SEOUL, Sept. 18 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea and the United States have begun working-level discussions aimed at overhauling the visa system for Korean workers, following the mass detention of more than 300 South Koreans at a Georgia construction site earlier this year — an episode that rattled both industry and diplomacy. The Ministry of [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 18 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea could soon face a tipping point where traditional monetary policy loses its potency, Bank of Korea Governor Rhee Chang-yong warned Friday, citing the country’s rapid demographic decline as a structural risk that could push interest rates toward their effective floor. Speaking in Washington at the International Monetary [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 17 (Korea Bizwire) — More than nine in 10 South Korean small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) employing foreign workers say they do so because it is nearly impossible to hire locals, according to a survey released Tuesday. The Korea Federation of SMEs said it polled 503 firms with more than 50 employees in [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 17 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea is rolling out an ambitious blueprint to transform its manufacturing base with artificial intelligence, advanced semiconductors, and clean energy infrastructure, part of President Lee Jae-myung’s drive to position the country among the world’s top four manufacturing powers by the end of the decade. The Ministry of Trade, [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 16 (Korea Bizwire) — When Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents stormed a battery plant construction site in Bryan County, Georgia, earlier this month, hundreds of South Korean workers found themselves in shackles, held in freezing rooms with moldy mattresses and little explanation of what crime they had committed. The episode, now reverberating across [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 16 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s science ministry said Tuesday it has opened an official investigation into claims by an international hacking group that it is attempting to sell personal data purportedly stolen from SK Telecom, the nation’s largest mobile carrier. The probe follows a post on the Telegram channel of Scattered Lapsus$, [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 16 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s presidential office said Tuesday it will not be rushed into signing a trade agreement with Washington, cautioning that a deal struck hastily could undermine the interests of Korean companies at a delicate moment in negotiations. Talks have been ongoing since late July, when the two governments reached [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 16 (Korea Bizwire) — Nearly one in six foreign graduates who stayed in South Korea after studying have faced workplace difficulties, including conflicts with Korean colleagues or wage disputes, according to a government-funded study released Sunday. The Korea Immigration Service Institute found that 16.4 percent of foreign residents who previously studied in Korea [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 16 (Korea Bizwire) — A string of attempted child abductions in recent weeks has triggered a surge in demand for self-defense products among South Korean parents, with online marketplaces reporting sharp increases in sales. According to e-commerce platform 11st, purchases of key personal safety items between September 2 and 11 jumped 2.5 times compared [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 16 (Korea Bizwire) — A central plank of Google’s lobbying campaign to secure approval for exporting South Korea’s high-precision mapping data is coming under sharp scrutiny, with experts arguing that the projected economic benefits are inflated and based on questionable assumptions. Google has cited research suggesting that if Korea allows the export of [...]