SEOUL, March 10 (Korea Bizwire) — The number of self-employed people continued to fall in the four months through January due mainly to a prolonged economic slowdown, government data showed Monday. The number of self-employed people came to 5.5 million in January, down 270,000 from 5.77 million tallied in October, according to the data from [...]
SEOUL, March 7 (Korea Bizwire) — The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced on March 6 that it will become the first city in South Korea to provide maternity leave benefits to single-person business owners and freelancers, with applications opening March 11. The groundbreaking initiative is part of the city’s “Birth Support Seoul Project,” aimed at addressing the [...]
SEOUL, Feb. 16 (Korea Bizwire) — The number of self-employed individuals in South Korea who failed to repay their debts increased by 35% in 2024, as high interest rates and prolonged domestic economic stagnation deepened financial distress, new data shows. The burden was particularly severe for those aged 60 and older, with defaults in this group [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 30 (Korea Bizwire) – A recent analysis of South Korea’s health insurance system has revealed a significant disparity affecting many self-employed individuals. According to data from the National Health Insurance Service, approximately 230,000 self-employed business owners are paying health insurance premiums based on their highest-paid employees’ salaries, even when their own incomes are lower. [...]
SEJONG, Sept. 23 (Korea Bizwire) – A stark revelation about the economic struggles of South Korea’s self-employed population has emerged from recent tax data, showing that nearly 75% of individual business owners reported monthly incomes below 1 million won in 2022. The figures, released by the National Tax Service and analyzed by Representative Park Sung-hoon of [...]
SEOUL, Aug. 19 (Korea Bizwire) — The number of self-employed people in South Korea fell for the sixth consecutive month in July, data showed Monday, as the nation’s economy grapples with weaker consumption. There were 5.72 million self-employed people last month, down some 62,000 from the same month last year, according to the data by [...]
SEJONG, Mar. 25 (Korea Bizwire) – In South Korea’s rapidly aging society, where the government has been scrambling to encourage childbirth through expanded parental leave benefits, a significant segment of the workforce finds itself left out: the self-employed. Park Chang-hyun, 34, works as a delivery rider in Gwangju. When he recently inquired about parental leave allowances [...]
SEOUL, Mar. 6 (Korea Bizwire) – The value of delinquent loans among self-employed individuals in South Korea has surged by nearly 50% in a year, with the delinquency rate of young self-employed individuals in their 20s and 30s increasing the fastest. This trend indicates that self-employed individuals are facing financial difficulties due to high interest rates [...]
SEJONG, Feb. 16 (Korea Bizwire) – For the first time, the number of self-employed individuals over the age of 60 in South Korea has surpassed the two million mark. This significant milestone, primarily attributed to a sharp increase in seniors entering the transportation sector, including personal taxi and delivery services, reflects a broader trend of older [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 16 (Korea Bizwire) — The proportion of self-employed people in South Korea touched a record low in 2022 in the wake of the prolonged coronavirus pandemic, data showed Monday. Asia’s fourth-largest economy had 5.63 million self-employed people as of end-December, accounting for 20.1 percent of the 28.09 million employed in the country, according [...]