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Carbon-Free Energy Mix Is in Crisis as Mega Power Demand Explodes Even If Renewable Energy Increases Sixfold by 2040. The Korean government has presented an unconventional goal to expand the capacity of commercial renewable energy facilities to 220GW (maximum 236GW), which is six times the current level, by 2040. The Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment and the General Committee for the…
Cargo is loaded onto the 2,758-TEU container ship PanStar Acro at Busan New Port on Aug. 22 before its Arctic shipping trial voyage. The 2,758-TEU container ship PanStar Acro has begun South Korea's first commercial trial voyage through the Arctic route, sailing from the Port of Busan to Europe along Russia's Arctic coast. The voyage is the first attempt by a South Korean shipping company to test…
Gwangju Military Airport, the planned site of the Honam semiconductor cluster. Industrial electricity rates in South Korea's Yeongnam and Honam regions are expected to fall by as much as 10% as the government moves to introduce region-based pricing that reflects power-generation locations and transmission costs. The policy is designed to encourage companies to shift or establish power-intensive…
Howard Lutnick, U.S. Commerce Secretary The U.S. government is seeking additional investment by South Korean semiconductor companies in U.S. memory production facilities, citing Korea's 800 trillion won, or approximately $577.45 billion, Honam semiconductor cluster project. Washington has conveyed that South Korean companies should expand investment in the United States as South Korea increases…
254,300 babies were born in 2025, up 16,000, or 6.7%, from a year earlier. (Photo: BK DB) The number of babies born in South Korea topped 250,000 last year, reaching the highest level in four years. Birth figures, which had declined steadily after falling into the 200,000 range in 2020, rebounded for a second consecutive year, suggesting a possible shift in the country's long-running low-birth…
Busan New Port filled with export and import cargo (provided by Yonhap News Agency) A recovery in the semiconductor market and expanding investment related to artificial intelligence, or AI, pushed South Korea's large companies to record export results. The share of total exports accounted for by large companies also rose by more than 10 percentage points from a year earlier, reinforcing their…
Kim Yoon-duk, South Korea's minister of land, infrastructure and transport. The U.S. government has invited South Korean companies to participate in more than 10 major energy and infrastructure projects, opening a potential new pipeline of business for Korean construction companies, trading firms and financial institutions. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport will hold a briefing in…
Trade tensions between the United States and Canada have erupted as Washington's America-first trade policy collided with Ottawa's retaliatory countermeasures. The trade conflict between the United States and Canada, the two giant economies of the North American continent, is escalating into an all-out 'tariff war.' As the chain reaction of retaliatory tariffs between the two countries…
The number of pension recipients aged 65 and older in South Korea exceeded 9.12 million in 2025. (Yonhap) The number of pension recipients aged 65 and older in South Korea exceeded 9.12 million last year, hitting the highest level since record-keeping began. The average monthly payout also surpassed 700,000 won for the first time, reflecting both an aging population and a broader reliance on…
Director General Lee Kwang-ho (center) of the Forest Protection Bureau attended the 17th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP17) to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). (Photo provided by KFS) The Korea Forest Service (KFS), led by Minister Park Eun-sik, announced that Director General Lee Kwang Ho of the Forest Protection Bureau attended the 17th session of…
There is a growing number of cases where foreign nationals receive an old-age pension after subscribing to the National Pension for just one month in Korea. (Yonhap) There is a growing number of cases where foreign nationals receive an old-age pension after subscribing to the National Pension for just one month in Korea and paying 119 months of past contributions in a lump sum. Critics point out…
Exports and corporate profits surge while domestic demand lags. (Yonhap) The South Korean economy has entered a boom phase driven by semiconductors in 2026. The economic growth rate has risen, and exports and the profits of large conglomerates have surged. The question is whether these achievements are spreading to domestic demand, employment, and low-wage workers. At the 6th National Future…
A rally by the Samsung Electronics Donghang Labor Union on June 16 at the main gate of Samsung Electronics' Suwon campus in Yeongtong-gu, Suwon, Gyeonggi Province. (Photo courtesy of Donghang Union) Amid a conflict over performance bonuses, Donghaeng Union, a labor union centered on Samsung Electronics' DX (Device eXperience) Unit, plans to hold a rally near the Samsung Electronics Seocho Office…
The road in front of Hyundai Motor's Ulsan plant is quiet due to the full strike (Photo=Yonhap News) All production lines at Hyundai Motor completely stopped for the first time in 10 years. The labor union made a strong move by launching an eight-hour full strike for a day to pressure management during this year's wage negotiations. The Hyundai Motor Branch of the Korean Metal Workers' Union…
Lotte Wellfood Yeongdeungpo plant (Provided by Yonhap News Agency) An ammonia gas leak occurred at the Lotte Wellfood Yeongdeungpo plant near Seonyudo Station in Yangpyeong-dong 5-ga, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, at around 5:30 a.m. on Aug. 21. Lotte Wellfood officially apologized for causing concern to nearby residents and customers due to the incident and promised to strengthen its safety management…
Kia Headquarters (Provided by Yonhap News) The labor union of Kia will launch a partial strike for three days from Aug. 26 to 28. The record of reaching dispute-free agreements for five consecutive years, which has continued since 2021, is at risk of being broken. The Kia labor union held a dispute countermeasure committee meeting on August 22 and decided to conduct a strike for 2 to 4 hours by…
Park Hong-keun, Minister of Planning and Budget, answers questions from reporters during a joint briefing on reforms to local education subsidies at the Seoul Government Complex in Jongno-gu, Seoul, on Aug. 21. South Korea will establish a new "Future Response Fund" to use tax revenue generated by the semiconductor boom as seed capital for strengthening national competitiveness. The government…
Busan Mayor Jeon Jae-soo(right) met with Leah Victoria T. Carada, Consul General of the Philippines in Busan, on Aug. 20. (Provided by Busan City) Busan Mayor Jeon Jae-soo met with Leah Victoria T. Carada, Consul General of the Philippines in Busan, at the International Protocol Room of City Hall in the afternoon on Aug. 20. This meeting was arranged to welcome Consul General Carada, who took…
Hyosung Group Chairman Cho Hyun-joon (right) and former Hyosung Group Vice Chairman Cho Hyun-moon arrive at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul, on Aug. 21 for a hearing in Cho Hyun-moon's attempted coercion case. Hyosung Group Chairman Cho Hyun-joon and his younger brother, former Hyosung vice chairman Cho Hyun-moon, faced each other in court for the first time in 12 years on…
(Provided by KOTRA) South Korean consumer goods exports to the Chinese market have rebounded for the first time in three years, raising expectations for an annual performance recovery. Driven by steep growth in the fashion and food sectors, the export value of consumer goods to China in the first half of this year reached $3.44 billion, marking an 8.7% increase compared to the same period last…
Korea's net external financial assets have plummeted from over $1 trillion to just $64 billion in little over a year. (Yonhap) As the domestic stock market surged by over 70% during the second quarter, South Korea's net international investment position plunged by $689.5 billion in a single quarter. This is the largest decline in history, shrinking by nearly $700 billion in one quarter since…
The National Pension Service (NPS) has continued investing in IPO of Chinese company tied to the military and national security, triggering fierce controversy over transparency and ethical investment standards. The National Pension Service (NPS), which manages the precious retirement funds of the people, has been engulfed in a fierce controversy over transparency and ethical management standards…
U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Michelle Steel (right) and James Kim, chairman and CEO of the American Chamber of Commerce in Korea (AMCHAM Korea). Michelle Steel, the new U.S. ambassador to South Korea, met with American business leaders in Korea for her first official engagement since taking office, hearing directly about challenges facing U.S. companies and discussing ways to expand bilateral…
Kakao union holding a picketing protest in front of KakaoBank (Provided by Yonhap News) The KakaoBank labor union will stage a full general strike for five business days, starting on August 31 and ending on September 4. The Kakao branch of the National Chemical, Textile and Food Industry Labor Union stepped up pressure on management by announcing a strike plan involving all union members on August…
Environmental groups are protesting in front of the Samsung headquarters on August 20, urging the cancellation of the Yongin Semiconductor National Industrial Complex. (Provided by Yonhap News) The National Action against the Construction of Ultra-High Voltage Transmission Towers and for the Re-examination of the Yongin Semiconductor National Industrial Complex held a press conference in front of…
JVM logo JVM, a global leading company in the field of automated medication dispensing, has protected its proprietary core technology rights after a six-year legal battle. The Seoul Central District Court ruled on July 16 that company C, a domestic automated dispensing equipment manufacturer, infringed on JVM's patent for an automated medication packaging device, acknowledging its liability for…
The conflict surrounding the management rights of Korea Zinc is escalating into a legal battle. MBK Partners announced on August 20 that it had launched strong legal actions, including criminal charges, alleging that the side of Korea Zinc Inside Director Choi Yoon-beom recorded false information in the explanatory materials for the agenda of the extraordinary general meeting of shareholders. The…
Housing-related loans increased by 12.2 trillion won (approximately $9.38 billion) in the second quarter. (Yonhap) Despite the Bank of Korea continuing its interest rate hike trend, household debt in the Republic of Korea has surpassed the 2,000 trillion won (approximately $1.4 trillion) mark for the first time in history. The magnitude of the increase in the second quarter of this year recorded…
Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Kim Jeong-gwan and U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick. (Yonhap) The South Korean government is experiencing severe difficulties in the process of materializing 'Project No. 1' for investment in the U.S., which will cut the ribbon for the $350 billion investment package in the U.S. This is because Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Kim Jeong-gwan…
Export and import cargo piled up at the Sinseondae Pier of Busan Port (Yonhap News) A forecast has emerged that the South Korean economy will grow by 3.2% this year, driven by strong semiconductor exports. The Korea Development Institute (KDI) raised its forecast for this year's gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate by 0.7 percentage points from the 2.5% announced in May, through the 'Revised…
