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CEO & Publisher: Oh Young-jinDigital News Email: webmaster@koreatimes.co.krTel: 02-724-2114Online newspaper registration No: 서울,아52844Date of registration: 2020.02.05Masthead: The Korea TimesCopyright © koreatimes.co.kr. All rights reserved.

Korea to begin temporary visa waiver program for Chinese group tourists in late September

Korea will introduce a temporary visa waiver program for Chinese group tourists starting late September, as part of efforts to boost domestic spending and the tourism market, government officials said Wednesday. The visa-free entry will come into force from Sept. 29 to June 30 next year, following a decision made during a government meeting presided over by Prime Minister Kim Min-seok earlier in the day, Kim's office said. The decision came after Beijing announced in November last year that it will waive visa requirements for visitors from Korea and several other countries, effective through the end of next year. The measure will allow visitors to stay in China for up to 15 days without a visa. Relevant government agencies in Seoul had been discussing implementing a reciprocal measure for Chinese group tourists. "With Korea's inbound tourism market recovering rapidly, the implementation of this visa waiver program is expected to help boost demand for travel to Korea, revitalize regional economies and fuel domestic consumption," a government official said. Additionally, the government also

Aug 6, 2025By Yonhap
Korea to begin temporary visa waiver program for Chinese group tourists in late September

No. of economically active seniors hits record high in 2025: data

The number of senior citizens engaged in economic activities continued to increase, reaching an all-time high this year, government data showed Wednesday. Of the country's 16.44 million people aged 55-79, 60.9 percent were economically active as of May, up 0.3 percentage point from a year earlier, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. The figure encompasses the currently employed, as well as those actively seeking to land a job. The number of the employed among the age group also rose by 344,000 on-year to 9.78 million, and the employment rate came to 59.5 percent. The rate is also at a record level, up 0.5 percentage point from a year earlier. The rise was attributed to a growing number of employed people in the health care and social welfare service sector, which accounted for 13.7 percent of all employed seniors. The data also found that 69.4 percent of the age group replied they wished to continue to or begin to work in the future. Of the total seniors, 51.7 percent received a pension, up 0.5 percentage point on-year. They received 860,000 won ($619) per month on average,

Aug 6, 2025By Yonhap
No. of economically active seniors hits record high in 2025: data

Military drastically reduced civilian aid after 2023 marine’s death

South Korea’s military has significantly scaled back its civilian disaster support operations since the 2023 drowning death of Marine Corps Cpl. Chae Su-geun, according to newly released data on Tuesday. Analysts say the incident triggered a wave of caution across the armed forces, with commanders reluctant to risk liability during civilian assistance missions. The Ministry of National Defense submitted troop deployment figures to Rep. Choo Mi-ae of the Democratic Party of Korea, showing that while civilian aid efforts surged during the COVID-19 era and beyond, they dropped sharply in 2024 across all branches. The Army deployed about 47,300 personnel in 2021, 57,200 in 2022, and 92,700 in 2023. But last year, the number plunged to just 24,600, barely 23 percent of the previous year’s total. The Air Force sent 884 troops in 2021, 3,671 in 2022, and 2,869 in 2023, but only 204 in 2024 — less than 7 percent of the prior year’s number. The Navy also saw a sharp drop, from over 5,000 annually in 2021 and 2022 to 403 in 2023 and just 249 in 2024. The Marine Corps, which was directly imp

Aug 6, 2025By Hankookilbo
Military drastically reduced civilian aid after 2023 marine’s death

The water was waist-deep: Why a delivery driver risked his life during a flood in Korea

Amid record-setting rainfall in Korea last month, a delivery driver waded through waist-deep floodwaters to pick up food from a restaurant in Gwangju — sparking both admiration and concern online. On July 17, more than 400 millimeters of rain fell in Gwangju, inundating neighborhoods and shutting down roads. Despite the conditions, one delivery driver was seen braving the flood to fulfill an order, a moment that quickly went viral. On Aug. 4, the owner of a salad shop in Gwangju's Buk District posted security footage on social media along with a message: “At 5 p.m. on July 17, when the water reached waist level, a legendary delivery driver still picked up the order. I’m trying to find him.” The video shows the driver parking his motorcycle on the edge of a flooded street, then wading through strong currents toward the store. A restaurant worker, also standing in waist-high water, hands over a plastic bag of food. The driver holds the package carefully above his head to keep it dry and makes his way back through the water. The food, the owner confirmed, was delivered safely. The r

Aug 5, 2025By Hankookilbo
The water was waist-deep: Why a delivery driver risked his life during a flood in Korea

POSCO E&C CEO resigns over repeated workplace injuries

The chief executive of POSCO E&C, one of Korea’s largest construction firms, tendered his resignation Tuesday, amid intensifying public outrage and official scrutiny over a spate of deadly industrial accidents at the company’s worksites. The resignation comes as the presidential office had already placed the developer under heightened review, following deadly accidents that drew national attention. President Lee Jae Myung, speaking at a Cabinet meeting last month, condemned the company’s safety record in unusually blunt terms, calling the repeated fatalities “unacceptable” and suggesting they could constitute “murder by willful negligence” under Korean law. Jeong Hee-min’s decision to resign followed the company’s latest industrial accident, in which a 31-year-old migrant worker from Myanmar was hospitalized in an unconscious state after suffering an apparent electric shock at a highway construction site in Gwangmyeong, Gyeonggi Province, around 1:30 p.m. on Monday. “As the president, I feel a heavy sense of responsibility for the repeated accidents,” Jeong said in

Aug 5, 2025By Jung Min-ho
POSCO E&C CEO resigns over repeated workplace injuries

Bomb threat sparks alarm at Shinsegae Department Store

Police and firefighters search the main branch of Shinsegae Department Store in central Seoul, Tuesday, after some 4,000 shoppers and employees evacuated the building following an online bomb threat. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk

Aug 5, 2025By Lee Hae-rinphoto
Bomb threat sparks alarm at Shinsegae Department Store

Older workers outnumber younger hires in corporate workforce shift

For Kim Sang-hyun, who landed his first job at a bank last year at age 29, the road to employment was anything but smooth. “The job market felt completely frozen. A lot of people my age felt the same way,” Kim told The Korea Times. “When I was job hunting, there were many highly qualified candidates. But during interviews, people were often eliminated over small things — like being too nervous or making minor mistakes.” His story reflects a broader trend in Korea’s corporate landscape, where the workforce is aging as more employees stay on into their 50s and beyond, and the number of workers in their 20s continues to decline. Amid an economic slowdown and a growing preference for experienced hires, securing a job in one’s 20s has become increasingly difficult in Korea, raising concerns about the prospects for younger generations. The proportion of employees in their 20s at Korean companies dropped below that of workers aged 50 and older last year, according to data released Monday by corporate tracker Leaders Index — the first time such a reversal has occurred since the s

Aug 5, 2025By Park Ung
Older workers outnumber younger hires in corporate workforce shift

No. of workers aged 50 or over surpasses those in 20s at major firms for 1st time

Leading companies in Korea have fewer employees in their 20s than those aged 50 or older on their payrolls, industry data showed Tuesday, partly reflecting reduced hiring of young workers amid an economic slowdown. According to the data from corporate tracker Leaders Index, the share of 20-something employees at 124 top companies in terms of sales was recorded at 19.8 percent as of the end of 2024, down 1.2 percentage points from a year earlier. In contrast, the proportion of workers aged 50 or older reached 20.1 percent, up 0.6 percentage point from the previous year. It marked the first time since 2015, when Leaders Index started compiling related data, that workers in their 20s have been outnumbered by those aged 50 and above. The ratio of workers aged below 30 years also reached under 20 percent for the first time. Such a discrepancy was particularly notable in the battery sector. During the past three years, the share of workers in their 20s fell by 9.7 percentage points, while the proportion of 50 and above rose by 1.2 percentage points. The information technology and electronics se

Aug 5, 2025By Yonhap
No. of workers aged 50 or over surpasses those in 20s at major firms for 1st time

Tipping culture fails to take hold in Korea as patrons say 'no thanks'

A Korean social media user living in the United States recently dined in Yeouido and came across something familiar stateside — yet still uncommon in Korea: tipping. “There was a tip jar right at the counter when I went to pay,” he wrote. “This is Korea. Don’t bring tipping culture here. Don’t ruin what’s good.” That post, shared on a popular Korea-focused forum within Meta’s Threads app — often frequented by Koreans and Korea-based users — quickly went viral, garnering over 5,000 likes. In Korea, where tipping is not part of the culture, repeated efforts by both small businesses and major corporations to introduce gratuities have routinely sparked public backlash. The resistance stems from long-standing norms that regard service charges as unnecessary — or even exploitative. In June, a franchise pizza outlet came under fire for imposing a 2,000 won ($1.44) tip through a delivery app. The parent company later said the outlet was no longer an official franchisee and pledged legal action for breach of contract. In 2023, Kakao Mobility tested a feature allowing users

Aug 5, 2025By Park Ung
Tipping culture fails to take hold in Korea as patrons say 'no thanks'

InterviewHead of state adoption agency vows transparency as gov’t takes over process

The director of Korea’s national adoption agency is pledging to help establish a transparent system as the government moves to overhaul the longstanding practice of outsourcing adoptions to private agencies. The restructuring, which took effect on July 19 with the enactment of the Act on International Adoption and the Special Act on Domestic Adoption, assigns the state full responsibility for all adoption procedures, including counseling, temporary care, screening, education of prospective adoptive parents and post-adoption support. Under the transition, the state-run National Center for the Rights of the Child (NCRC) is now the primary institution responsible for the implementation and management of adoptions, including the operation of a temporary archival facility recently set up in Goyang to house all adoption records. “In the past, many adoptees trying to search for their birth records here ended up being lost without knowing where and how to begin,” Han Myoung-ae, director general at the NCRC’s adoption services office, said in a recent interview. “Through the reform, we

Aug 4, 2025By Jung Min-ho
Head of state adoption agency vows transparency as gov’t takes over process
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