PAJU, Aug. 20 (Korea Bizwire) — A 95-year-old former long-term prisoner of war, An Hak-seop, attempted on Wednesday to cross into North Korea through Panmunjom but was stopped by South Korean military authorities at the Tongil Bridge checkpoint. An, who has long identified as a “non-converted” prisoner for refusing to renounce allegiance to the North, traveled [...]
SEOUL, Aug. 20 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s semiconductor industry was rattled Wednesday by reports that Washington is considering acquiring equity stakes in foreign chipmakers building plants in the United States, including Samsung Electronics and Taiwan’s TSMC. The idea surfaced as the U.S. government explores converting subsidies provided under the CHIPS and Science Act into [...]
SEOUL, Aug. 20 (Korea Bizwire) — Shares of South Korea’s nuclear power companies tumbled Wednesday after revelations that a settlement with U.S. nuclear giant Westinghouse has sharply curtailed their access to major global markets. By mid-morning trading, Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO) was down more than 5 percent, while Doosan Enerbility dropped nearly 9 percent. [...]
SEOUL, Aug. 20 (Korea Bizwire) — Seoul has been voted the world’s most beloved city by younger travelers for the fourth consecutive year, cementing its reputation as a global cultural and tourism hub amid the surging popularity of Korean content such as Netflix’s hit animation KPop Demon Hunters. The city government and the Seoul Tourism Organization [...]
SEOUL, Aug. 20 (Korea Bizwire) — A new Samsung Electronics campaign video featuring esports legend Faker and world beatbox champion Wing has captured the attention of fans online, racking up more than 930,000 views within a week of release. The film, titled “OLED: Feel the Champion’s Rhythm with T1,” pairs Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok of esports [...]
SEJONG, Aug. 20 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s greenhouse gas emissions dropped below 700 million tons last year for the first time in nearly 15 years, driven by a shift from coal to nuclear and renewable energy. The Ministry of Environment’s Greenhouse Gas Inventory and Research Center reported Wednesday that national emissions reached 691.6 million [...]
SEOUL, Aug. 20 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s embattled petrochemical industry has agreed to slash its core production capacity by as much as a quarter, in a government-backed effort to stave off collapse and reposition for higher-value growth. The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said Wednesday that 10 companies operating naphtha cracking centers (NCCs) [...]
SEOUL, Aug. 20 (Korea Bizwire) – More than half of South Korean consumers who unknowingly purchase counterfeit goods online do not seek refunds, citing complicated procedures and small amounts of money at stake, according to a survey released Tuesday by the Korea Consumer Agency. The survey, conducted among 1,000 consumers across eight major platforms — [...]
SEOUL, Aug. 20 (Korea Bizwire) — The South Korean government is considering a major overhaul of how it grants pension credits for childbirth and military service, moving from a system of post-retirement adjustments to upfront support — a change that could save nearly 88 trillion won ($65 billion) in state finances over the long term, [...]
SEOUL, Aug. 20 (Korea Bizwire) — A significant share of South Korean investors’ holdings in overseas-listed exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are concentrated in high-risk leveraged products, raising concerns about potential losses and the need for regulatory overhaul, according to a new report by the Korea Capital Market Institute. As of June 2025, South Korean investors held [...]