The COVID-19 pandemic has prolonged a global economic recession, accompanied by disruptions in global supply chains that jeopardize many work environments. Chung Hyoung-Woo, secretary-general and CEO of the Korea Labor and Employment Service, said the ongoing economic difficulties could potentially escalate conflicts between labor and management over a wide range of matters, including wages, la...

Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum on Wednesday held an offline meeting with parents and students to reassure the safety of vaccination for children, amid a growing backlash against the government’s inoculation policy for the adolescent population. Education Minister Yoo Eun-hae and Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency Commissioner Jeong Eun-kyeong also joined the meeting held in central Seoul, ...

The Institute for National Security Strategy kicked off the 2021 Global Intelligence Summit on Monday, to discuss the theme of a “Northeast Asia Peace and Cooperation Initiative.” The Global Intelligence Summit is an annual conference that invites intelligence and security experts from both here and abroad to share opinions about enduring multilateral security and peace in Northeast Asia. Speak...

Lee Seok-gu, retired lieutenant general officer of the South Korean Army, has been appointed the country‘s ambassador to the United Arab Emirates, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Friday. The Foreign Ministry said Lee will be well suited for the position, given his decadeslong experience in the defense industry and military. After graduating from the Korea Military Academy in 1980s, Lee ser...

South Korea‘s new COVID-19 cases again topped 7,000 on Thursday, remaining in the 7,000s on three consecutive days, government data showed Friday. “As daily cases remained in the 7,000 for three days straight, with seniors aged 60 or older accounting for 35 percent of the confirmed cases, the country’s medical capabilities are being rapidly overwhelmed,” Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum said in a mee...

It has been more than 10 years since South Korea entered the OECD Development Assistance Committee, which shifted the country’s status to a key donor from a onetime recipient of foreign aid. The total volume of South Korea’s official development assistance now reaches some $2.25 billion, marking around a threefold increase over the past decade. As the amount of assistance grows, the need to imp...

United States Trade Representative Katherine Tai last month met with South Korea Minister of Employment and Labor An Kyung-duk to share the Biden administration’s worker-centered trade policy and to discuss the importance of worker rights, which has become increasingly important amid the COVID-19 pandemic and the “fourth industrial revolution” that has been much-hailed during the crisis. The pan...

The Guro Industrial Complex, located in Guro-dong, southwestern Seoul, was once the heart of South Korea’s labor-intensive light industries back in the late 20th century. The Guro Industrial Complex, established in 1965, was the first of its kind in South Korea. The district, which was relatively empty before, was soon filled up with manufacturing facilities and factory workers. The complex, wh...

South Korea is moving to strengthen immunity for police officers and improve training, following controversy sparked by a recent stabbing incident. In the incident, a pair of police officers -- a man and a woman -- were dispatched to an apartment complex in Incheon on Nov. 15 over a noise complaint. The man living on the fourth floor, who was the subject of the complaint, came down with a knife ...

Songwol, a South Korean towel maker, has received a presidential award for its decades-long effort to improve labor-management relations, the Korea Labor and Employment Service, Wednesday. Founded in 1949, Songwol is a local towel manufacturer with around 35 percent of the market share. Now a leading towel maker, Songwol was on the verge of bankruptcy during the Asian financial crisis of 1997,...

ST Pharm, a South Korean biopharmaceutical company, has received a presidential award for its efforts to improve labor-management relations, the Korea Labor and Employment Service said Wednesday. Founded in 2008, ST Pharm has been involved in the commissioned production of active pharmaceutical ingredients. Backed by its contract manufacturing capabilities, the company stepped up as one of major...

“I felt I could do something with that unused leather,” Kim said. Years of research and development by the company led to the world’s first yarn product made up of leather scraps. Kim also developed a manufacturing process that doesn’t use water and chemicals. Kim said she wanted to minimize the resources that go into the recycling process since large amounts of water and other resources are al...

The rate of COVID-19 infection among those aged 18 and under has surpassed that of adults, according to government data. Amid the increasing number of new coronavirus infections among young people, Education Minister Yoo Eun-hae asked parents to get their children vaccinated. The minister’s request came as concerns over children’s infections have mounted, particularly after the government allow...

The South Korean government has decided to postpone announcing an emergency COVID-19 response plan until Monday, Health Minister Kwon Deok-cheol said Friday. The minister’s announcement followed a government meeting on Thursday, where health authorities discussed the possibility of reintroducing toughened measures to contain the resurgence of the coronavirus. They, however, failed to come to a c...

Ansan Urban Corp., a corporation run by the local government of Ansan, Gyeonggi Province, is resolving labor-management conflicts and improving workplace culture with the aid of the Korea Labor and Employment Service. The service, a state-run organization under the Ministry of Employment and Labor, offers a wide range of services to help local firms solve a range of labor-involved issues. Ansan ...