SEOUL, May 21 (Korea Bizwire) — Subway trains in Seoul will begin running from 5 a.m. starting August, bringing forward their starting time by 30 minutes to help facilitate commutes for early workers, the Seoul metropolitan government said Wednesday. Previously, early commuters were required to take intracity buses to get to work, but the new [...]
SEOUL, May 20 (Korea Bizwire) — The country’s financial regulator said Tuesday that tighter rules on household loans will come into effect from July as planned amid still higher debt levels. According to the Financial Services Commission (FSC), tighter debt-service-ratio (DSR) rules will be applied to virtually all kinds of household debts, and the stress [...]
SEOUL, May 20 (Korea Bizwire) — As South Korea prepares to mandate zero-energy building (ZEB) standards for private apartment complexes by the end of June, major construction firms are racing to upgrade their building technologies to meet new government regulations aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The new rules, which will apply to all private buildings [...]
SEOUL, May 20 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s Fair Trade Commission (FTC) has uncovered more than 1,100 unfair contract clauses across 23 major webtoon and web novel content providers (CPs), exposing widespread practices that undermine creators’ copyright protections and allow for the unauthorized use of derivative works. Following a comprehensive review of contract terms from companies [...]
SEOUL, May 19 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea will invest 182.4 billion won (US$130.4 million) in developing and commercializing next-generation solid-state batteries, used in powering wearable mobile devices and electric vehicles (EVs), the industry ministry said Monday. In detail, the government plans to spend 35.8 billion won until 2028 to develop solid-state batteries for small [...]
SEOUL, May 19, 2025 — Once celebrated as symbols of peace, pigeons in South Korea have fallen from grace—so much so that they are now officially designated as harmful wildlife by the Ministry of Environment. As urban populations grow and interactions with pigeons become more frequent, public perception has shifted dramatically, with increasing reports of [...]
INCHEON, May 17 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea has begun construction on a state-funded facility dedicated to advancing animal-free toxicity testing methods, a move that signals the country’s commitment to ethical science, chemical safety, and animal welfare. The Ministry of Environment held a groundbreaking ceremony Thursday at the Korea Environment Corporation headquarters in Seo-gu, Incheon, to [...]
GWANGMYEONG, May 17 (Korea Bizwire) — In a pioneering move to combat suicide, the city of Gwangmyeong, just southwest of Seoul, has equipped 10 rental cars with carbon monoxide detectors, becoming the first municipality in South Korea to adopt such a measure. The city government announced Thursday that it partnered with local company K Rent-a-Car to [...]
SEOUL, May 15 (Korea Bizwire) — The Personal Information Protection Commission (PIPC) of South Korea has imposed a ₩1.36 billion (approximately $990,000) fine on Chinese e-commerce platform Temu for violating the country’s data protection laws, including the unauthorized overseas transfer of personal data belonging to South Korean users. The penalty, announced on May 15, comes [...]
SEOUL, May 15 (Korea Bizwire) — In a bid to ease mounting labor shortages in its service industry, the South Korean government announced Thursday an expansion of permissible job roles for foreign workers under the Employment Permit System (E-9 visa), particularly in delivery services, restaurants, and the hospitality sector. At the 47th Foreign Workforce Policy [...]