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Chip Industry Pushes Back as Politicians Revive Relocation Debate for Yongin Mega-Cluster

Chip Industry Pushes Back as Politicians Revive Relocation Debate for Yongin Mega-Cluster

SEOUL, Dec. 30 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s semiconductor industry is pushing back against political calls to relocate the massive Yongin semiconductor cluster away from the Seoul metropolitan area, warning that any abrupt change to the project could disrupt investment plans and undermine the country’s global competitiveness in chips. The concerns come after Kim Sung-hwan, the [...]

Seoul Cites North Korea–Russia Military Cooperation as Growing Threat to Peninsula

Seoul Cites North Korea–Russia Military Cooperation as Growing Threat to Peninsula

SEOUL, Dec. 29 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s defense minister warned on Monday that the security environment surrounding the Korean Peninsula was becoming increasingly volatile, pointing to deepening military cooperation between North Korea and Russia as a destabilizing force with global implications. Speaking at a forum on South Korea’s alliance with the United States, Defense Minister [...]

South Korea Holds Routine Military Drills Near Disputed Dokdo Islets

South Korea Holds Routine Military Drills Near Disputed Dokdo Islets

SEOUL, Dec. 24 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea carried out routine military drills this week near Dokdo, its easternmost islets, reaffirming its control over the disputed territory in exercises that again drew protests from Japan. The drills took place Tuesday in waters off Dokdo, according to a South Korean military official who said they were [...]

Seoul Pushes for More Control of Its Forces as U.S. Priorities Shift

Seoul Pushes for More Control of Its Forces as U.S. Priorities Shift

WASHINGTON•SEOUL, Dec. 24 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea is pressing ahead with a bid for greater military autonomy within its alliance with the United States, a shift that reflects both Seoul’s growing confidence and Washington’s evolving strategic priorities as rivalry with China intensifies. From efforts to reclaim wartime operational control of its forces from the United [...]

Families of Korean Forced Labor Victims Sue in Seoul to Remove Names From Yasukuni Shrine

Families of Korean Forced Labor Victims Sue in Seoul to Remove Names From Yasukuni Shrine

SEOUL, Dec. 23 (Korea Bizwire) — The families of Koreans who were forcibly conscripted by Imperial Japan during World War II and later enshrined at Japan’s controversial Yasukuni Shrine have filed a lawsuit in a South Korean court, seeking the removal of their relatives’ names and damages for what they describe as an ongoing violation of [...]

South Korea’s Ruling Party Seeks Joint Parliamentary Hearing Over Coupang Data Breach

South Korea’s Ruling Party Seeks Joint Parliamentary Hearing Over Coupang Data Breach

SEOUL, Dec. 18 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s ruling Democratic Party said Thursday it would push for a joint parliamentary hearing involving multiple standing committees to investigate a massive data breach at e-commerce giant Coupang, stepping up pressure after the company’s founder repeatedly failed to appear before lawmakers. Kim Hyun-jung, a spokesperson for the Democratic Party’s [...]

Supreme Court to Create Special Tribunal for Insurrection and Treason Cases

Supreme Court to Create Special Tribunal for Insurrection and Treason Cases

SEOUL, Dec. 18 (Korea Bizwire) — The Supreme Court said Thursday it would install a dedicated tribunal to handle charges of insurrection, treason and mutiny amid the ruling party’s push to create a special bench for insurrection cases stemming from former President Yoon Suk Yeol’s failed imposition of martial law. The announcement comes as the [...]

Lawmakers Rebuke Coupang Leadership at Hearing Over Major Data Leak

Lawmakers Rebuke Coupang Leadership at Hearing Over Major Data Leak

SEOUL, Dec. 18 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korean lawmakers sharply criticized Coupang on Wednesday during a National Assembly hearing on the company’s massive personal data leak, condemning the absence of founder Bom Kim and accusing the e-commerce giant of showing contempt for Korean consumers and regulators. Members of both ruling and opposition parties denounced Kim, the [...]

U.N. Command Asserts Sole Authority Over DMZ Access, Rejecting Seoul’s Push for New Law

U.N. Command Asserts Sole Authority Over DMZ Access, Rejecting Seoul’s Push for New Law

SEOUL, Dec. 17 (Korea Bizwire) — The United Nations Command (UNC) on Wednesday sharply reiterated that it holds exclusive authority over civilian and military access to the southern side of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), citing the terms of the 1953 armistice. The unusually direct statement came as South Korea’s National Assembly advances legislation that would allow [...]