The voices of labor unions within Samsung Group are growing louder. This is because not only are affiliate unions demanding the same wage increase through solidarity but the launch of a unified union, beyond affiliate unions, is on the horizon.On Feb. 6, the Samsung Group Trade Union Solidarity, a f
Cho Dong-chul, the president of Korea Development Institute (KDI), publicly issued a stark warning on government debt, going so far as to state, “The country will collapse.” In particular, he cautioned that South Korea’s national debt-to-gross domestic product (GDP) ratio could skyrocket to over 250
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport of South Korea announced on Jan. 29 that it will start accepting applications from Jan. 30 for this year’s K-City Network Global Collaboration Project. This initiative aims to establish a smart city cooperation network with foreign nations and suppo
The Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS) is actively moving forward with the designation of new global innovation districts this year. Simultaneously, it is focusing its efforts on strengthening global collaboration programs to foster the venture ecosystem. The ministry plans to strengthen support fo
Starting from April of this year, foreigners and overseas Koreans must reside in the country for at least six months to be eligible for health insurance as dependent beneficiaries.According to the National Health Insurance Service on Jan. 24, a revision to the Health Insurance Act will take effect f
The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy plans to inject 100 billion won into companies in advanced strategic industries and key supply chain sectors that are returning (U-turn) to Korea this year. This marks a 75% increase from the previous year. The corporate tax reduction period will be extende
The government is set to implement a comprehensive plan for “smart cities” incorporating new technologies. The primary focus is accelerating the entry into foreign markets through the restructuring of the “K-City Network” project. This initiative aims to strengthen the global competitiveness of Kore
The government is restructuring industrial and energy technology development projects to focus on high-risk, next-generation, and large-scale tasks. There will be a significant reduction in the financial burden on companies. The plan is to transition to a demand-driven process where businesses and r
A bill to amend the Petroleum and Petroleum Alternative Fuel Business Act passed the National Assembly’s plenary session on Sept. 9, paving the way for refiners to produce sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).SAF is an aviation fuel derived from renewable biomass or carbon dioxide. It has the same compos
Despite a record influx of foreign workers, South Korea’s small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are still facing a labor shortage.According to a comprehensive survey on foreign labor employment conducted by the Korea Federation of Small and Medium Business (K-Biz), 29.7% of the 1,200 SMEs employ
The government’s new entrusted operating funds for the Korea Investment Corporation (KIC), the sovereign wealth fund, have effectively ceased from 2022 until last year. Some argue that the KIC faces concerns about its international competitiveness. In a landscape where competing sovereign wealth fun
The Korean government will increase an influx of foreign workers to industrial sites and rural areas suffering from labor shortages in 2024 to more than 260,000 from 170,000 in 2023 in response to the Korea’s population crisis and labor shortage, according to the Korean Government’s Economic Policy
The Korean government has earnestly taken steps to address the escalating population crisis, which has emerged as a significant social concern in the nation. More efforts will be made to bolster support for childbirth and the upbringing of infants and children, aimed at mitigating the population dec
The government has announced its intention to reduce the ratio of household debt to gross domestic product (GDP) to below 100 percent by the year 2027.On Jan. 4, the government released the “2024 Economic Policy Direction,” outlining its strategy for managing household debt.According to the Bank for
Last year, 540,000 foreign workers received year-end settlements, and the reported tax amount reached a record-breaking 1.2 trillion won (US$915.68 million).The National Tax Service (NTS) announced that the number of foreign workers who filed tax reports was 544,000, and the reported tax amount reac
On Jan. 2, President Yoon Suk-yeol announced, “I will push for the abolition of the Financial Investment Income Tax.” This move is expected to spark controversy as it involves the cancellation of an agreement with the opposition party.On this day, President Yoon attended the “2024 Securities and Der
A plenary session of the National Assembly passed an amendment to the Capital Markets and Financial Investment Business Act, which will require large-scale stock transactions by insiders of listed companies to be disclosed in advance beginning from the second half of 2024.The Financial Services Comm
The National Tax Service (NTS) announced on Dec. 28 that it has collected 1.35 trillion won (US$1.05 billion) in tax assessments in the area of overseas tax evasion alone through tax investigations conducted this year. The figure exceeds the average annual collection for the three years before the C
The government will build 10,000 “smart plus” buildings specializing in robots, drones, autonomous vehicles and urban air mobility (UAM) by 2035.The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport (MOLIT) announced a road map for the promotion of smart plus buildings as an innovation policy in the s
The small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) sector is urging the swift passage of the “Business Succession Support Act” currently under consideration in the National Assembly, advocating for businesses to opt for continuity rather than closure. This comes as numerous companies consider closure inste