This file photo provided by CJ Logistics Corp. shows a delivery truck. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
SEOUL, Dec. 26 (Korea Bizwire) – In 2025, South Koreans will see a number of small and big changes, including some that will improve convenience in their daily lives and some that may even lead to changes in how they live.
Among Korean companies, CJ Logistics Corp. is set to take what may be the most aggressive approach yet to promoting customer convenience while affording small and large companies here an extra day for their business.
Starting from Jan. 5, CJ Logistics will begin delivering packages seven days a week, including on public holidays, under its “Everyday O-NE” delivery service. O-ne, pronounced oh-nae, means coming or visiting.
The new service is expected to further intensify competition between CJ Logistics and Coupang Logistics Services, the logistics unit of e-commerce giant Coupang Inc.
Coupang has been strengthening its presence in the parcel delivery market with a seven-day delivery schedule and the next-day “Rocket Delivery” service.
With the new weekend delivery service by CJ Logistics, more consumers will now be able to choose any day of the week to receive their orders or have their gifts delivered to their friends or loved ones on the exact day of their special occasions even when they fall on weekends.
Korean firms are not the only ones with good, meaningful changes. Two renowned U.S. companies — Meta Platforms, Inc. and Apple Inc. — are also coming up with measures to better serve their Korean customers in the new year.
Meta’s photo-sharing app Instagram will introduce teenage accounts for users aged between 13 and 17 in South Korea starting next month as part of efforts to promote the safety of teens on social media.
The “Teen Accounts” will limit unwanted contact and sensitive content, such as violent and sexually explicit materials, for their users.
The accounts are also automatically set to only receive messages from other accounts they follow or have previously connected with, and hide potentially offensive comments and messages.
Users will receive a reminder to close Instagram after spending a total of 60 minutes on the app each day.
A parent or guardian will be allowed to supervise their teen’s account, provided both the parent and the teen agree to the arrangement.
This file photo taken Sept. 20, 2024, shows people entering an Apple store in Myeongdong, central Seoul, to buy the iPhone 16 equipped with new artificial intelligence-powered features. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
Apple plans to launch its “Find My” service in Korea next year to help its users locate their Apple devices, personal belongings and even track their friends and family while ensuring the protection of their personal data.
The introduction comes 15 years after Apple first created the feature in 2010. South Korea was the only country where Find My was not available due to unknown reasons.
Some have speculated the absence was due to the government not providing map data to Apple, citing national security concerns. However, the Korea Communications Commission has clarified that there existed no restrictions on the service in the country.
Amid mounting frustration among local Apple users, the company announced in September it will bring the feature to Korea in spring of 2025.
On the systemic side, the cap on compensation for parents taking time off from work to take care of their child or children aged eight years or less will be raised to 2.5 million won (US$1,738) per month starting in January, up from the current 1.5 million won, for the first three months of their leave.
The cap will then drop to 2 million won per month for the following three months and to 1.6 million won for the next six months. The exact amount will vary depending on workers’ ordinary wages.
The government will also pay the full amount monthly, unlike the current policy where 25 percent of the amount is provided six months after the worker returns to his or her job.
Early this month, Seoul also unveiled plans to have up to 70 percent of fathers take parental leave by 2030, sharply up from 6.8 percent in 2022, to help tackle the nation’s pressing demographic challenges.
The total fertility rate, which refers to the average number of expected births per woman in her lifetime, came to 0.76 in the third quarter, far below the 2.1 births per woman needed to maintain a stable population without immigration.
The government is pushing to raise the fertility rate to 1 by 2030.
In 2025, the minimum wage will exceed 10,000 won per hour for the first time since the country introduced the minimum wage system in 1988. The rate surpassed the 5,000 won mark in 2014.
The minimum wage will increase by 1.7 percent to 10,030 won per hour next year from the current 9,860 won. The 2025 hourly wage translates to 2.1 million won per month, based on a 40-hour workweek.
On the investment side, the government plans to resume stock short selling on March 31 after establishing a platform to monitor short selling that can help identify illegal transactions.
Short selling has been a contentious political issue in South Korea, with retail investors often blaming the practice for driving stocks lower.
Meanwhile, Korean students will see some changes in their schools next year.
Artificial intelligence (AI)-powered digital textbooks will be introduced in local elementary and secondary schools, in response to a growing call for diversified learning content.
AI digital textbooks have been pushed as part of the government’s digital education innovation to offer diverse learning content through expanded virtual world (metaverse) and interactive AI technologies.
The use of digital textbooks is also expected to make possible customized learning for individual students at different learning levels.
Third- and fourth-grade elementary school students and middle and high school freshmen will be the first beneficiaries of digitally customized textbooks that will first be used for mathematics, English and informatics starting in 2025.
Moreover, the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education plans to open an online classes-only school next year, allowing high school students to take courses that are not available at their own schools.
The tentatively named Seoul Integrated Online School will open at the start of the new school year in March, and allow students to receive credit in the same way they do by taking courses at their own schools.
The move comes in tandem with the scheduled start of a high school credit system, where students will be allowed to choose subjects they want based on their own career paths and aptitudes.
(Yonhap)
