GWANGJU, Oct. 30 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea is confronting a troubling rise in criminal investigations and prosecutions involving people with mental disabilities, prompting renewed calls for reforms to safeguard their legal rights. According to a report released in May by the Judicial Policy Research Institute, criminal cases involving mentally disabled individuals nearly doubled in four [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 29 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea has convened labor, business and government representatives to pursue the first major overhaul of the nation’s retirement pension system in more than two decades, aiming to strengthen income security for an aging workforce. The Ministry of Employment and Labor on Tuesday launched a tripartite task force dedicated to [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 29 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea will expand financial protections for low-income debtors next year, introducing a new “livelihood account” that shields up to 2.5 million won (US$1,740) per month from seizure. The Ministry of Justice said Tuesday it will propose a revised enforcement decree to the Civil Execution Act that raises the [...]
JEJU, Oct. 28 (Korea Bizwire) — Jeju Province said Tuesday it will seek a legal revision by year’s end to classify sika deer as harmful wildlife and ban the feeding of feral pigeons, amid growing concerns over ecological disruption and public hygiene. The planned amendment to the provincial ordinance follows the central government’s move to add [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 28 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea will begin subsidizing malpractice insurance premiums for doctors working in critical but increasingly underserved medical specialties, the government announced Monday, in an effort to ease legal burdens that have driven many physicians away from essential care. Under the new program, the state will cover 50 to 75 percent [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 28 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea plans to tighten oversight of blockbuster obesity treatments such as Wegovy and Mounjaro, responding to a surge in prescriptions for cosmetic weight loss among people without medical need, the government said Monday. The Ministry of Health and Welfare said it will work with the country’s drug regulator to [...]
JOINT BASE ANDREWS, Maryland, Oct. 27 (Korea Bizwire) – U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth began a tour of the Indo-Pacific on Monday, a trip that unfolds like a map of American strategic anxieties: Hawaii, Japan, Malaysia, Vietnam — and finally South Korea. His message is familiar, but increasingly urgent. The Pentagon says Hegseth intends to press [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 27 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea’s central bank is signaling that any won-pegged stablecoins introduced into the domestic market should be issued through regulated banks, warning that private issuers could threaten financial stability and weaken monetary control. Stablecoins could “unlock new possibilities” for the economy, the Bank of Korea said in a report [...]
SEJONG, Oct. 26 (Korea Bizwire) — A major offshore gas development project in the East Sea has been thrown into uncertainty as the South Korean government moves to reassess plans that the state-run Korea National Oil Corporation (KNOC) had been pursuing with British oil giant BP. Industry officials said Sunday that the Ministry of Trade, Industry [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 23 (Korea Bizwire) — Starting Thursday, South Korea began enforcing a revised labor law that allows employees to seek punitive damages of up to three times the amount of unpaid wages from employers who intentionally withhold pay, as part of a broader effort to crack down on chronic wage arrears. The Ministry of Employment [...]