DAEGU, March 26 (Korea Bizwire) — A growing number of South Korean local governments are implementing a “lunchtime closure” policy at public offices, sparking a national debate over the balance between public service efficiency and workers’ right to rest. Under the system, civil service counters close entirely from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m., giving staff uninterrupted [...]
SEOUL, March 24 (Korea Bizwire) — The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced it will participate in a government-led pilot program allowing foreign domestic workers to be hired without the application of South Korea’s minimum wage law, sparking controversy over potential labor rights concerns. The initiative, jointly managed by Seoul City and the Ministry of Justice, aims [...]
SEOUL, March 24 (Korea Bizwire) — A South Korean court has ruled that the death of a delivery driver who ran a red light and was killed in a traffic accident while rushing to meet delivery deadlines qualifies as a work-related accident. The Seoul Administrative Court’s 8th Division, presided over by Judge Lee Jung-hee, sided [...]
SEOUL, March 19 (Korea Bizwire) — A new government survey has revealed that the number of non-professional foreign workers holding E-9 visas in South Korea now exceeds 300,000, with the vast majority employed in the mining and manufacturing industries. Statistics Korea released its “2024 Survey on Immigration Status and Employment – Foreign Residents by Visa Status” [...]
SEOUL, March 19 (Korea Bizwire) — The government will work to expand employment services to help young adults find jobs, the acting president said Wednesday, amid tough job market conditions for youths. Acting President Choi Sang-mok made the remarks in an opening speech for the 2025 Korea Job Fair, which kicked off in Seoul for [...]
SEOUL, March 19 (Korea Bizwire) — The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries (MOF) revealed on March 18 that individuals who transitioned to fishing communities earned an average monthly household income of 3.47 million won in their first year, according to its ’2024 Return-to-Fishing Survey.’ The survey, which included 236 first-year fishing migrants from 2023, found their [...]
SEOUL, March 18 (Korea Bizwire) — If given the chance to restart their retirement planning, South Korean retirees would overwhelmingly choose real estate investment as their primary strategy, according to a new national survey released today by the Korea Insurance Development Institute. The survey, conducted last November across South Korea’s 17 provinces and major cities, gathered [...]
SEOUL, March 18 (Korea Bizwire) — A majority of leading South Korean companies now evaluate job candidates’ compatibility with their organizational culture during the hiring process, according to the results of a government survey released on March 17, highlighting a growing emphasis on workplace cultural alignment in Asia’s fourth-largest economy. The Ministry of Employment and Labor and [...]
SEOUL, March 16 (Korea Bizwire) — The number of young South Koreans who were jobless or opted to remain economically inactive surpassed 1.2 million last month amid tough job market conditions, data showed Sunday. A total of 1.21 million individuals aged 15 to 29 either remained unemployed or economically inactive to prepare for a job [...]
ULSAN, South Korea, March 16 (Korea Bizwire) – HD Hyundai Heavy Industries has launched the shipbuilding industry’s first proprietary Korean language proficiency test for foreign workers, aiming to improve workplace communication and safety. On Sunday, the company administered the HD TOPIC (Test of Korean for Practical Industrial Communication) at its Ulsan headquarters, evaluating approximately 500 [...]