cycle of high entrepreneurship and high failure rates, exacerbated by an aging population and insufficient job creation [2]

Group 1 - The Japanese government reported a significant decline in real wages for May, marking the largest drop in nearly two years [1] - Real wages decreased for the fifth consecutive month, down 2.9% compared to the same period last year, the largest decline since September 2023 [1] - Although nominal wages increased by 1.0% in May, high prices have led to a reduction in real wages [1] Group 2 - The consumer price index in Japan rose by 4.0% in May, remaining at or above 4% for six consecutive months, driven by high prices of food items such as rice [1]