S. Korea is global No. 2 in paid ChatGPT users, OpenAI says. But does that mean anything?

South Korea has the second-highest number of paid ChatGPT subscribers in the world, behind only the US. But that headline, announced by OpenAI on Monday during a press event in Seoul, may not mean exactly what it seems at first glance. The statement came from Jason Kwon, OpenAI’s Chief Strategy Officer, who was in town to announce the company’s new Seoul office, which is its third major base in Asia after Tokyo and Singapore. According to Kwon, Korea is now a top-five country for ChatGPT busines

June 1, 2025

Korea’s top scientists enticed by China's labs: survey

South Korea is losing many of its best scientific minds to labs overseas, particularly in China, according to a report released Wednesday. The survey, jointly conducted by the Korean Academy of Science and Technology and local daily Dong-A Ilbo, has found that 61.5 percent of the country’s top researchers in science and engineering have received job offers from overseas institutions in the past five years, with China accounting for the overwhelming majority. KAST, one of South Korea’s most prest

May 31, 2025

Has baby bust bottomed out? S. Korea sees 7% rebound in births in Q1

For the first time in years, South Korea is seeing signs of a turnaround in its record-low birth rate. According to new data released by Statistics Korea on Wednesday, the number of babies born in the first quarter of 2025 rose by 7.3 percent compared to the same period last year. That makes it the highest first-quarter increase recorded since the agency began tracking the figure in 1981. From January to March, 65,022 babies were born, up from 60,571 a year earlier. March alone saw 21,041 births

May 28, 2025

Korea is building an AI workforce, but not the citizenry: global AI governance adviser

South Korea is investing heavily in AI. The Seoul Metropolitan Government plans to train 10,000 AI professionals annually. Major companies like Microsoft and Intel are backing education programs. But what if all this is missing the point? “Korea is doing what every ambitious country does when a new technology arrives: it’s training specialists,” said Vilas Dhar, president of the $1.5 billion Patrick J. McGovern Foundation, in an interview with The Korea Herald. “But building an AI future isn’t j

May 28, 2025

Women in 30s driving S. Korea’s sharpest employment growth

More South Korean women in their 30s are working today than at any point in the country’s history, driven by changing views on marriage, childbirth and career, along with a labor market that is slowly adapting in response. According to the latest data from Statistics Korea, updated on May 14, the employment rate for women aged 30 to 39 jumped from 61.3 percent in 2021 to 71.3 percent in 2024. The figure represents a 10 percentage point rise in just three years, far outpacing the 2.2 percentage p

May 27, 2025

One Seoul district wants residents to get first spots in ‘elderly kindergartens’

South Korea is running out of space for its aging population, and many neighborhoods don’t want care centers for older adults built in their apartment complexes. To address this growing tension, one district in northwestern Seoul is suggesting something new: Eunpyeong-gu has formally proposed that residents of newly redeveloped apartment complexes be given priority access to care centers built as part of the redevelopment. These facilities are typically constructed as public benefit contribution

May 26, 2025

Are you red, blue or orange? How color is defining politics this election season

In South Korea’s rushed presidential election, color is doing a lot of the talking. With policy plans still vague and party alliances in flux, the candidates have leaned heavily on clothing and color to communicate who they are. Mixing red, blue and white has become shorthand for everything from unity to rebranding. On May 12, the Democratic Party of Korea’s candidate Lee Jae-myung drew immediate attention when he changed into blue-and-red sneakers while on the stump, marking the launch of his o

May 25, 2025

Special forces cast early votes from the field

South Korean special troops deployed overseas are casting early ballots this week in the lead-up to the country’s June 3 presidential election according to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the country’s top military command responsible for overseeing all armed forces operations. The overseas voting period, which runs from May 20 to 25, is being conducted at military bases and diplomatic missions to ensure service members can participate despite being stationed abroad. Among the participating units is

May 23, 2025

On Election Day, should deliveries stop? Delivery workers call for 'no parcel day’ designation

As South Korea prepares for an early presidential election on June 3, labor groups and civic organizations are raising the alarm that thousands of parcel delivery workers may not be able to vote at all. In Korea, most delivery workers are not classified as employees, but as “specially employed” contractors. That means they are excluded from protections under the Labor Standards Act, including the right to a paid holiday on Election Day. Although the government has designated June 3 as an officia

May 22, 2025

Who hacked S. Korea’s largest telecom, and why? Growing concerns the SKT data breach wasn’t just about money

Nearly three years before South Korea's largest telecom provider knew anything was wrong, hackers had already broken into SK Telecom’s internal systems. This detail emerged from a briefing this Monday by the government’s public-private joint investigation team, which is probing one of the country’s most serious cybersecurity breaches in recent memory. The attackers first embedded malware on June 15, 2022, according to the investigation. That software remained hidden until last month, when over 9

May 21, 2025