The Korea Times

Court halts Seoul City’s Mount Nam gondola project

A court has halted the Seoul Metropolitan Government’s plan to build a new gondola on Mount Nam, ruling that officials unlawfully changed park administrative rules to circumvent height limits on construction in protected green space. The Seoul Administrative Court on Friday ruled in favor of Namsan Cable Car, the longtime operator of the cable there, in a suit seeking to revoke the decision to alter land‑use designations to make the construction of another gondola line possible. For that project, city authorities removed part of the area from the urban natural park zone and reclassified it as a “neighborhood park,” a category with looser building regulations. “Under the current Urban Parks and Green Spaces Act, it is not permitted to install any building or structure exceeding a height of 12 meters within an urban natural park zone. The defendant maintains this height cap does not apply when installing track facilities, and therefore that it is permissible to install supports exceeding 12 meters in height, but this argument is difficult to accept,” the court said. The verdict

Dec 19, 2025By Jung Min-ho

Court halts Seoul City’s Mount Nam gondola project

Global Community

Vietnamese lead surge as Korea’s foreign resident population hits record-high 1.69 mil.

Korea’s foreign resident population has climbed to an all-time high, driven by a sharp rise in young migrants and a particularly strong influx from Vietnam, according to new data. The 2025 Immigrant Residence and Employment Survey, published Thursday, shows that as of May, the number of foreign residents aged 15 or older exceeded 1.69 million, up from 1.56 million a year earlier, an increase of approximately 8.3 percent. The figure accounts for about 3.3 percent of Korea’s total population of roughly 51.8 million. It is the second-fastest annual increase since 2017. The growth is mainly concentrated among younger age groups. The population of foreigners aged 15 to 29 expanded by 12.8 percent (59,000 people), while those in their 30s grew by 7.8 percent (34,000). In contrast, the number of foreign residents in their 50s fell slightly, by 0.4 percent (1,000). By nationality, ethnic Korean Chinese nationals remain the largest foreign resident group, with 506,000 residents. Vietnamese rank second at 270,000, but they are growing far faster than any other major ethnic group. The survey sho

Dec 19, 2025By Jung Min-ho

Vietnamese lead surge as Korea’s foreign resident population hits record-high 1.69 mil.

Health

Tax money for hair-loss drugs? President’s proposal sparks mixed reactions

A debate over public funding for hair-loss treatment has intensified after President Lee Jae Myung ordered officials to review a possible expansion of health insurance coverage for the condition, describing baldness as “a matter of survival.” Critics, however, argue that scarce health resources should first be directed to life‑threatening illnesses. Speaking at the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s policy briefing to the president earlier this week, Lee said that while hair loss was once seen as a cosmetic issue, “these days it seems to be viewed as a matter of survival,” asking why it should not be treated as a disease within the national insurance system. Currently, the National Health Insurance covers only “pathologic” forms of hair loss, such as alopecia areata, on a limited basis, while age‑related baldness is not eligible for reimbursement. For many patients, the president’s remarks validated a long‑held belief that hair loss is not a trivial concern. “If covered, it would certainly help my finances,” said a 40-year-old architect, surnamed Kim, who has taken

Dec 18, 2025By Jung Min-ho

Tax money for hair-loss drugs? President’s proposal sparks mixed reactions

People & Events

Cuban-born descendant of Korean independence fighter joins donation campaign

A Cuban-born fourth-generation descendant of a Korean independence fighter has joined a neighborhood giving campaign in Seoul, extending her family’s legacy of sacrifice into community service. According to the Seodaemun District Office on Wednesday, Elizabeth Sanchez Rivero, the great-great-granddaughter of Independence Merit honoree Lee Seung-jun and the owner of a Cuban restaurant, signed onto its “1 Percent Miracle of Sharing” campaign last week. Under the agreement, participants donate 1 percent of their profits to the local community. The project, launched in 2023, has grown to include 170 participating businesses. She moved from Cuba to Korea in 2016 and has since settled in Seodaemun, where she runs Desayuno, a restaurant that serves Cuban cuisine and European-style breakfast dishes on the second floor of the Sinchon Youth Food Store. Her great-great-grandfather is known for supporting the Korean independence movement from Latin America during Japan’s colonial era, including efforts to raise funds overseas. Joining the campaign was a way to carry on that legacy. “My rest

Dec 18, 2025By Jung Min-ho

Cuban-born descendant of Korean independence fighter joins donation campaign

North Korea

Ruling party pushes to lift ban on North Korean media

A group of lawmakers of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea is pushing to ease a decades-old ban on accessing North Korean websites such as the online Rodong Sinmun, reviving a debate over national security and freedom of information. The proposed revision, drafted by Rep. Han Min-soo and 11 other lawmakers, would allow people in South Korea to freely visit North Korean websites, while maintaining existing bans on distributing or actively promoting content that violates the National Security Act. “Blocking access excessively limits citizens’ most basic right to information and undermines their ability to freely use the materials needed to shape public discourse on North Korea and unification,” Han said. “By permitting access to and viewing of North Korean websites, the aim is to clarify the original intent of regulations on information distribution and to expand citizens’ opportunities to obtain information about the North, and thereby promote a more balanced understanding of the country.” Supporters frame the change as a necessary update for a mature democracy, arguing tha

Dec 17, 2025By Jung Min-ho

North Korea

N. Korea faces rare crisis: Low birthrate, deep poverty

North Korea is quietly joining the ranks of low‑birthrate societies ― but without the economic prosperity that typically accompanies such a transition. Experts warn that this rare combination of deep poverty and shrinking families could leave the regime facing a serious demographic crisis within a generation. Larger families are more common in countries as poor as North Korea, with total fertility rates of three or more children per woman. In contrast, data from the U.N. and South Korea suggest North Korean women have only about 1.6 to 1.8 children on average, far below the replacement level needed to keep a population stable and more in line with wealthier East Asian societies than low‑income states. Almost all nations with similar gross domestic product per capita struggle with limited access to contraception and to clinics, but North Korea’s numbers look more like wealthy countries where women delay marriage and invest heavily in work and education. That gap has led some observers to question the data. But experts contacted by The Korea Times say they think the figure is conv

Dec 17, 2025By Jung Min-ho

N. Korea faces rare crisis: Low birthrate, deep poverty

Society

‘Yellow envelope law’ decree sparks dual backlash from labor, businesses

A government decree detailing the so-called Yellow Envelope Law — a landmark revision intended to curb the ability of companies to seek large damage claims against striking workers — has drawn criticism from both business groups and labor unions, with each accusing the Ministry of Employment and Labor of creating more confusion than clarity ahead of its implementation in March 2026. The revised enforcement ordinances under the Trade Union and Labor Relations Adjustment Act have drawn criticism for placing additional burdens on companies while narrowing the practical reach of the pro-labor law’s core protections for subcontracted workers. Key questions remain over how the new rules will govern collective bargaining between principal employers and subcontractor unions and how much discretion the government will wield in the process. In theory, a subcontractor union may seek separate talks with a principal employer, but whether such negotiations proceed in any given case would be decided by the National Labor Relations Commission or a newly created state body. The rules also leave un

Dec 16, 2025By Jung Min-ho

‘Yellow envelope law’ decree sparks dual backlash from labor, businesses

Society

Is CSAT obsolete? Calls grow for overhaul after test difficulty uproar

Korea’s all-important annual college entrance test, widely known as the CSAT, is facing an unprecedented crisis as furor over this year’s difficulty and alleged question flaws fuels calls not just for drastic reform but even for its abolition. Long treated as the arbiter of academic success, the exam is now under intense scrutiny over whether it still has a place in the era of artificial intelligence (AI). In an open letter sent to President Lee Jae Myung last week, 15 senior educators, including Park Do-soon, one of the CSAT architects, called for the abolition of the test. They criticized what they called a “lineup” test that, in their view, focuses on ranking students instead of educating them. “While the government talks of making Korea a top-three AI power, schools remain locked in 20th century rote learning and multiple-choice drills,” they said in a joint statement. “We must abolish the current system of ranking students through the CSAT and multiple-choice evaluations. It’s time to make a significant shift in education ― one that helps our children develop cri

Dec 14, 2025By Jung Min-ho

Is CSAT obsolete? Calls grow for overhaul after test difficulty uproar

Foreign Affairs

New ESTA social media rule sparks unease among Korean travelers

A woman planning to visit her aunt in the United States with her husband and son next year says she is watching the latest U.S. travel screening proposal about tougher social media scrutiny with growing unease. The 41-year-old said on condition of anonymity that the U.S. government's new plan will not affect her travel plans. But if it weren't for her aunt, she said, she would already be looking elsewhere for her next holiday. “I do not think anything would happen to my family during the immigration process, but if it does, it’s a big deal,” she told The Korea Times Thursday. “That thought really scares me.” Under a proposal filed by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), visitors from Korea and more than 40 other nations could be required to disclose their social media activity from the past five years as a condition of entry to the U.S. This change would affect foreign visitors using the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA), which allows short stays of up to 90 days for tourism or business under a visa waiver program. The proposed rule would make social media

Dec 12, 2025By Jung Min-ho

New ESTA social media rule sparks unease among Korean travelers

US plans to require 5 years of social media history from foreign tourists

Global Community

Push to make Seoul a city worth moving to ― and staying in

Seoul is widely recognized as a popular destination for international students, yet experts contend the capital city is falling short on a core economic metric: the retention of high-skilled workers. This emerging gap threatens future productivity and global competitiveness. Speaking at the “Global Talent Strategy Forum: Seoul, Your Next Chapter” on Wednesday, scholars and industry executives cautioned that, without bold migration policies and corporate reforms, Seoul could remain little more than a training ground for competing global hubs. They called on officials to pursue policies that both draw foreign talent and keep it in the city. The event, organized by the Seoul Metropolitan Government, was held to evaluate the city’s position in the global competition for talent and discuss ways to improve it. It came months after U.K. higher‑education agency QS named Seoul the world’s best city for overseas study, a ranking built on its safe environment and affordability, among many other factors. Speakers at the forum said that while those strengths have made Seoul a magnet for st

Dec 10, 2025By Jung Min-ho

Jung Min-ho

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