SEOUL, May 7 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea has dropped one spot to 20th in the United Nations Development Programme’s (UNDP) latest Human Development Index (HDI) rankings, despite a slight improvement in its overall score, highlighting growing international competition and widening inequality between countries. According to the 2025 Human Development Report released Tuesday by the UNDP, [...]
SEOUL, March 27 (Korea Bizwire) — While the compensation gap between top earners and average employees at major South Korean companies narrowed slightly last year, executives still earned more than 15 times their workers’ salaries, according to a new analysis by Leaders Index. The research firm’s study of 284 companies among Korea’s top 500 firms [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 22 (Korea Bizwire) — The number of female independent directors at South Korea’s top 100 companies continued to grow in 2024, a report showed Wednesday. The number of female outside directors at the top 100 firms by sales came to 100 as of end-September, accounting for 24.2 percent of the total 454, according [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 17 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s labor market in 2024 showed strong overall employment figures, but significant challenges persist for youth employment and gender-based labor disparities, according to the Ministry of Employment and Labor. At a briefing on January 16, 2025, the Ministry reviewed detailed employment trends from the Statistics Korea report on [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 6 (Korea Bizwire) — A new study has found that higher income levels are strongly associated with longer, healthier lives in South Korea, with the gap in healthy life expectancy between the richest and poorest nearing nine years. The research, conducted by a team led by Professor Yoon Seok-jun of Korea University’s College [...]
SEJONG, Jan. 6 (Korea Bizwire) — The annual income gap between South Korea’s richest and poorest households has exceeded 200 million won for the first time, while the gap in their assets has grown to more than 1.5 billion won. As economic polarization continues to deepen, policy solutions have stalled, particularly after President Yoon Suk Yeol’s [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 28 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea’s income inequality among self-employed business owners has reached striking levels, with the top 10% of business income earners making seven times the average income, according to new tax data. National Assembly data released on October 27 reveals that the top 10% of business income earners, approximately 847,354 individuals, [...]
SEJONG, Oct. 15 (Korea Bizwire) – As South Korea grapples with one of the world’s lowest birth rates, a new study suggests that rising income inequality may be a significant contributing factor, prompting calls for integrated redistribution and birth support policies. The research, presented at a recent fiscal policy forum by Lee Jong Ha, a professor [...]
SEJONG, Oct. 8 (Korea Bizwire) – A recent analysis of tax data has revealed significant income disparities within South Korea’s professional sectors, with lawyers and accountants showing particularly pronounced inequality. According to a report released on October 7 by Park Sung-hoon, a lawmaker from the People Power Party, the top 10% of earners in these professions accounted [...]
SEOUL, Aug. 2 (Korea Bizwire) – The opening of a premium coffee shop in Seoul’s upscale Cheongdam-dong district has ignited controversy over luxury pricing in a time of high inflation, highlighting the growing economic disparities in South Korean society. Lotte Department Store introduced Bacha Coffee, a Moroccan luxury coffee brand, to South Korea on August 1. The [...]