Home > Business > Industry

Samyang among Korean companies on hunt for AI experts in bid to gain social media edge

Published: 14 Dec. 2025, 13:58

Shoppers line up to purchase merchandise at the “Musinsa Megastore Yongsan” at I’Park Mall in Yongsan District, central Seoul on Dec. 11. [YONHAP]

Even as job openings remain tight in Korea, companies are battling for experienced AI engineers, offering unusually rich perks to those standing out.

Samyang Roundsquare, the food company behind Buldak noodles, has joined the hiring push, industry insiders said Friday. It is recruiting AI engineers along with companies like Olive Young, the health-and-beauty retailer; Musinsa, the fashion platform; and Sandbox Network, a digital entertainment firm.

In a recent job posting, Samyang said it wants to build AI tools for TikTok creators that generate content ideas, assist with production and help them make money. The company said it plans to go beyond product promotion and use AI to map how viral content forms and spreads on TikTok and YouTube.

Samyang built global recognition for Buldak through social media campaigns, including spicy taste challenges. It also introduced products tailored to local markets by tracking consumer reactions online. Analysts say the company now wants to automate and sharpen that playbook with AI systems.

Buldak noodles are displayed at a large discount store in Seoul on Sept. 24. [NEWS1]

Sandbox Network, which manages multiple YouTubers with more than 1 million subscribers, also highlighted AI development in its hiring notice.

The company said it plans to build a system that analyzes viewer comments to monitor brand and creator reputation. Referred to internally as a “sentiment crash detector,” the system aims to identify early signs of negative public reaction in fast-moving platform environments.

Retail platforms including Olive Young and Musinsa have focused on building AI agents that improve the accuracy of personalized product recommendations based on customer behavior data and automate key operational tasks such as inventory tracking. As millennials and Gen Z consumers drive a surge in reviews and promotional activity, companies increasingly see AI as essential to keeping pace with changing demand.

Competition for advanced AI talent has already intensified. Financial technology firm Toss paid 1 million won ($680) to applicants who cleared the first screening round for AI positions in the first half of this year.

AI startup Wrtn Technologies offered signing bonuses of up to 20 million won to candidates who completed its full-time hiring process.

Although the number of AI developers has increased, companies say many lack the advanced experience they need. As demand shifts toward creative and unconventional modeling skills rather than basic coding ability, some job postings now list math or physics Olympiad winners as preferred candidates.

The OpenAI logo is displayed on a mobile phone in front of a computer screen with output from ChatGPT on March 21, 2023 in Boston. [AP/YONHAP]

The number of job postings containing the keyword AI in the first half of this year rose 31.5 percent compared with three years ago and 141.3 percent compared with five years ago, according to recruitment platform JobKorea,

"Demand for AI skills now extends beyond development roles into planning, marketing and distribution," a JobKorea official said.

An industry official said Korean companies still face constraints in attracting top-tier talent because their pay systems remain more rigid than those of global technology firms.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY KIM SU-MIN [[email protected]]