🇰🇷 South Korea · Policy & regulation
149 storiesSouth Korean employers' group urges phased re-employment over blanket retirement rise
South Korea's employers' federation urged a phased approach centred on re-employment after retirement instead of uniformly raising the statutory retirement age. In an October 11 report, it cited Japan's experience and called for changes to …
South Korea says 87% of dog-meat farms have closed ahead of February ban
South Korea's agriculture ministry said 1,339 of 1,537 farms raising dogs for food had closed by September 21, representing 87% of the total. Around 7,600 dogs remain, down from approximately 468,000 reported in August 2024, ahead of a nati…
South Korea links AI business support with reduced tax-audit burden for 2,559 firms
South Korea's Ministry of SMEs and Startups and National Tax Service announced coordinated support for 2,559 AI small businesses and startups on October 11. Eligible startups within five years of founding will be excluded from routine tax-a…
South Korea to open farmland-survey advice centre on October 12
South Korea's agriculture ministry and Korea Rural Community Corporation said they will open a farmland-survey advice centre on October 12. The service, available by phone at 1811-8852, will explain speculation categories, unlawful conversi…
South Korea's human rights commission urges progress on death penalty abolition
South Korea's National Human Rights Commission urged the government and parliament on October 10 to advance discussions on abolishing the death penalty. It also called for talks on joining the UN death-penalty abolition protocol as the coun…
US halts green card labor certification for Microsoft, Adobe and six other IT firms
The Trump administration on October 8 (local time) halted the PERM labor certification process that Microsoft, Adobe and six other IT companies use to sponsor foreign workers for permanent residency, with Vice President JD Vance accusing Mi…
Indian man says Hwaseong detention staff taped his mouth and choked him during deportation
An Indian man deported from South Korea on August 27 has filed a complaint with the National Human Rights Commission, alleging that staff of the Hwaseong Foreigners' Detention Center wrapped duct tape over his mouth, covered his face with a…
US proposes $70,000 fee for foreign students' OPT work permits
The US Department of Homeland Security on Oct. 7 proposed a $70,000 fee for F-1 student visa holders' first application to Optional Practical Training (OPT), the program that lets foreign graduates work in the US, and $30,000 for later appl…
Korea's FSC chief apologises over leveraged ETF losses, denies presidential office order
Financial Services Commission chairman Lee Eog-weon (이억원) told a National Assembly audit in Seoul on October 8 that single-stock leveraged ETFs were not introduced on orders from the presidential office (Cheong Wa Dae), saying the FSC adopt…
South Korea to spare non-speculative farmland from disposal after nationwide survey
South Korea's Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs said on 8 October that Farmland Act violations found in its nationwide farmland survey will not lead to disposal orders or enforcement fines unless they involve speculation. Five…
South Korean SME minister plans SME panel on national mega projects by end of October
South Korea's Minister of SMEs and Startups Lee So-young (이소영) said on October 8 that her ministry will set up a consultative body of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) linked to the government's three mega projects at the end of Oct…
LH offers to buy unsold homes on Seoul-area public land to speed up construction starts
Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH) said on October 9 it will commit to buying unsold homes built on its public housing sites in the Seoul metropolitan area, for plots where construction starts by the end of next year. It will pay 85% t…
South Korea seeks about 18 more counties for rural basic-income pilot
South Korea's Agriculture Ministry announced plans on October 8 to add about 18 counties to its rural basic-income pilot in 2027. It also plans to raise central-government funding from 40% to 50% for the programme, which provides monthly lo…
Seoul makes all road land a land-transaction permit zone to curb share-splitting
Seoul's city government said on October 8 that its urban planning committee had newly designated all land registered as "road" across the city as a land transaction permit zone, for one year from October 17. The city said the aim is to bloc…
Welfare minister pledges to pay child allowance to non-abusing guardian in abuse cases
Minister of Health and Welfare Jeong Eun-kyeong (정은경) said on October 8 that she would create a legal basis so that child allowance for high-risk children who suffer abuse can be paid to a guardian other than the abuser. She made the pledge…
South Korea's Lee orders CPTPP talks restarted from the beginning amid farm concerns
President Lee Jae-myung instructed at a cabinet meeting on Oct 6 that the government should not fix a conclusion on joining the CPTPP and should “restart dialogue from the beginning,” saying the pact's strategic value is cited alongside ver…
South Korea labour commission rules learning-materials sign-up counsellor is a worker
South Korea's National Labor Relations Commission ruled that a home-based counsellor who handled sign-up calls for an online learning-materials company under a commission contract is a worker under the Labor Standards Act. It found the comp…
South Korea's Lee orders probe into bank data leaks, regulator calls emergency meeting
President Lee Jae-myung ordered a thorough investigation and countermeasures on Oct. 4 after being briefed on personal data leaks at financial institutions and public bodies, the presidential office said. The incidents began with Shinhan Ba…
Coupang challenges 624.7 billion won privacy penalties in court
Coupang filed two lawsuits on October 7 challenging privacy penalties of about 624.7 billion won. It also asked the Seoul Administrative Court to suspend the penalties.
Defense minister: arts, sports military service exemption to be cut and abolished
South Korea's defense minister said on Oct 7 that the goal is to gradually reduce the arts and sports military service exemption and ultimately abolish it, after controversy over remarks by Asian Games football gold medallists about the exe…