A labor market can add jobs while closing off the kind of work that allows people to build secure lives. South Korea illustrates this paradox. Of the 113,000 additional wage earners recorded over the past year, 91.2 percent entered non-regular positions. In August, non-regular workers numbered a record 8.67 million, up 103,000 from a year earlier. They accounted for 38.5 percent of all wage earners, the highest share since the current statistical method began in 2003, according to the Ministry o

A rising market can flatter almost any investment strategy. South Korea’s recent selloff has revealed the cost of treating a public pension fund as an ally of a booming stock market. Global doubts over AI spending and shifting expectations for US interest rates have helped drive the retreat. Those pressures do not explain why the National Pension Service entered the downturn with so little room to respond. The NPS manages contributions meant to support retirement over decades. Its investment fra

Gyeonggi Province Gov. Choo Mi-ae apologized four days after making a controversial remark that appeared to portray firefighters as a drain on public finances. Her belated apology, however, has only deepened doubts about her sincerity. Choo apologized on Saturday after paying her respects to Kim Jin-seok, a fire lieutenant who died from injuries sustained in a factory fire in Bucheon, Gyeonggi Province. “Since you want an apology, I sincerely apologize from the bottom of my heart,” she said. No

A rising tide of exports can lift an economy’s headline figures without opening the door to its next generation of workers. South Korea’s September employment report illustrates that disconnect. Overall employment expanded for a third successive month as manufacturing snapped a two-year contraction, according to the Ministry of Data and Statistics. Yet employment among people aged 15 to 29 fell for the 47th straight month. The recovery is improving corporate balance sheets without creating enoug

Economic success can conceal the cost of economic dependence. South Korea offers a case in point: A semiconductor boom has raised growth forecasts and delivered record corporate earnings, yet its stock market has been gripped by panic, with repeated trading halts. The disconnect, even as Samsung Electronics reported unprecedented quarterly operating profits last week, points to a structural weakness in an economy whose fortunes rest too heavily on a single industry. The sell-off reflects several

Unification Minister Chung Dong-young told reporters at Government Complex Seoul on Monday that there is no problem with the South Korea-US alliance amid controversy over Washington’s restrictions on sharing intelligence with Seoul. Chung rejected Washington’s assessment that his remarks about nuclear facilities in North Korea's Kusong, North Pyongan Province, had disclosed classified US intelligence, calling it a “misunderstanding” and insisting that “the US is wrong.” At a National Assembly au

Protectionist barriers rarely eliminate market distortions; they often redirect the pressure elsewhere. As major economic blocs close their doors to Chinese vehicles, South Korea could face an influx of rerouted exports, leaving domestic automakers to compete on uneven terms. The European Union’s agreement with Beijing on Friday shows how quickly the ground is shifting. The deal aims to halve Chinese hybrid and plug-in hybrid exports to the bloc over the next four years, as European officials se

The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, or CPTPP, is a multilateral trade pact involving 12 countries, including Japan, Australia, Canada and Mexico. South Korea has free trade agreements with all CPTPP members except Japan and Mexico. Joining the pact could expand export markets and improve trading conditions, but it would also expose domestic agricultural, livestock and fisheries sectors to greater competition and potential losses. Winning the trust of stakeh

An alliance can survive disagreements over policy more easily than doubts about its partner’s discretion. That distinction matters as South Korea and the United States confront unusual frictions in intelligence cooperation, diplomatic engagement and political access. Taken together, these fractures suggest that the fundamental assumptions underpinning the bilateral partnership require urgent repair. The most consequential dispute concerns intelligence. In March, Unification Minister Chung Dong-y

A constitutional clause can endure decades of political change until two institutions treat its silence as an invitation to fight. That is precisely where South Korea stands today, with the presidency and the Supreme Court locked in an intractable dispute over a single vacant seat. The seat opened when Justice Rho Tae-ak retired in March. More than seven months later, it remains empty. Chief Justice Jo Hee-de has refused President Lee Jae Myung’s request for a fresh recommendation after Jo nomin

Defense Minister Kang Shin-chul said Tuesday the demining operation at the site of two mine explosions in the Demilitarized Zone was “the first such operation in the history of our DMZ,” calling it “a firm response.” When reporters pointed out that the military’s response had been passive and defensive, he reportedly rejected the criticism, saying, “That’s not the case.” But his remarks fall short of public expectations. North Korean troops crossed the Military Demarcation Line and planted mines

Top security ratings mean little when an attacker simply finds another way in. The recent wave of cyberattacks on South Korean financial institutions makes that gap in protection impossible to ignore. Seven companies, including Shinhan Bank, KB Kookmin Bank and Hana Bank, have reported personal data leaks, while others successfully blocked similar intrusions. The apparent use of artificial intelligence tools has exposed weaknesses in places that received less scrutiny. The attacks appear to have

At some point, the Asian Games became a competition for Korean athletes seeking exemption from mandatory military service. South Korea beat Japan 1-0 in the men’s soccer final at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games on Saturday, securing a fourth consecutive title. The victory means that 20 of the national team’s 23 players, excluding the three who have already completed their military duty, will receive military-service exemptions. But remarks by some players have drawn criticism. In a postgame in

Trade policy used to be judged by a familiar ledger: exports on one side, imports on the other. That arithmetic is becoming obsolete. As major economies reshape supply chains and trade barriers, commerce is being reorganized around competing blocs, strategic dependencies and negotiated rules. Against that backdrop, South Korea is weighing entry into the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership. The government's latest assessment, unveiled on Monday, offers a useful s

Controversy over “The Assassin(s),” a film about the 1974 shooting death of Yuk Young-soo, wife of then-President Park Chung-hee, has spilled into the political arena. At issue is not artistic license itself, but whether cinematic invention can justify distorting established historical facts. The film depicts the Aug. 15, 1974, shooting and advances a plot hypothesis that people close to Park or the Korean Central Intelligence Agency may have been involved. The filmmakers insist they did not exp