Consumer, Society, Games, Policy & regulation
432 storiesSouth 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…
FT: EU weighs universal corporate levy to raise taxes on US tech giants
The European Commission is considering a new mechanism to raise more tax revenue from large US technology companies without singling them out as a separate category, the Financial Times reported, citing unnamed sources. Under discussion is …
Army study found ICE shock gloves cause pain, compliance and fear, AP reports
A previously unreleased Army study found that shock gloves now purchased by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement caused intense pain, immediate compliance and fear of further shocks during a 2024 military exercise. Records obtained by t…
KCTU to vote Oct 7 on return to social dialogue; council ready to talk
The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (민주노총) will hold its 85th temporary delegate conference at 1 p.m. on Oct 7 at KINTEX in Goyang to vote on joining the Economic, Social and Labor Council (경사노위), which would end a 27-year absence from…
Busan shark Bukkangi crosses net, returns to waterway; rescue paused
The shark nicknamed Bukkangi, believed to be a dusky shark about 3 m long, crossed a large net and returned to the artificial waterway at Busan's Bukhang Chinsu Park around noon on Oct 3, a day after a second attempt to guide it to open sea…
S. Korea farm minister says minor farmland survey violations won't be punished
Agriculture minister Song Mi-ryung told a parliamentary audit on Oct 7 that most ordinary, customary violations found in the government's full farmland survey would not be punished, and that the government has no plan or reason to confiscat…
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…
Korea's top individual tax delinquent Kwon Hyuk to pay 393.8 billion won
The National Tax Service said on Oct 7 that Kwon Hyuk, chairman of Sido Group and the country's largest individual tax delinquent, has submitted a plan to pay his personal back taxes of 393.8 billion won in full, 15 years after the tax was …
South Korea unveils 1,000 trillion won green transition plan to 2035
South Korea announced a “Korean-style Green Transition” (K-GX) strategy on Oct 7, pledging about 1,000 trillion won over ten years to 2035 — 200 trillion won in fiscal support and more than 790 trillion won in climate finance through five p…
Japan farm ministry orders Fukui seafood firm over mislabeled Echizen crab gifts
Japan's agriculture ministry issued a measures order on Oct 6 against Fukumaru Foods, a seafood processor in Echizen Town, Fukui Prefecture, for labeling products as Echizen crab while using mizugani, a crab not counted as Echizen crab. The…
South Korea re-designates 92 population decline regions, adds Busan Geumjeong, Dongducheon and Tongyeong
South Korea's Ministry of the Interior and Safety re-designated 92 cities, counties and districts as population decline regions on Oct. 7, up from 89 in the first designation five years earlier. Busan's Geumjeong-gu, Gyeonggi's Dongducheon …
Land minister says Gangnam, Yongsan home prices have turned negative
Land, Infrastructure and Transport Minister Hong Ji-seon told a National Assembly audit on Oct 7 that home prices in Seoul's Gangnam three districts and Yongsan have turned negative, and said price growth should ease with the market stabili…
South Korea weighs ending military service exemptions for athletes and artists
South Korea’s Defense Ministry said on October 6 that it is considering tightening or abolishing the military service exemption granted to athletes and artists, after some Asian Games gold medalists said exemption mattered more to them than…
Korea to factor Korean proficiency into student visas, tighten screening
South Korea’s Justice Ministry announced plans to weigh Korean-language ability across its foreign student visa system, exempting students with TOPIK level 4 or social integration programme stage 4 from proving financial capacity. Universit…
Asian Games exemption row widens: Ahn seeks abolition, ruling party open to overhaul
People Power Party lawmaker Ahn Cheol-soo said on 7 October that the military service exemption for Asian Games gold medalists should be abolished starting with this tournament, arguing it is set by presidential decree and President Lee Jae…
UAE President calls for rain prayer at all mosques on Friday 9 October
UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan has called for Salaat Al Istisqaa, a prayer for rain, to be performed at all mosques across the country on Friday 9 October, half an hour before the Friday prayer. The President called on eve…
South Korea defense chief says athlete military service exemption to be abolished
South Korea's defense minister, Kang Shin-chul, told a parliamentary audit on Oct 7 that the special exemption from military service for high-achieving athletes and artists should be gradually reduced and ultimately abolished. The review fo…
France suspends lycée lessons as high-school protests hit 1,800 schools
Protests by high-school students in France on Tuesday affected around 1,800 lycées, according to RIA Novosti, while AFP, cited by TASS, reported that classes were suspended in nearly 900 senior schools — about a quarter of the country's tot…
French student protests leave 24 schools burned or looted, 400-plus shut
Protests by French high school students left 24 schools burned or looted and halted classes in 400 to 500 institutions nationwide, according to TASS, Kommersant and Vedomosti. The education minister, named by TASS and Kommersant as Édouard …
Trump says he is considering suspending federal gas tax ahead of midterms
President Donald Trump said Tuesday his administration is considering suspending the federal gas tax, as pump prices remain far above last year's levels a month before the midterm elections. Any suspension would require Congress, which is n…