South Korea - The Korea Times

Turn it off! Large digital billboards in Seoul distract drivers at night

Kim Kyung-ho, a 50-year-old taxi driver, is no stranger to long hours behind the wheel and rising fuel costs, but Seoul’s rapidly expanding outdoor digital billboards have added a new burden to his daily drives, particularly at night. “When those giant billboards suddenly light up, it’s blinding,” Kim told The Korea Times. “I know where they are now, but they used to catch me off guard.” Kim’s experience reflects how Korea’s push to transform some of its busiest districts into glittering, billboard-filled spaces modeled on New York’s Times Square is raising concerns about glare that can interfere with nighttime driving. To create urban landmarks and promote the outdoor advertising industry, the government first eased regulations in the area around Coex in southern Seoul’s Gangnam District in 2016, declaring it a free-display zone. In 2023, it gave similar designations to areas around Gwanghwamun Square and Myeong-dong in central Seoul, as well as Busan's Haeundae Beach area, and plans to announce a third round of designations this year. As of 2025, the area around Coex

Feb 7, 2026By Park Ung

Turn it off! Large digital billboards in Seoul distract drivers at night

Korea to require retirement pensions at all workplaces, add fund-based plans

Korea will gradually require all workplaces to introduce retirement pension plans and plans to roll out a professionally managed pension system aimed at boosting investment returns, under a landmark agreement reached Friday by labor, business and the government. The accord was announced in a joint declaration by the Tripartite Task Force on Strengthening the Retirement Pension System at a meeting in Seoul. Officials said it marked the first social pact on structural reforms to the retirement pension system since its introduction in 2005, after more than two decades of debate over coverage, funding and returns. Under the agreement, employers will be required to deposit severance benefits into externally managed retirement pension plans. The mandate will be phased in based on company size and financial capacity, with detailed timelines to be finalized after a government survey of micro and small businesses. Although retirement pensions became mandatory for newly established firms in 2012, enforcement has remained weak. As of 2024, only 435,000 workplaces — 26.5 percent of all businesses

Feb 6, 2026By Kim Hyun-bin

Korea to require retirement pensions at all workplaces, add fund-based plans

KoRoad tightens oversight of driver’s license exams to curb cheating

The Road Traffic Authority (KoRoad) said Friday it had reviewed its test administration system and tightened supervision procedures to improve fairness and credibility, after a series of cheating cases was uncovered amid rising demand from foreign nationals seeking Korean driver’s licenses. According to KoRoad, two cases of mobile phone cheating by foreign applicants were discovered and referred to police for investigation. Under the Road Traffic Act, those found cheating may have their test results invalidated, face a two-year ban from retaking the exam and be subject to criminal penalties. The agency announced that it will continue providing clear guidance to all applicants, including foreign nationals, to ensure they understand testing rules and obtain licenses through proper procedures. It also plans to tighten oversight by deploying two proctors per exam, strengthening identification and fingerprint verification, requiring phones to be powered off and stored separately, and enhancing security camera monitoring at testing sites. As the number of foreign residents rises, foreign appl

Feb 6, 2026By Jung Da-hyun

KoRoad tightens oversight of driver’s license exams to curb cheating

After data center fire, Seoul officials go back to basics in preparedness drill

Earlier this week, everything felt as if it had reverted to the Stone Age for Eom Seo-hee, a 30-year-old official working in the Seoul city government’s Information System Division. Instead of processing paperwork digitally, Eom received official documents by email, printed them out, filled them in by hand, obtained handwritten approvals, and then scanned and emailed the completed forms back to the relevant department. “I had never seen handwritten paperwork in my life,” Eom told The Korea Times. “I barely even knew it existed, and I had no idea how it was handled.” Eom was among roughly 19,000 Seoul city officials across 720 departments who took part in a Tuesday-to-Thursday drill — the first of its kind in the country — aimed at ensuring that public and administrative services could continue even in the event of a major computer outage or system failure. As part of this week’s drill, officials simulated a scenario in which the city’s internal portal and work management systems were treated as offline. In that setting, Seoul city officials like Eom handled public compl

Feb 6, 2026By Park Ung

After data center fire, Seoul officials go back to basics in preparedness drill

Bill proposed to safeguard workers from AI-driven job losses

Lawmakers have introduced a bill that would require the government to better protect workers from job losses caused by artificial intelligence (AI), amid growing concerns that machines will replace human labor — fears recently sharpened by Hyundai Motor’s Atlas humanoid robot project. The amendment would require the national AI strategy to address “protecting workers’ job security and supporting their transition into new roles” as the labor market changes. “As AI and robotics have advanced rapidly in recent years, they have begun to replace not only simple, repetitive jobs but also skilled professionals, spreading employment insecurity across society,” Rep. Choi Eun-seok and 10 other lawmakers from the opposition People Power Party said in the proposal. The bill seeks to “clarify the state’s policy basis for tackling employment issues in the AI era and to lay an institutional foundation for preserving the people’s rights and improving their quality of life,” they added. Choi’s office insists the bill is not a rushed response. “This isn’t a law we just put toget

Feb 5, 2026By Jung Min-ho

Bill proposed to safeguard workers from AI-driven job losses

‘Yellow envelope law’ meets age of robot workers

Remains of 7 Jeju massacre victims missing for 77 years identified

Seven sets of remains from the Jeju April 3 Uprising whose identities had been unknown for 77 years have been returned to their families, highlighting decades-long efforts to identify the victims of state-led violence that killed tens of thousands on the island. A ceremony for newly identified victims was held at the Jeju 4.3 Peace Park in Jeju City on Tuesday. The victims include five people who disappeared after being transferred to prisons outside Jeju and two who went missing on the island. The Jeju April 3 uprising, which took place between 1947 and 1954, was a period of violence on the island carried out by government forces, marked by clashes with armed leftist groups. An estimated 25,000 to 30,000 people — many of them civilians — were killed, representing more than one-tenth of the island’s population at the time. The remains of the newly identified victims include three excavated in Daejeon in 2021, two recovered in Gyeongsan, North Gyeongsang Province, in 2008, and two unearthed at Jeju International Airport in 2007 and 2009. In 1949, 249 civilians are believed to have b

Feb 5, 2026By Park Ung

Remains of 7 Jeju massacre victims missing for 77 years identified

Foreign biz chambers, civic groups decry discriminatory toll policy for Incheon bridge

A toll exemption policy for the newly opened Cheongna Sky Bridge in Incheon has raised concerns among foreign business chambers over fair and equal treatment, after The Korea Times reported that a city ordinance excludes foreign residents from skipping payment. The controversy has raised broader questions about whether nationality-based classifications — rather than residency, tax contributions or daily use — should determine access to public services and benefits in the Incheon Free Economic Zone (IFEZ), one of the country’s most internationally open regions. Opened last month, the 4.68-kilometer bridge links Incheon International Airport, Korea’s main international gateway, with Cheongna International City, a major business hub. Vehicles registered to residents of Incheon’s Yeongjong Island, Cheongna and the islands of Bukdo Township qualify for unlimited toll exemptions on Cheongna Sky Bridge. Foreign residents, however, are not eligible for the exemption — even if they reside in the same areas — because the city ordinance limits eligibility to addresses listed under the

Feb 5, 2026By Park Ung

Foreign biz chambers, civic groups decry discriminatory toll policy for Incheon bridge

RoundtableKorea needs to restore social trust, unity to overcome extreme polarization

Experts in Korea called for an urgent restoration of social trust and a revival of the communal spirit to overcome the extreme political polarization and fragmentation currently paralyzing the nation. At a roundtable hosted by The Korea Times, Monday, leaders from diplomacy, religion, academia and the arts gathered to discuss the event's theme, "Global Korea: Questioning Korea’s Leadership Today." Despite Korea’s economic success, panelists warned that deep distrust, fueled by the recent imprisonment of a former president and intense political turmoil, now threatens the nation’s future on the global stage. Moderated by Oh Young-jin, president and publisher of The Korea Times, the panel included Lee Young-hoon, senior pastor of Yoido Full Gospel Church; Ugo Astuto, ambassador of the European Union to Korea; Emilia Gatto, ambassador of Italy to Korea; Johannes Andreasson, deputy chief of mission at the Swedish Embassy in Korea; Gregory Hill, chief administrative officer of the University of Utah Asia Campus; and violinist Han Soo-jin. Pastor Lee began by addressing the deep-seated pr

Feb 5, 2026By Baek Byung-yeul

Korea needs to restore social trust, unity to overcome extreme polarization

Cold War battle cry takes on new form: Spicy rice cakes

It is an unlikely pairing: a bowl of spicy, chewy rice cakes and a militant battle cry from the darkest days of the Cold War. But when Gukdae Tteokbokki, a prominent budget snack franchise, branded its latest product with a slogan once used to mobilize the nation against North Korea, a quintessentially South Korean snack became a political lightning rod. The ready-to-cook meal is labeled "Myeolgong Tteokbokki," a name that translates to "crush the communists." In a society still deeply traumatized by its divided history, reviving such provocative language has stirred debate over whether the snack company is peddling nostalgia or weaponizing hate. The red-and-white package pairs the Korean and U.S. flags and splashes slogans such as “Anti-communism is patriotism” and “Communists out” across the front, alongside “100 percent Korean chili powder, 0 percent Chinese chili powder.” Kim Sang-hyun, the chief executive of Gukdae Tteokbokki, said he only wanted to “enlighten the people.” In a social media post, he echoed a phrase used by supporters of former President Yoon Suk Yeol

Feb 5, 2026By Lee Hae-rin

Cold War battle cry takes on new form: Spicy rice cakes

Cha Eun-woo controversy exposes tax evasion among Korean celebrities

It takes about an hour by car from downtown Seoul to reach the Ganghwa Island, where a grilled eel restaurant flanked by rice paddies can be found. This remote location is the registered address of D ANY, the alleged shell company for Cha Eun-woo, whose real name is Lee Dong-min. The company is a so-called "single-artist agency," where Cha’s mother is listed as the CEO and Cha is the sole affiliated artist. Located in Bureun-myeon, Ganghwa County, Incheon, the eel restaurant operated for five years starting in 2020. It is currently empty, as the business moved to Seoul in the second half of last year. Last week, the doors were wide open, allowing reporters from the Hankook Ilbo to inspect the interior. The area was so secluded that the barking of a dog at a nearby guesthouse was virtually the only noise. While the space seemed suitable for a grilled eel restaurant, it was an awkward location from which to support the activities of an entertainment star. There was nothing in the building that looked like a practice studio or a business office. "I knew it was 'Cha Eun-woo's eel house,' bu

Feb 4, 2026By Hankookilbo

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