SEOUL, Oct. 4 (Korea Bizwire) – Public medical institutions in South Korea are grappling with an increasingly severe shortage of doctors, a chronic issue that has pushed salaries to unprecedented levels. In a striking example last year, a public medical center in South Jeolla Province hired an orthopedic surgeon for an annual salary of 620 million [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 4 (Korea Bizwire) — Second Vice Health Minister Park Min-soo said Friday that the government would have a “more open attitude” as he renewed calls for doctors to join talks to resolve a prolonged walkout by trainee doctors against the government’s medical reform. For about seven months, thousands of junior doctors have walked [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 4 (Korea Bizwire) – On October 3, the streets of Haebangchon in Seoul’s Yongsan district came alive with color and celebration as the Seoul Drag Parade 2024 made its long-awaited return after a five-year break due to the COVID-19 pandemic. “We wanted to bring drag out of the nightclubs and bars and into the [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 3 (Korea Bizwire) – In a landmark decision, South Korea’s Supreme Court has ruled that designated drivers can be classified as workers under the country’s labor union law, potentially opening the door for collective bargaining rights based on their employment status. The ruling, handed down on September 27, marks the first time the nation’s [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 3 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korean consumers are spending close to 500,000 won per year on subscription services, according to a new report released on October 2. The “Subscription Wars 2024″ report, presented by the British subscription bundling and payment company Bango at the M360 APAC conference in Seoul, reveals that South Korean consumers [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 2 (Korea Bizwire) – In South Korea, prescriptions for methylphenidate, a medication used to treat Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), have skyrocketed in the first half of this year, nearly matching the total number of patients prescribed the drug in all of 2023. This surge comes amid growing misconceptions about the drug as a [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 2 (Korea Bizwire) – One in five unemployed South Koreans has been out of work for more than six months, according to recent government data, marking the highest level of long-term unemployment since the aftermath of the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis. Statistics Korea reported that as of August, the number of long-term unemployed individuals [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 1 (Korea Bizwire) –A North Korean defector in his 30s was arrested by South Korean police after attempting to cross the heavily fortified border back into North Korea in a stolen bus. The incident, which occurred in the early hours of October 1, has raised questions about the challenges faced by some North [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 1 (Korea Bizwire) – A recent study by the Bank of Korea suggests that an influx of foreign workers leads to increased employment opportunities for South Korean nationals in the long run, challenging some common perceptions about immigrant labor. The report, titled “The Impact of Foreign Worker Inflow on Regional Labor Markets,” was presented [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 1 (Korea Bizwire) – As the fever for medical school admissions intensifies in South Korea, lawmakers and education activists are pushing for legislation to regulate so-called “elementary med school” classes, where young children are taught advanced mathematics concepts typically reserved for high school or even university curricula. On September 30, Representative Kang Kyung-sook of [...]