SEOUL, Jan. 10 (Korea Bizwire) — Ri Son-gwon, director of North Korea’s abolished United Front Department (UFD) in charge of affairs with South Korea, appears to have retained his political status even after the department’s purported dissolution, according to state media on Friday. The Korean Central News Agency reported that Ri attended a banquet held [...]
JEJU, South Korea, Jan. 10 (Korea Bizwire) — A Chinese tourist has been apprehended for illegally filming Jeju International Airport on the southern Jeju Island, classified as a top-level national security facility, with a drone, police said Friday. The Jeju Provincial Police Agency said it was investigating the Chinese national, whose identity was withheld, on [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 10 (Korea Bizwire) — In 2024, the number of publicly listed companies on South Korea’s main stock exchange voluntarily disclosing sustainability reports rose by nearly 30%, reflecting growing awareness of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) principles. The Korea Exchange reported on January 9 that 204 companies listed on the KOSPI voluntarily released sustainability [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 10 (Korea Bizwire) — A South Korean court has awarded partial compensation to repatriated fishermen who were unlawfully detained, tortured, and falsely accused of espionage after being abducted by North Korea decades ago. However, the damages granted fell significantly short of the amounts sought by the plaintiffs, prompting frustration and plans for an [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 10 (Korea Bizwire) — In a significant healthcare reform initiative, the South Korean government announced plans to reclassify certain non-critical and uninsured medical treatments, including manual therapy, under a new “managed care” category that will require patients to pay over 90% of the costs. The policy change, unveiled at a public forum on healthcare [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 9 (Korea Bizwire) — The number of corrective orders issued for pornographic and prostitution-related content on random chat applications reached an all-time high in 2024, according to newly released government data. Representative Han Min-soo of the Democratic Party, a member of the National Assembly’s Science, Technology, Information Broadcasting and Communications Committee, reported on January [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 9 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea plans to release a record amount of agricultural products into the market to stabilize prices and ease the financial burden on people ahead of the Lunar New Year, the government said Thursday. Under the plan, the government will release 265,000 tons of 16 major agricultural items, including [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 9 (Korea Bizwire) — The season’s coldest weather gripped the nation on Thursday with temperatures plunging below minus 10 C in Seoul and the northern regions. As of 8 a.m. the lowest temperature in Seoul was minus 10.2 C and the lowest apparent temperature minus 16.7 C, according to the Korea Meteorological Administration [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 9 (Korea Bizwire) – The year 2024 was the warmest year in South Korea since modern record-keeping began 113 years ago, the state weather agency said Thursday, citing a surge in sea surface temperatures. The Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) said the average annual temperature last year was 14.5 C, which is 2 C [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 9 (Korea Bizwire) — A former Marine Corps chief investigator was acquitted on Thursday of subordination charges in a military probe into a young conscript killed during flood-related rescue operations. A court martial in central Seoul delivered the ruling on Col. Park Jung-hun, who was accused of insubordination and defamation of his superior [...]