SEOUL, Jan. 20 (Korea Bizwire) — A growing share of young South Koreans are stepping away from the labor market altogether, a shift that economists say reflects deeper structural strains in an economy struggling to adapt to technological change and slowing growth. According to a report released Tuesday by the Bank of Korea, the proportion of [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 20 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea is confronting renewed debate over its drone regulations as the number of registered unmanned aircraft approaches 70,000 and hobbyists increasingly complain that the country’s rules are among the world’s most restrictive. Online forums and instructional videos about drones are frequently filled with frustrated comments from users who say [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 19 (Korea Bizwire) — Nearly eight in 10 local governments outside South Korea’s capital region say they face a serious risk of population decline, underscoring the deepening divide between Seoul and the rest of the country as demographic pressures mount. In a survey released Monday by the Federation of Korean Industries, 77 percent of [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 19 (Korea Bizwire) — A large majority of South Korean workers say the rapid spread of artificial intelligence is likely to widen labor-market inequality and deepen wealth polarization, according to a new nationwide survey. The poll, conducted in October 2025 by research firm Global Research on behalf of the labor advocacy group Workplace Abuse [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 16 (Korea Bizwire) — Foreign students who graduate from South Korean universities face steep hurdles in securing stable residency through employment, according to a new academic study, raising questions about the country’s ability to retain international talent amid demographic decline. The findings, published Friday in the Journal of the Korean Association for Immigration Policy, [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 12 (Korea Bizwire) — As South Korea prepared to welcome 2026, the Year of the Red Horse, an unsettling debate emerged within the country’s horse industry: whether euthanasia for retired racehorses has become unavoidable. At a closed-door meeting last month near Gwangmyeong Station, officials and experts from the Ministry of Agriculture, the Korea Racing [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 12 (Korea Bizwire) — Applications to artificial intelligence–related majors surged in South Korea’s 2026 regular university admissions cycle, underscoring the growing perception of AI as a gateway to future employment and industrial relevance. According to an analysis released Monday by Jongro Academy, the number of applicants to AI-related departments at 20 leading universities rose [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 12 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s newspaper industry posted record revenues in 2024, surpassing 5 trillion won for the first time, driven largely by the rapid expansion of online outlets, according to a new industry survey released Monday. But the milestone masked deepening polarization, with a small number of large publishers capturing the bulk [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 12 (Korea Bizwire) — Samsung Electronics is on the verge of forming its first-ever majority labor union, as membership in its cross-company union has surged amid persistent employee dissatisfaction over performance-based pay, despite the company’s record profits. According to industry sources on Jan. 11, membership in the Samsung Electronics branch of the cross-company union [...]
CHANGWON•SACHEON, Jan. 8 (Korea Bizwire) — Two undocumented migrant workers injured while fleeing an immigration enforcement operation in South Gyeongsang Province last year have been officially recognized as victims of industrial accidents, a decision that labor groups say highlights gaps in workplace safety and protections for foreign workers. The South Gyeongsang branch of the Korean Confederation [...]