Data from the Korea Automobile and Mobility Association showed that EVs produced in China accounted for roughly one-third of newly registered EVs in Korea last year, a sharp increase from about 1 percent in 2021. Last year, a total of 220,177 EVs were registered here, and the number of EVs produced in China reached 74,728 out of them.

Industry officials said that price alone does not fully explain the rapid ascent of Tesla and BYD in Korea. As the domestic EV market remains in a formative stage, consumers appear to be placing greater trust in manufacturers specializing exclusively in EVs rather than traditional carmakers transitioning from internal combustion engines.