SEOUL, Oct. 15 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s top policy aide to President Lee Jae Myung said Wednesday that the government is considering a comprehensive overhaul of real estate taxation — including possible hikes in property holding taxes — as it moves to rein in surging home prices in Seoul and surrounding regions. Kim Yong-beom, the [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 15 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s central bank and financial regulator have received below-average marks for their response to the climate crisis, ranking in the lower tier among ASEAN+3 economies, according to a new international assessment. The report by Positive Money, a U.K.-based think tank, evaluated 13 countries in the ASEAN+3 group — comprising [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 15 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s National Pension Service (NPS) said it will begin enforcing stricter “responsible investment” standards on private equity and other alternative investments, following heavy criticism over massive potential losses linked to the troubled retailer Homeplus. The decision, announced by the Ministry of Health and Welfare during a parliamentary audit on [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 15 (Korea Bizwire) — The South Korean government has moved to dismantle decades-old billing practices between clinics and diagnostic laboratories, a reform it says is essential to restoring transparency and safeguarding patient safety. But the medical community is pushing back, calling the measure hasty and detached from on-the-ground realities. The Ministry of Health and [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 14 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) pushed back on Monday against a recent study by domestic medical researchers suggesting that COVID-19 vaccines could increase the risk of cancer, saying the findings do not establish a causal link. “The mechanisms behind cancer development take years to identify,” a [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 13 (Korea Bizwire) — Seoul residents who fear accidental drug exposure during overseas travel, such as over the Chuseok holiday, can undergo free and anonymous drug testing at local public health centers, the city government said Monday. The Seoul Metropolitan Government operates the program across all 25 district health centers, offering tests for [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 13 (Korea Bizwire) — As South Korea embraces an era of 10 million companion animals, the government is moving to allow pets inside restaurants and cafes — a proposal that has sparked both enthusiasm and concern over hygiene, safety, and social friction. Under current food sanitation laws, animals are prohibited from entering dining [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 10 (Korea Bizwire) — While much of the world races to unlock the economic and therapeutic potential of medical cannabis, South Korea remains mired in outdated regulations that treat even non-psychoactive compounds as narcotics. Lawmakers and experts warn that this rigid stance is stifling domestic innovation, draining public healthcare funds, and pushing patients [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 10 (Korea Bizwire) — After decades as a gatekeeper of content, South Korea’s Game Rating and Administration Committee (GRAC) is undergoing a transformation — from a censorship-era pre-screening body into a modern agency focused on post-release oversight and player protection. Under the reforms, GRAC will delegate most general game ratings to private organizations while [...]
WASHINGTON, Oct. 9 (Korea Bizwire) – A leading Washington think tank has warned that South Korea’s reluctance to challenge China militarily or economically could complicate U.S. strategy in Asia, even as it praised Seoul’s technological prowess as vital to the allies’ shared interests in an era of intensifying competition with Beijing. In a report released Wednesday [...]