The Korea Times

High rental costs push young adults into substandard housing

Kim, a 31-year-old office worker in Seoul, says she recently moved into a goshiwon near her workplace because she could not keep up with rising studio apartment rents. Goshiwon are dormitory-style accommodations often used by students or low-wage workers who need minimal living space at low cost. They often have shared kitchen and bathroom facilities, rooms are small, and some lack basic amenities such as windows. Kim lived in a goshiwon when she first moved to the capital from her hometown of Gumi, North Gyeongsang Province, in 2017, but later moved to an officetel, a kind of studio or one-room apartment. “I know that goshiwon are far less convenient than officetel, but I really could not keep up with the growing monthly rent for such accommodations,” Kim said. “Going back to a goshiwon was the only option I had,” she added. Kim represents a growing number of Korean young adults increasingly pushed into substandard housing in the Seoul metropolitan area, according to data jointly compiled by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and the ministry-funded Korea Research

Dec 9, 2025By Yi Whan-woo

High rental costs push young adults into substandard housing

Banking & Finance

Mirae Asset recovers $192.97 mil. from Brookfield as yearslong IFC dispute ends

Mirae Asset Global Investments has recovered the full amount it claimed from Brookfield, a Canadian multinational investment firm, ending a yearslong dispute over a failed property deal in Seoul’s financial district of Yeouido, industry officials said Monday. They said Brookfield returned 283 billion won ($192.97 million) last week, as ordered by the Singapore International Arbitration Centre's (SIAC) ruling in October, despite initially refusing to pay. The sum includes a 200 billion won performance deposit, accumulated interest and arbitration-related costs linked to the collapsed acquisition of the International Finance Center (IFC) in Yeouido. The conflict began in 2021 when Mirae Asset Global Investments agreed to acquire the building from Brookfield and was then selected as the preferred bidder for the IFC, paying the 200 billion won performance deposit. However, the deal fell through after the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport rejected Mirae Asset Global Investments’ plan to finance part of the acquisition through a real estate investment trust (REIT). Following th

Dec 8, 2025By Yi Whan-woo

Mirae Asset recovers $192.97 mil. from Brookfield as yearslong IFC dispute ends

Others

High-priced apartments on second-hand markets raise financial safety concerns

High-priced apartments are being increasingly listed for sale on online second-hand markets, prompting concerns that direct billion-won transactions, not brokered by professionals, may lead to disputes or even crimes, industry officials said Sunday. More than 10 apartments, each priced at 4 billion won ($2.71 million) or more, were listed, Sunday, on Danggeun Market, the country’s largest mobile platform for peer-to-peer sales of used goods. Many of the listings are in Seoul’s affluent neighborhood of Gangnam, with the cheapest being Raemian Prestige in Banpo-dong at 4.35 billion won. Other notable listings in Banpo-dong include Raemian One Bailey at 10 billion won, Raemian One Pentas at 10 billion won, and the most expensive among them, Acro River Park, at 11.5 billion won. “The rise of direct-deal housing transactions should not be seen as a passing curiosity, but as a growing trend that deserves serious attention among digitally savvy younger Koreans,” said Kwon Dae-jung, a real estate professor at Hansung University. A real estate broker, speaking on condition of anonymity, sh

Dec 7, 2025By Yi Whan-woo

High-priced apartments on second-hand markets raise financial safety concerns

Economy

Korea on verge of closing export gap with Japan

Korea is rapidly closing the export gap with Japan as the difference shrinks to record lows, fueling optimism that Korea can catch up to their neighbor’s export totals for the first time, industry officials said Thursday. Citing data from the Korea International Trade Association, Japan Tariff Association and International Monetary Fund, officials said that Korea’s exports totaled $579.1 billion from January to October, compared with Japan’s $606.1 billion. The $27 billion gap represents a dramatic reduction from the full-year difference of $122.4 billion in 2024, thanks to Korea’s robust exports of memory chips amid the global artificial intelligence (AI) revolution. “The interim 2025 figure is especially noteworthy, as it is a record low, with two months remaining to watch for further developments,” an industry official said. The official noted that Korea has steadily narrowed its export gap with Japan, from $128.8 billion in 2020 to $85.1 billion in 2023, marking the first time the gap fell below $100 billion. Korea had closed the margin to $3.2 billion in the first half of

Dec 4, 2025By Yi Whan-woo

Korea on verge of closing export gap with Japan

Economy

Rising everyday costs outpace wages, pressuring salaried workers

Baik Seung-ki, a salaried worker in his 40s, says his monthly income has risen steadily over the past couple of years, but the amount left for spending is growing at a slower pace after covering his basic living costs. “I guess it’s because of unavoidable costs like taxes, social insurance, utilities and staple foods are rising faster than my income, shrinking the money I have available for savings or other discretionary spending,” he said. Baik’s view aligns with the data released by the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) Thursday, which shows that fixed baseline expenses outpaced wage growth from 2020 to 2025, adding to the financial strain on so-called "glass-wallet workers." In Korea, “glass-wallet workers” are salaried employees whose income is fully transparent to the government and subject to payroll tax deductions, unlike self-employed individuals or business owners. During this period, average monthly wages rose at an annual rate of 3.3 percent, from 3.52 million won ($2,380) to 4.15 million won. By contrast, earned income tax and social insurance contributions ded

Dec 4, 2025By Yi Whan-woo

Rising everyday costs outpace wages, pressuring salaried workers

Policy

Gov't to collect more taxes as e-cigarettes are legally classified as tobacco

A revised law to include e-cigarettes in tobacco taxation is fueling optimism that the government can collect more taxes as it struggles to finance expansionary fiscal policies, officials said Wednesday. On Tuesday, the National Assembly approved a revision to the Tobacco Business Act that expands the legal definition of tobacco to include synthetic nicotine, following a bill submitted in September. Previously, the law defined tobacco products as those derived from tobacco leaves, excluding synthetic nicotine — a lab-produced chemical commonly used in e-cigarettes. Under the revision, the government can now levy tobacco taxes on e-cigarettes, which officials estimate could generate about 1 trillion won ($680.9 million) per year, considering the tobacco tax accounts for roughly 74 percent of the price of a regular cigarette pack. “The definition has now been expanded to include all parts of the tobacco plant — leaves, stems, and roots — as well as nicotine, both natural and synthetic,” the Ministry of Economy and Finance said in a press release. “Accordingly, synthetic nicotin

Dec 3, 2025By Yi Whan-woo

Gov't to collect more taxes as e-cigarettes are legally classified as tobacco

Policy

Coupang may be penalized by US SEC over inadequate disclosure

Coupang, Korea’s largest e-commerce retailer, may face sanctions from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for failing to properly inform investors about its recent massive data breach, market observers said Wednesday. Although its sales mostly come from Korea, Coupang is classified as a U.S. company because it is wholly owned by Coupang Inc., which is headquartered in Seattle, Washington. Coupang Inc. is also listed on Nasdaq. The speculation follows recent revelations that the information of 33.7 million customers has been leaked, allegedly by a former employee, from June through November. The SEC’s mandate includes enforcing the disclosure of business information that could influence a company’s share price. “Under these circumstances, the SEC has sufficient grounds to penalize Coupang for failing to comply with the commission’s cybersecurity disclosure rules concerning the massive data leak,” Jung Eui-jung, head of the Korean Stockholders’ Alliance, said. “Such noncompliance may be met with strict regulatory action, as it could adversely impact the intere

Dec 3, 2025By Yi Whan-woo

Coupang may be penalized by US SEC over inadequate disclosure

Banking & Finance

Santa Claus rally draws attention as both upside, downside factors weigh on market

The Korean stock market is drawing attention over whether it will ride a "Santa Claus" rally, a seasonal year-end rise in equities, with both upside and downside factors weighing on the market, analysts said Tuesday. As for upside development, some analysts say the U.S. Federal Reserve’s highly anticipated rate cut on Dec. 10 (local time) and gains in artificial intelligence (AI) tech stocks are expected to support the Seoul market through Christmas and into the first week of next year. Planned domestic policy measures are also likely to bolster market sentiment, including a proposed lower tax rate on stock-derived dividend income, mandatory share buybacks and a government-backed initiative to stimulate the secondary Kosdaq bourse. Accordingly, optimists suggested that the benchmark KOSPI may reach the 4,700-point level, compared to its close at 3,994.93 points, Tuesday, up 1.9 percent from a day earlier. On the downside, some experts noted that these domestic measures may be insufficient to drive a broad rally, while slower growth in stock prices relative to rising earnings per share

Dec 3, 2025By Yi Whan-woo

Santa Claus rally draws attention as both upside, downside factors weigh on market

Economy

Weak won fuels energy price hike concerns as state utility firms face FX losses

A weak Korean won is raising concerns about potential increases in electricity, gas and other utility prices, as state-run energy companies face growing foreign exchange losses, industry officials said Tuesday. These companies incur losses because they purchase energy resources, such as crude oil, in U.S. dollars but sell domestically in won, meaning that continued depreciation of the won against the dollar further amplifies losses. Raising utility prices to compensate is seen as a viable option. The affected companies include Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO) and Korea Gas Corp. (KOGAS), whose annual foreign exchange losses are estimated at 200 billion won ($136.2 million) and 20 billion won, respectively, for every 10-won depreciation of the won against the U.S. dollar. The local currency has persistently remained in the 1,400-won level against the U.S. dollar, which is considered a worrisome threshold but is increasingly being seen as the “new normal.” According to the Bank of Korea, the average exchange rate for 2025 stood at 1,419.16 won per dollar as of Monday, slightly higher

Dec 2, 2025By Yi Whan-woo

Weak won fuels energy price hike concerns as state utility firms face FX losses

Economy

Gov't to roll out measures to boost lagging Kosdaq

The government plans to introduce tailored measures to boost the secondary bourse Kosdaq, as its pace of growth remains less than half of the benchmark KOSPI despite a recent market rally, industry officials said Monday. They said the Financial Services Commission (FSC) is likely to expand tax deductions on capital gains and offer full exemptions on transaction taxes. The measures may also lower the barriers for promising companies to list while tightening the criteria for delisting underperforming firms. “The FSC may unveil the measures, possibly within this week,” an industry official said. The plan comes as the Kosdaq has grown 22.9 percent compared with the KOSPI’s 54 percent since June when President Lee Jae Myung took office. Correspondingly, the KOSPI, after remaining in the 2,000-point range for years, surpassed 3,000 points in June and then 4,000 points in October. “The contrast is certainly concerning for regulators,” another official said, adding that the president has prioritized shifting funds from real estate into the stock market, fueling a market boom. Individual i

Dec 1, 2025By Yi Whan-woo

Yi Whan-woo

Read more

High rental costs push young adults into substandard housing

Mirae Asset recovers $192.97 mil. from Brookfield as yearslong IFC dispute ends

High-priced apartments on second-hand markets raise financial safety concerns

Korea on verge of closing export gap with Japan

Rising everyday costs outpace wages, pressuring salaried workers

Gov't to collect more taxes as e-cigarettes are legally classified as tobacco

Coupang may be penalized by US SEC over inadequate disclosure

Santa Claus rally draws attention as both upside, downside factors weigh on market

Weak won fuels energy price hike concerns as state utility firms face FX losses

Gov't to roll out measures to boost lagging Kosdaq

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