SEOUL, Dec. 20 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea will admit 130,000 foreign workers under the Employment Permit System (EPS) in 2025, a 21% reduction from this year’s 165,000 quota, according to the Ministry of Employment and Labor. The decision reflects changing labor demand due to economic shifts and increased reliance on alternative visa programs, such as [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 20 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea’s Supreme Court ruled on December 19 that conditional regular bonuses, tied to employment status or minimum workdays, must be included in the calculation of ordinary wages. This landmark decision overturns a 2013 precedent that required bonuses to meet strict “fixed” payment criteria to qualify, sparking significant debate [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 20 (Korea Bizwire) – A recent South Korean Supreme Court ruling, allowing nurses to perform bone marrow aspiration procedures under general supervision, has ignited sharp divisions among medical professionals, nurses, and patient advocacy groups. The ruling coincides with ongoing discussions on the implementation of the Nursing Act, set to take effect in June 2025. [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 20 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korean workers reported an average annual income of 43.32 million won in 2023, an increase of more than 1 million won from the previous year, according to year-end tax settlement data. The number of high-income earners making over 100 million won annually reached 1.39 million, while 33% of workers [...]
SEJONG, Dec. 18 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea’s foreign workforce has reached a historic milestone, surpassing 1 million workers for the first time, with nearly half employed in mining and manufacturing sectors, according to government data released December 17. A Statistics Korea report on immigrant residency and employment showed that as of May, the number of [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 17 (Korea Bizwire) – A recent study by Woori Financial Group reveals that nearly 60% of South Korea’s Generation X—those born in the 1970s—have not begun preparing for retirement. The findings, published in Woori’s 2024 Trend Report, highlight the financial challenges faced by this generation, many of whom are burdened with supporting both [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 13 (Korea Bizwire) — Unionized workers of the state-run Industrial Bank of Korea (IBK) have voted to stage a general strike later this month over failed wage negotiations with the management, union officials said Friday. More than 80 percent of the unionized workers at the policy lender voted Thursday to stage a general [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 13 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea’s construction workforce is aging rapidly, with the average age of construction professionals exceeding 51, up from 38.1 in 2004, according to a report released on Thursday by the Korea Research Institute for Construction Industry (KRCI). The increase of 13 years over two decades highlights a significant demographic shift [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 11 (Korea Bizwire) – In a landmark ruling, South Korea’s Supreme Court has determined that allowances paid to nurses and clinical pathologists for “on-call duty” can only be considered part of their regular wages if they can prove they were under the hospital’s direct supervision and control during that time. The decision overturns [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 10 (Korea Bizwire) – The growth in South Korea’s employment insurance registrations reached its lowest point in nearly four years, highlighting a slowdown in the labor market as the country faces a range of economic headwinds. According to the Ministry of Employment and Labor, the number of regular employment insurance subscribers increased by [...]