tixe,
really appreciate your time, effort and the amount of info you shared! you really seem to know facts and figures about design in Asia. are you located somewhere there?
i think i can see and understand your point for every single pixel of the picture you painted for me… 
i do find that my two biggest drawbacks are the lack of significant prof. experience and the fact that most likely companies/studios would rather hire a local than me (salary, even language/culture issues etc).
as for korea i am not really considering mainly because of the focus on consumer goods as you already mentioned.
singapore, for id may be tiny as you say, but there are 1-2 interesting studios the country is really really interesting, they are trying to promote design and business spirit & entrepreneurship are really high (i quite value the last one as you never know… creating your own business one day may be a really creative option).
as for teaching, lately i do consider it as an option in fact as one of my grad. schools is networking with asian schools. i do know that universities require either phd or at least quite many years of successful hands on experience on design… you never know though…
thanks!