SEOUL, Aug. 13 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s Presidential Committee on National Planning unveiled Wednesday a comprehensive set of labor policy initiatives that would extend protections to the country’s smallest workplaces and strengthen rights for all workers. The proposals are part of President Lee Jae Myung’s broader agenda for his term, aimed at modernizing the nation’s [...]
SEOUL, Aug. 13 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s antitrust regulator has fined the operator of Burger King Korea 300 million won ($217,000) for forcing franchisees to buy tomatoes and cleaning products from designated suppliers without proper disclosure — even imposing penalties up to store closure for noncompliance. The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) said on Wednesday it [...]
SEOUL, Aug. 13 (Korea Bizwire) — Starting August 14, nearly 3.07 million credit card merchants in South Korea with annual sales of 3 billion won ($2.18 million) or less will benefit from reduced processing fees, the Financial Services Commission (FSC) announced Wednesday. The move extends preferential rates to most small businesses, including those designated as [...]
SEOUL, Aug. 13 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea plans to roll out a comprehensive strategy next month aimed at fostering a more researcher-friendly ecosystem for research and development in cutting-edge technologies, the Ministry of Science and ICT announced Wednesday. Science Minister Bae Kyung-hoon met with researchers at Seoul National University to discuss ways to revamp the [...]
SEOUL, Aug. 13 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) has announced a new rebate program offering consumers a 10% refund on energy-efficient household appliances purchased after July 4, 2025. The initiative, known as the “Top Efficiency Household Appliance Rebate Program,” aims to encourage the purchase of energy-saving products and [...]
SEOUL, Aug. 12 (Korea Bizwire) — The South Korean government is focusing on reforming subcontracting practices in the construction industry, identifying illegal subcontracting and reckless sub-subcontracting as major contributors to workplace accidents. According to the Ministry of Employment and Labor, Minister Kim Young-hoon recently announced plans to collaborate with relevant agencies to eliminate these illegal [...]
SEOUL, Aug. 8 (Korea Bizwire) — In response to a series of human rights violations involving foreign workers, South Korea’s Ministry of Employment and Labor has announced intensified labor monitoring and a focused reporting campaign. From August 11 to 29, the ministry will operate a special period for reporting labor rights abuses affecting foreign workers, particularly [...]
SEOUL, Aug. 8 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s Ministry of Science and ICT, along with the Korea Internet & Security Agency (KISA), announced Thursday it will invest 12.4 billion won ($9.3 million) to support 11 blockchain-based pilot projects aimed at integrating the technology into everyday services. One of the flagship initiatives includes a blockchain-based “battery [...]
SEOUL, Aug. 7 (Korea Bizwire) — A government-issued consumer relief program aimed at boosting local spending is sparking a lively debate in South Korea—not over its effectiveness, but over who should control the funds when recipients are underage. The controversy centers on “Livelihood Recovery Coupons” distributed to minors, which are legally collected by the head [...]
SEOUL, Aug. 7 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s Ministry of Environment on Wednesday unveiled new regulatory exemptions aimed at promoting the recycling of lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries and electronic waste, as part of a broader push to support emerging green technologies. Under the country’s regulatory sandbox framework, which allows temporary exemptions from existing laws [...]