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Seoul city officials have formally petitioned the central government to dismantle three bureaucratic hurdles that they argue are stalling the capital’s push to become a top-tier global cultural and tourism hub. The proposal, submitted Thursday by the Seoul Metropolitan Government to the Office for Government Coordination, targets outdated administrative requirements spanning international concert permits, online hotel verification and virtual reality content classification. Municipal leaders argue these rules impose unnecessary delays on local creative industries and undermine tourist trust. At the center of the push is a long-standing mandate requiring pre-approval from the Korea Media Rating Board for any live show featuring non-Korean performers. Under current law, even a single foreign guest artist on stage subjects the entire event to review, punishable by up to three years in prison or fines reaching 30 million won ($22,077). While intended to police foreign performers, the rule routinely entangles classical, traditional Korean music and K-pop concerts. Officials pointed out tha

President Lee Jae Myung pledged Thursday to continue taking practical steps to reduce military tensions with North Korea and urged Pyongyang to join efforts to restore dialogue. The message, delivered in his Armed Forces Day address, signaled that Lee intends to keep his engagement policy intact despite renewed friction over the latest land mine incident in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). “The knots in inter-Korean relations are extremely complex, but we will steadily, patiently strive to untie them, one by one,” Lee said during a ceremony marking the 78th Armed Forces Day at Gyeryongdae, the military headquarters in South Chungcheong Province. “I hope that the North joins us now on the path of restoring trust and resuming dialogue, following a long interruption,” he added. The president went onto say that Seoul would “consistently pursue practical measures to reduce military tensions between the two Koreas,” stressing that the surest form of security is creating peace that makes fighting unnecessary. Lee’s remarks came a day after the South Korean military formally blamed Nor

In a move that could permanently reshape urban transit in one of Asia’s most densely populated metropolises, Seoul city officials announced an ambitious strategy, Thursday, to integrate 500 fully autonomous buses into regular city transit routes by 2030. The initiative took a major step forward when the Seoul Metropolitan Government signed a landmark agreement with Hyundai Motor Company and the Seoul Bus Transportation Business Association at City Hall. The tripartite partnership aims to bridge the gap between niche technological trials and full-scale public utility, laying the groundwork for driverless Level 4 automation across the city's bus network. Under the agreement, Hyundai will engineer and manufacture specialized 11-meter buses designed specifically for autonomous integration. Unlike standard vehicles retrofitted with aftermarket sensors, these factory-built models will feature electronic steer-by-wire and brake-by-wire systems, redundant safety controls and cyberattack defenses, according to the Seoul Metropolitan Government. "Seoul is taking the lead in connecting cutting-e

President Lee Jae Myung named senior presidential secretary for economic growth Ha Joon-kyung as his new policy chief, Cheong Wa Dae said Thursday, filling a post that had remained vacant for a month. Ha, an economist who has served in the presidential office since Lee began his term in June 2025, will oversee a broader range of economic and social policies in his new role. He replaces Kim Yong-beom, who stepped down on Sept. 1 amid criticism over the introduction of high-risk single-stock leveraged exchange-traded funds and other controversial economic policies. “Ha is a leading scholar who has incorporated fair growth and efforts to reduce polarization into his growth strategy,” senior presidential secretary for public relations and communications Seong Ghi-hong said during a press briefing. “We expect him to bring about tangible changes in areas directly linked to people’s lives, including welfare, jobs, education and housing.” The presidential press secretary said Lee named Vice Minister of Trade, Industry and Resources Moon Shin-hak to take over Ha’s former post. Moon has

People aged 65 and older took up over 20 percent of Korea's population this year amid rapid aging and the ultralow birthrate, data showed Thursday. The number of elderly people stood at 11.12 million in 2026, accounting for 21.6 percent of the country's 51.6 million population, according to the data from the Ministry of Data and Statistics. The proportion makes Korea a "super-aged society," and is to rise further to 30 percent in 2036 and over 40 percent in 2050, according to the ministry. The number of households headed by older adults came to 6.5 million, accounting for 28.8 percent of all households in the country. Of the 6.5 million households, 38 percent were single-person households, which has been increasing since 2015. Households led by seniors are forecast to rise further to account for 50.6 percent of the total households in the country in 2052. The remaining life expectancy for those aged 65 was estimated at 21.7 years on average as of 2024, with the figure for men coming to 19.5 years and 23.7 years for women. The net assets of households headed by seniors came to 493 million wo

A regional court on Thursday dismissed a request to remove a statue of late former President Park Chung-hee installed outside a train station in the southeastern city of Daegu. The Daegu District Court dismissed the case filed by the Korea National Railway, a state-owned rail infrastructure management company, against the Daegu metropolitan government, some 21 months after the statue was erected on the plaza outside Dongdaegu Station. The railway corporation had argued that the municipal government installed the statue on state-owned property without proper prior consultation. The city government countered that it holds lawful administrative authority over the plaza and that targeting Park's statue while permitting other structures on the site was unfair. The statue was erected under former conservative Mayor Hong Joon-pyo as a tribute to the former conservative leader, who ruled the country for 18 years following a 1961 military coup until his assassination in 1979. Its presence has divided activists and the local community as conservatives praise Park for driving the nation's rapid indu

A Seoul court sentenced Song Min-ho, a member of K-pop boy band WINNER, to a suspended prison term Thursday on charges of repeatedly failing to show up to work during his alternative mandatory service. The Seoul Western District Court handed down a one-year prison term, suspended for two years, for Song after finding him guilty of violating the Military Service Act. Song faced charges of failing to appear at his duty station for 102 days, inconsecutively, when he served as a social service agent at a facility in western Seoul from March 2023 to December 2024. "Military service is a duty to ensure the security and existence of the state, and must be faithfully fulfilled. Social service agents are no exception," the court said. Prosecutors had sought an 18-month prison term for Song. Before the ruling, Song said he felt regret for his actions and was apologetic to those who have cared for him. He did not respond to questions about whether he planned to serve his mandatory duty again. All able-bodied South Korean men are required to serve at least 18 months in the military. Others are either e

President Lee Jae Myung's approval rating remained unchanged at a record low of 43 percent this week, a poll showed Thursday. In a National Barometer Survey (NBS) conducted from Monday to Wednesday, Lee's disapproval rating rose 2 percentage points to 50 percent from the previous poll conducted three weeks earlier. It marked Lee's highest disapproval rating in an NBS poll. When asked about the direction of state affairs, 43 percent said the Lee administration was heading in the right direction, while 50 percent said it was moving in the wrong direction. Support for the ruling Democratic Party fell 4 percentage points to 35 percent, while backing for the main opposition People Power Party stood unchanged from the previous survey at 25 percent. The poll, conducted on 1,000 people aged 18 and older, has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points at a 95 percent confidence level.

The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family announced Thursday that it will roll out a range of measures aimed at bringing tangible changes to everyday life. The ministry was expanded and reorganized on Oct. 1 last year with a broader mandate to promote gender equality for both women and men and ensure equal rights and opportunities regardless of gender. “Over the past year, we focused on rebuilding the foundation for gender equality policies and bringing government support closer to those in need,” Gender Equality and Family Minister Won Min-kyung said. “In our second year, we will focus on delivering tangible changes that people can feel in their daily lives.” The ministry will prioritize protecting victims’ rights amid changes to the criminal justice system, including by expanding free legal assistance from the early stages of investigations. It will also step up efforts to combat digital sex crimes, including deepfake sexual abuse material. It plans to strengthen regulations across the entire process, from the distribution and use of tools used to create such content to its

South Korea has been ordered to pay nearly $50 million in compensation to U.S. hedge fund Elliott Investment Management over the 2015 merger of two Samsung affiliates, the justice ministry said Thursday. An international tribunal ordered the South Korean government Wednesday to pay $48.49 million in damages to Elliott over a dispute stemming from the controversial merger, according to the ministry. The ministry did not give figures for other costs also ordered by the tribunal, including delayed interest. The tribunal recognized a causal relationship between Seoul's intervention for the approval of the merger of Samsung C&T Corp. and Cheil Industries Co. and losses to Elliott, it said. A tribunal administered by the Permanent Court of Arbitration had ordered Seoul to pay the same amount in damages in an earlier decision in 2023, the ministry said. Following Wednesday's ruling, Elliott welcomed the decision in a release, noting the tribunal granted about $113 million, including damages, interest and other costs. Elliott filed the case in 2018 seeking compensation of $770 million over losses

SK hynix said Thursday it is reviewing various funding options for its U.S. subsidiary Solidigm but that no decision has been made, reiterating its previous position on reports of a possible U.S. listing. Reports circulated that Solidigm is considering an initial public offering (IPO) in the United States as early as next year that could value the subsidiary at up to $150 billion. "We are reviewing various measures to strengthen Solidigm's competitiveness, but our position remains unchanged and that nothing has been decided," the South Korean chipmaker said in a press release. SK hynix said it continues to review the need for investments to secure Solidigm's production capacity and technological competitiveness. "Capital utilization plans related to Solidigm will be reviewed comprehensively, taking into account the company's overall investment plans, financial condition and capital allocation," the company said. SK hynix added that it would "carefully review potential impacts on existing shareholders and evaluate necessary measures to protect their interests."

LS Electric Co., a Korean electrical equipment maker, said Thursday it has secured a 180 billion-won ($133 million) contract to supply ultra-high-voltage transformers to a major U.S. technology company. The company said it will supply 345-kilovolt transformers for a hyperscale artificial intelligence (AI) data center project being developed by the unidentified U.S. company and scheduled for completion by 2030. Investment in power infrastructure across North America is rapidly increasing amid rising electricity demand driven by the expansion of AI and cloud computing, LS Electric said. The U.S. market for data center power infrastructure is projected to grow at an average annual rate of 16 percent, from 13 trillion won in 2025 to 56 trillion won in 2035. "The latest contract is expected to help the company win further deals in the North American market," a company official said.