WASHINGTON•SEOUL, Dec. 24 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea is pressing ahead with a bid for greater military autonomy within its alliance with the United States, a shift that reflects both Seoul’s growing confidence and Washington’s evolving strategic priorities as rivalry with China intensifies. From efforts to reclaim wartime operational control of its forces from the United [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 24 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s government plans to enact a sweeping Climate Adaptation Act next year and expand the use of artificial intelligence to forecast floods, road icing and wildfires, as it steps up preparations for intensifying climate risks, officials said Tuesday. The Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment said the Fourth National [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 24 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea will exempt a wider range of low-risk recyclable materials from mandatory import insurance requirements, a move aimed at securing recycling inputs and accelerating the country’s transition to a circular economy, the government said Monday. The Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment announced that it will revise enforcement [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 24 (Korea Bizwire) — Replacing screen time with traditional outdoor games has led to measurable improvements in weight and eating habits among South Korean elementary school students, according to government data released Tuesday. The Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Korea Health Promotion Institute said the “Healthy Care Playground” program, designed to promote [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 24 (Korea Bizwire) — China has surpassed South Korea and Japan in four of the five major manufacturing industries that anchor global trade, underscoring a structural shift in East Asia’s industrial balance and intensifying pressure on Seoul to move beyond volume-driven exports, a new report shows. According to a study released Tuesday by the [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 24 (Korea Bizwire) — More than seven in 10 foreign nationals running small businesses in South Korea are Chinese, highlighting the growing role of Chinese entrepreneurs in the country’s local service economy, according to a new report released Tuesday. An analysis by the Korea Immigration Policy Institute found that Chinese nationals accounted for 72.5 [...]
SEJONG, Dec. 24 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s government on Tuesday approved a sweeping consumer protection plan aimed at preventing harm before it occurs, stepping up scrutiny of deceptive digital marketing practices known as “dark patterns” and tightening safety standards for everyday products, officials said. The Consumer Policy Committee, chaired by Kim Sung-sook, approved the 2026 [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 24 (Korea Bizwire) — Samsung Electronics has stepped up its push into new growth sectors with its second billion-euro acquisition of the year, signaling a renewed appetite for large-scale dealmaking as it expands beyond its traditional strongholds. The company said Tuesday that it had acquired the advanced driver-assistance systems business of Germany’s ZF Friedrichshafen [...]
BUSAN & SEOUL, Dec. 24 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s oceans ministry said on Tuesday that it would begin preparing trial voyages along the Arctic shipping route next year, positioning the country to take advantage of new maritime pathways opening as climate change reshapes global trade and fishing conditions. At a presidential policy briefing in Busan, [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 23 (Korea Bizwire) — The families of Koreans who were forcibly conscripted by Imperial Japan during World War II and later enshrined at Japan’s controversial Yasukuni Shrine have filed a lawsuit in a South Korean court, seeking the removal of their relatives’ names and damages for what they describe as an ongoing violation of [...]