**East Asian giants hesitate, and the global economic pattern is shaking**
At the beginning of many of the most ambitious economic feats, Japan and South Korea were the most brilliant representatives of East Asia. Today, however, the two countries are facing an unprecedented set of challenges, and their leadership on the global economic stage is in jeopardy.
First of all, the world's most popular industrial sector is in decline. Japanese and Korean industries, which once stood at the top of fields such as home appliances, semiconductors, shipbuilding, automobiles, and machinery, are now slipping into decline. Its per capita GDP is rapidly approaching or even falling below the industry standards of developed countries.
At the same time, China's rapid rise in the technology industry chain is also unstoppable. China is rapidly building its own technology industry chain, indicating that in the near future, China may fully realize localization. This momentum not only threatens the market share of chip manufacturing and other fields, but also reshuffles the global industrial chain.
More worrying, however, is the negative impact of US policy intervention on Japan and South Korea. The U.S. interest rate hike policy has led to the depreciation of other countries' currencies, exacerbating the depreciation trend of the yen and South Korean won. To make matters worse, the United States has all but forced both countries to halt interest rate hikes, leading to massive asset outflows that have put them in a perilous colonial predicament.
Finally, the automotive industry in Japan and South Korea is facing challenges in the field of new energy vehicles. By ignoring key technologies such as artificial intelligence, intelligent driving, and data links, automakers in both countries have failed to dominate the NEV race. In contrast, Tesla in the United States and new energy vehicles in China have achieved technological leadership.
In summary, many of the challenges faced by Japan and South Korea involve industrial decline, China's technological rise, U.S. policy intervention, and technology competition in the field of new energy vehicles. These challenges threaten to deprive the two countries of their status as developed countries and push them further into the abyss of decline.