As South Korea grapples with a shrinking population, it is increasingly turning to foreign workers to fill crucial roles. Today, labor from overeseas is concentrated in low-paying unskilled jobs, but in the future, many will be hired to perform highly skilled work, according to Kim Young-Jung, president of the Korea Employment Information Service. Highly skilled jobs may include engineers, scientists, teachers, managers and IT professionals, he said. “Korea is getting more and more in need

Social Affairs April 24, 2024

A Korean woman was persuaded to invest 70 million won ($50,770) after seeing a deepfake video of what appeared to be Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, according to local reports on Tuesday. Jeong Ji-sun, whom KBS has agreed to refer to by a pseudonym, shared how she became a victim of a romance scam on KBS's "In-Depth 60 Minutes." On the April 19 episode, Jeong opened up about how she first started talking with the con artist, who claimed to be Musk. “I experienced something like

Social Affairs April 23, 2024

South Korean Muslim YouTuber Daud Kim, who announced his plan to build a mosque on land he purchased in Incheon, faces myriad challenges, including a request to terminate the land contract, difficulties in obtaining permission due to road conditions, and resistance from the local neighborhood. Kim, a content creator in his 30s with more than 5.52 million YouTube subscribers, uploaded a post on his Instagram on April 11 announcing his plans to build a mosque, a Muslim place of worship, on land th

Social Affairs April 19, 2024

The South Korean government on Friday announced its plans to bring in 100 Filipino household helpers in July and deploy them as early as August. The Ministry of Employment and Labor said that discussions with the Philippine side on the plan for a pilot program for Filipino domestic workers have been completed. The Philippine government plans to post a job opening for 100 Filipino domestic workers willing to work in Seoul within this month. As Filipino workers are mandated to undergo initial and

Social Affairs April 19, 2024

A coalition of eight South Korean civic groups and unions on Thursday called on the Yoon Suk Yeol government to end its intensified crackdown on foreign nationals residing illegally in the country. The coalition protested the government's recent joint crackdowns, condemning them as an "anti-human rights measure that will create an atmosphere of fear against unregistered immigrants, justify their oppression by treating them as criminals, and lead to numerous human rights violations.&quo

Social Affairs April 18, 2024

South Korean Muslim YouTuber Daud Kim has again become the subject of media attention, after he announced on his channel that he would build a mosque on land he had purchased in Incheon. Kim, a content creator in his 30s with more than 5.52 million YouTube subscribers, posts videos in English about living as a Muslim in Korea. He gained a lot of followers overseas after publicly announcing on YouTube his conversion to Islam from Christianity in September 2019. In August 2020, he generated contro

Social Affairs April 17, 2024

A series of memorial events were held across the country Tuesday, the 10th anniversary of the Sewol ferry tragedy, in remembrance of the 304 lives lost in Korea's worst maritime disaster. At a ceremony held at the Hwarang Public Garden in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province, Gyeonggi Province Gov. Kim Dong-yeon vowed to remember the 304 victims forever. Kim also lamented that no senior officials were held accountable for the failed disaster response. "Another tragedy followed this tragedy. It is

Social Affairs April 16, 2024

ANSAN, Gyeonggi Province -- On April 16, 2014, 325 students and 14 teachers from Danwon High School in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province were aboard the Sewol ferry heading to Jeju Island for a field trip. Cho Mun-jeong was one of the students on the trip and was hoping to enjoy a brief reprieve from preparing for college entrance exams. After a loud "bang" echoed through the ferry, an announcement was made over the intercom, urging passengers not to move and to wait patiently for rescue. But C

Social Affairs April 15, 2024

ANSAN, Gyeonggi Province/JINDO, South Jeolla Province -- Time appears to stand still in a classroom in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province. The classroom is one of several replica classrooms built in memory of the students and teachers of Danwon High School who lost their lives on a school trip to Jeju Island on April 16, 2014, aboard the Sewol ferry. It is filled with the desks, chairs, blackboards, windows and doors used by the teachers and students before the ferry sank off Jindo in South Jeolla Provinc

Social Affairs April 15, 2024

North Korea has been intensifying high-level diplomatic exchanges with China and Russia, as evidenced by the visit of China's third-highest-ranking official to Pyongyang and the dispatch of ministers to Russia this week. China's No. 3 official, Zhao Leji, who arrived in Pyongyang on Thursday for a three-day visit to the neighboring country, met for a luncheon with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on Saturday, North Korea's state-run Korean Central News Agency reported on Sunday. Th

North Korea April 14, 2024

The medical standoff between the government and the medical community has impacted the nation's health care sector and been at the center of controversy since February. However, it was not generally included on campaign agendas, as rival parties feared triggering backlash due to the sensitivity surrounding the issue. Earlier in February, the government announced the state plan to boost the medical school enrollment quota by 2,000 seats, claiming that it was to address a chronic shortage of

Politics April 10, 2024

The South Korean government announced on Tuesday that it would begin accepting applications from business owners that want to hire workers from 16 designated countries eligible for E-9 visas starting later this month. Owners of Korean restaurants, hotels and resorts, forestry and mining companies will now be able to apply for permission to employ workers from these countries, the government said. From April 22 to May 3, business owners can apply for permission to employ workers from the 16 count

Social Affairs April 2, 2024

Political rival parties escalated their campaigns for the April 10 general election on Sunday, particularly in the wider capital area, which constitutes about half of the 300 seats in the National Assembly and thus holds significant sway over the election outcome. Surrounded by cheering supporters, the leaders of the country's two major parties held rival events in Greater Seoul on Sunday. The move is aimed at winning voters in the capital area since the number of seats chosen by direct vot

Politics March 31, 2024

Unionized bus drivers in Seoul went on their first general strike in 12 years Thursday morning, but withdrew the protest later the same afternoon after reaching an agreement with the city over wages. At 3:20 p.m., the Seoul Metropolitan Government officially announced it had reached a new wage deal with the union and the Seoul Bus Transportation Business Association. According to the deal, the drivers will see a 4.48 percent wage increase and receive up to 650,000 won ($480) in holiday benefits.

Social Affairs March 28, 2024

Unionized Seoul bus drivers said Wednesday that they were planning to strike over pay starting Thursday, if no agreement was reached at last-minute negotiations with their employers. The Seoul Bus Labor Union, which has nearly 18,133 members across 61 companies, voted Tuesday on a plan to strike at 4 a.m. Thursday. According to the union, 16,317 members participated in the vote, and 16,046 of them voted in favor of the strike. The union, which is part of the Korean Automobile and Transport Worke

Social Affairs March 27, 2024