SEOUL, May 16 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s rapidly increasing number of elderly self-employed workers—driven by baby boomer retirements and limited reemployment options—is emerging as a structural risk to the country’s financial stability and long-term economic growth, the Bank of Korea (BOK) said in a joint report with the Korea Development Institute (KDI) on Thursday. Released [...]
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 [...]
SEOUL, May 15 (Korea Bizwire) — Two years after the high-profile suicide of a young elementary school teacher at Seoul’s Seoi Elementary School sparked national outrage, according to new survey results released ahead of Teachers’ Day. A nationwide poll of 8,254 teachers conducted by the Korean Federation of Teachers’ Unions between April 23 and May 7 [...]
SEOUL, May 14 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s political and labor circles are locked in heated debate over a proposal to raise the legal retirement age from 60 to 65, reflecting growing tensions between an aging population and youth employment concerns. The issue, reignited during Labor Day remarks by Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung, has polarized [...]
SEOUL, May 14 (Korea Bizwire) — Nearly 6 out of 10 South Korean companies report that new employees leave within one to three years of joining, underscoring growing concerns over early attrition in the workforce, according to a new survey released by HR tech firm Incruit. The study, based on responses from 446 HR professionals, found [...]
ULSAN, South Korea, May 9 (Korea Bizwire) — HD Hyundai Heavy Industries is undertaking a sweeping overhaul of its Ulsan shipyard under a new “Visible Safety” initiative aimed at modernizing aging facilities and reinforcing workplace safety culture, the company announced Friday. Launched in response to risks associated with the nearly 50-year-old plant, the project focuses on [...]
SEOUL, May 6 (Korea Bizwire) — Unionized bus drivers in Seoul will resume their “work-to-rule” protest this week following a long holiday weekend, city officials said Tuesday. In a press release, the Seoul Metropolitan Government said the union will launch its collective action early Wednesday and the city will take “special steps” to minimize inconveniences [...]
SEOUL, May 5 (Korea Bizwire) — Two disability rights activists affiliated with the Solidarity Against Disability Discrimination (SADD) underwent a pretrial detention hearing on Monday after staging a 15-day rooftop protest atop a Catholic cathedral in Seoul’s Hyehwa-dong neighborhood. They were arrested earlier this month on charges of violating assembly laws after descending voluntarily from the [...]
SEOUL, May 1 (Korea Bizwire) — Lee Jae-myung, the presidential candidate for South Korea’s main opposition Democratic Party, has unveiled a sweeping set of labor policy proposals, vowing to support companies that adopt a 4.5-day workweek and gradually shift the nation toward a four-day workweek system. In a statement released via Facebook on April 30, [...]
As non-regular workers fall further behind in wages, benefits, and protections, a growing segment of the workforce risks being left out of the country’s economic future. SEOUL, April 30 (Korea Bizwire) — In South Korea’s rapidly changing labor market, a widening wage chasm is sending a sobering message: for non-regular workers, the dream of financial parity [...]