Unification Ministry seeks to disclose more N. Korean information to public

The Ministry of Unification aims to disclose more information on North Korea to the general public in 2023, it said Friday during a New Year’s policy briefing to President Yoon Suk Yeol. The ministry said it would focus on improving accessibility and convenience by releasing more North Korean newspapers and broadcasts to the public. It added that it would operate a pilot program by publishing information from Rodong Sinmun, an organ of the ruling Workers’ Party and the regime’s

9 out of 10 who passed Seoul teacher exam are women

Nine out of 10 successful candidates for this year’s teacher employment examination for public kindergartens, elementary schools and special education schools in Seoul are women, data showed Friday, continuing a years-old trend of extreme sex-ratio imbalance. A total of 166 applicants passed the test -- 164 applying to work at schools operated by the city government and two for national educational facilities in the city, according to the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education. Of the 16

Korea's pension to run out faster on population decline

South Korea's public pension reserve is set to run out from 2055, two years earlier than the previous projection, in the face of rapidly changing demographics coupled with slowing economic growth, according to officials on Friday. A Health Ministry committee on the financial projection of the National Pension Service announced that the reserves will be depleted by 2055 as the fund is expected to fall from 2041 onward. A depletion will force the working population to provide more than 26 per

S.Korean military admits flaws in anti-drone operations, information sharing

The South Korean military on Thursday has publicly conceded overall defects in its counter-unmanned aircraft operations and the absence of real-time information-sharing between the army and air forces on airborne objects.  The forces initially failed to recognize the urgency of the situation and communicated via wire-tapped phone calls when North Korean unmanned aerial vehicles infiltrated South Korea, according to South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff in its report of a three-week ins

Playing it SAFE, but not too safe

By Steve Brice As we start 2023, investors’ scars from last year’s sell-off across publicly traded markets are still very raw. Against this backdrop, the theme of our 2023 Outlook, Playing it SAFE, should resonate with investors. We believe sequencing your investments is going to be important in the coming year: Bonds are a good place to start, given some of the highest yields offered in a decade and our expectation that a recession is likely in the US and Europe in the first half

KT, Mongolia team up on rare earths supply

South Korean telecommunications giant KT Corp. said Thursday it has signed a partnership deal with the Mongolian government to secure a stable supply of some 80 kinds of mineral resources, including rare earth elements. KT CEO Ku Hyeon-mo signed the memorandum of understanding on mineral resources with Ganbaatar Jambal, Mongolia's Mining and Heavy Industry Minister, in Ulaanbaatar on the sidelines of a meeting that aimed to strengthen strategic cooperation in realizing digital transformation i

[Newsmaker] [KH Explains] Are ex-bureaucrat execs a boon or bane for banks?

Concerns over government involvement in financial industry persist

SMEs Ministry readies plans to bolster support for exports

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups said Thursday it is ramping up efforts to facilitate the global expansion of small- and mid-sized firms by bolstering distribution and logistics support in overseas markets. The new plans were briefed during an emergency meeting of economy-related ministers earlier in the day. The ministry’s ultimate goal is raising the export contribution of SMEs from last year’s 39 percent to 50 percent of the nation’s total trade volume by 2027, with the