Move to encourage spending causes confusion over where you can use it

The government on Wednesday started assimilation programs for Afghan evacuees who settled in South Korea in August upon fleeing their country after it was taken over by the Taliban. Various programs, offered by relevant ministries, are aimed at helping them learn the language, get familiar with the culture and more easily assimilate into Korean society. The Ministry of Justice runs the Korea Immigration and Integration Program (KIIP) with a goal to teach them Korean culture and language, along w

Drone taxis to be rolled out in Seoul in four years

Days after “Squid Game” became the first Korean drama series to rank first on Netflix’s US top 10 TV show list, the global streaming service has unveiled its line-up of Korean programming for the upcoming months, spotlighting 10 drama series and reality shows. Netflix Korea introduced the shows during Tudum, Netflix’s global fan event, on Saturday, which was streamed on Netflix Korea’s YouTube channel. The real-time fan event was moderated by K-pop band Super J

WASHINGTON -- South Korean President Moon Jae-in thanked and praised South Korean superband BTS for using their powerful influence in encouraging people to act on various global issues such as climate change and COVID-19. "Since BTS represents the younger generation and many young people relate to them, I believe they can spread awareness and empathy," Moon said in an interview with U.S. TV network ABC. The interview, also attended by the seven members of BTS, took place on Tuesday,

Amid the snowballing fiasco of prepaid discount service Mergepoint that played out in August, the number of consumer requested consultations regarding the scandal marked more than 16,000, according to data provided by the Korea Consumer Agency and Korea National Council of Consumer Organizations Friday. The consumer consultation center operated by South Korea’s Fair Trade Commission received 16,188 inquiries from consumers requiring consultations about their complaints and damages over t

Natural gas shortage in Europe spills over to South Korea as oncoming winter spurs fuel stockpiling

Ant Group-backed financial technology firm Kakao Pay is facing renewed scrutiny ahead of its upcoming initial public offering as South Korea’s tech crackdown shows no signs of abating. Regulators’ tightening grip on online financial platforms puts Kakao Pay, known for its mobile payment app interoperable with Korea’s popular messenger app KakaoTalk, under mounting pressure to revise its prospectus again to scale down its fintech service. The stock market debut of Kakao Pay,

Time ran out Friday for cryptocurrency exchanges to announce the closure of their services if they would not be operable after Sept. 24, marking a critical time that will decide the fate of many cryptocurrency exchanges in the country. More than 30 cryptocurrency exchanges were expected to give notice for a service shutdown by the end of Friday, as 24 exchanges have not applied for the Information Security Management System and 10 failed to acquire a certificate, according to industry source

South Korea plans to start to compensate pandemic-hit small merchants from late October for their losses incurred by anti-virus restrictions, a senior government official said Friday. The government set aside 1.03 trillion won ($873 million) to operate a state scheme to compensate small merchants for losses that have been generated since July due to state orders to shut down or suspend business over the pandemic. "The government is making seamless preparation to provide compensation to the

Pastor Cho Yong-gi, the founder of Yoido Full Gospel Church, died at the age of 85 at Seoul National University Hospital on Tuesday. He had been hospitalized since July 2020 after suffering a brain hemorrhage. The pastor emeritus of Yoido Full Gospel Church is known for establishing and developing Yoido Full Gospel Church as the world‘s largest church. Cho started a church in Bulgwang-dong, western Seoul, on May 18, 1958, with the late Rev. Choi Ja-sil, who died on Nov. 9, 1989. Throug

The unionized workers of Seoul Metro, operator of the Seoul subway system, called off a planned walkout that was set to take place Tuesday as they reached a last-minute deal with the management. The deal was reached shortly before midnight following a marathon negotiation that began at 3 p.m. Under the agreement, Seoul Metro withdrew its earlier plan to lay off 1,539 workers, or 10 percent of its workforce. The parties also agreed to establish a consultation body between the management and the u

In counterattack, Yoon reports NIS head, informant to anti-corruption agency

　Retail investors bought more than 1 trillion won ($854 billion) worth of Kakao shares for three days from Wednesday to Friday, when they fell 15 percent amid record short-selling triggered by mounting concerns over tightening regulations.   The country’s fifth-biggest in market capitalization has been targeted for massive short selling due to a rapid price fall last week over the political move to regulate platform giants,  Foreign investors also dumped shares worth 749.8 bill

The main opposition People Power Party (PPP) on Saturday filed a complaint with the prosecution over what it called an illegal raid against one of its lawmakers in a snowballing political meddling scandal. The complaint accuses Kim Jin-wook, chief of the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO), and five investigators of abuse of power and an illegal raid on the office of PPP Rep. Kim Woong on Friday. Rep. Jun Joo-hyae, a PPP spokeswoman, delivered the complaint to the