Unionized workers of South Korea's top steelmaker POSCO held a ceremony Monday to demonstrate their intention to launch their first-ever strike, officials said. Last week, 72.25 percent of its 7,934 members voted for a walkout, as management has refused to accept the union's demand of an 8.3 percent hike in basic wage and other incentives. If the union goes ahead with the collective action, it will be the first such move since the company's foundation in 1968. "We still have

Industry Dec. 2, 2024

LG CNS Co., an information technology (IT) service provider, on Monday received preliminary approval for a stock market debut with its listing likely to take place during the first half. LG CNS, a unit of South Korea's No. 4 conglomerate LG Group, had sought for an initial public offering in 2022 but dashed its market debut plan amid the coronavirus pandemic. Established in 1987, LG CNS, 49.95 percent owned by LG affiliates, is the only unlisted major IT service company in Asia's fourt

Industry Dec. 2, 2024

President Yoon Suk Yeol pledged Monday to introduce measures to ease the burden on small merchants from delivery app commission fees, as part of efforts to boost sluggish domestic consumption. Yoon vowed to implement measures during a public policy discussion session to support small merchants by addressing business challenges, such as high delivery fees, no-shows and malicious online reviews. He said the government has allocated a record 59 trillion won $42 billion) in next year's budget t

Politics Dec. 2, 2024

The presidential artificial intelligence (AI) committee plans to devise a national strategy within the first three months of next year to make South Korea one of the world's top three leaders in the AI industry, the science ministry said Monday. The committee held its first workshop earlier in the day to kick off its preparations to devise the national AI strategy aimed at fostering the country's competitiveness in the field, according to the Ministry of Science and ICT. The government

Technology Dec. 2, 2024

South Korea will tighten security regulations for drones, undersea cables and offshore wind power plants to mitigate security and supply chain risks to major infrastructure, the presidential office said Monday. Wang Yun-jong, third deputy national security adviser, led an intragovernmental meeting with 13 agencies to discuss potential security threats to key infrastructure and draw up integrated responses. "Reliance on foreign imports for key drone components could lead to supply chain risk

Foreign Affairs Dec. 2, 2024

Around 60,000 non-regular school workers will go on strike this week to demand better pay and working conditions, their union said Monday. Union representatives said at a press conference that the workers, who are mostly involved in providing school meals and childcare, will stage a one-day strike Friday after negotiations with the education ministry and local education offices failed to produce an agreement despite multiple rounds of talks since June. The union said non-regular workers number 1

Social Affairs Dec. 2, 2024

Seoul shares ended lower Monday, bucking gains on Wall Street on extended tech losses. The Korean won fell against the U.S. dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) fell 1.43 points, or 0.06 percent, to close at 2,454.48. The main index ended in the negative territory after opening sharply higher, jumping 23.63 points, or nearly 1 percent, in the first 15 minutes of trading on U.S. gains. On Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.42 percent to 44,910.65 points, an

Market Dec. 2, 2024

National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik on Monday urged the ruling and opposition parties to reach an agreement on the 2025 budget bill by next Tuesday, while postponing putting forward the downsized budget bill. "After much consideration, we have decided not to present the budget bill at today's plenary session," Woo said during a press briefing. "I sternly urge the two parties to pass the budget by Dec. 10, the final day of the regular session," he added. Tensions had been e

Politics Dec. 2, 2024

Daegu FC leaned on their Brazilian attacking duo of Cesinha and Edgar to survive a tough playoff match against a second-division foe and secure a spot in the top league for next year. And Daegu's head coach Park Chang-hyun believes overreliance on the tandem is not a sustainable formula for success. Daegu defeated Chungnam Asan FC 6-5 in the aggregate score in their two-legged K League promotion-relegation playoff. After dropping the opening leg 4-3 last Thursday, Daegu prevailed 3-1 in the

Soccer Dec. 2, 2024

Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok on Monday expressed strong regret over the main opposition party railroading a downsized budget bill for next year, accusing the party of politicizing the proposal despite ongoing bipartisan negotiations. The revised budget, passed by a parliamentary special committee controlled by the Democratic Party last week, offers 677.4 trillion won ($485.3 billion) for the national budget for 2025, 4.1 trillion won less than the government's initial proposal. Rival part

Politics Dec. 2, 2024

A search and rescue operation is under way in the sea off the southeastern county of Uljin on Monday after a leisure boat with three people on board went missing the previous day, police said. The Uljin Coast Guard said families of the sailors reported around 8 p.m. Sunday that contact with the 0.6-ton boat had been lost. The boat reportedly departed from Uljin's Jiksan Port, about 230 kilometers from Seoul, at 1 p.m. on the same day to go fishing. The Coast Guard mobilized 13 patrol ships

Social Affairs Dec. 2, 2024

Rival parties are likely to clash during a plenary parliamentary session Monday as the main opposition seeks to introduce a downsized budget bill for next year despite resistance from the ruling party. The proposal, railroaded by the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) at a plenary session of the parliamentary special committee on budget and accounts last week, puts next year's budget at 677.4 trillion won ($485.3 billion), down 4.1 trillion won from the initial plan proposed by the gover

Politics Dec. 2, 2024

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said North Korean soldiers deployed to western Russia have been killed or injured during combat against Ukrainian forces, adding to global criticism they will be used as "cannon fodder" for Moscow, a Japanese report showed. Zelenskyy shared the assessment during an interview with Japan's Kyodo news agency on Sunday without providing further details on the number of casualties, saying Kyiv needs "to have proof" before disclosing

North Korea Dec. 2, 2024

Seoul shares opened higher Monday, tracking gains on Wall Street, with the local stock market also getting a boost from advances in auto and energy shares. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) rose 23.63 points, or 0.96 percent, to 2,479.54 in the first 15 minutes of trading. On Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.42 percent to 44,910.65 points and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.83 percent to 19,218.17. In Seoul, top carmaker Hyundai Motor rose 0.23 perc

Market Dec. 2, 2024

South Korea plans to extend its tariff rate quota on energy and food imports into part of next year to help ease the burden on households, the finance ministry said Monday, as the nation continues to struggle with high inflation and a strong U.S. dollar. The tariff rate quota system allows a specified volume of imports to enter the country under reduced tariff rates for a specific period of time. Under the initiative, the zero-tariff policy for liquefied natural gas imports, used for power gener

Economy Dec. 2, 2024