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December 21, 2024
 

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Cynthia Kim
A restaurant owner waits for customers at her empty restaurant in Seoul on Oct. 31.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Dec 11, 2024
South Korea's fading nightlife signals shift in hard-drinking culture
The change has been driven by corporate Korea's slowdown on after-work drinking sessions, younger female workers' refusal to partake and inflation.
Choi Sang-mok, South Korea's finance minister, during an interview in Seoul on Thursday
BUSINESS / Markets / ANALYSIS
Dec 6, 2024
In South Korea's crisis playbook, currency stability is paramount
In the four decades since South Korea was last under martial law, the nation has significantly evolved its systems to focus on ensuring economic stability.
Korea Zinc Chairman Yun B. Choi, a grandson of a co-founder, last week agreed to scrap a controversial plan to issue new shares in the zinc refiner to help fend off a takeover attempt.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 21, 2024
Korea Zinc takeover battle tests Seoul's resolve on tackling 'Korea discount'
South Korean firms tend to have lower valuations compared to their overseas peers due to low dividend payouts and the dominance of family-run conglomerates.
People shop at a flea market hosted by Bunjang, an e-commerce platform for secondhand sales, in Seoul on Aug. 3.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Aug 28, 2024
South Korea's birth rate drive struggles to sway 'YOLO' generation
Asia's fourth-largest economy plans to launch a new government ministry dedicated to demographic challenges.
South Korea's economy is one of the world's most advanced by many metrics but has been unable to shake its classification as an emerging market due to a host of issues, including the way its currency is managed.
BUSINESS / Markets
Mar 25, 2024
South Korea's push to make its markets global dogged by FX history
The export powerhouse is struggling to loosen the tight currency restrictions that have been a major pain point for investors and traders in the country.
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol speaks during an interview at the Presidential Office in Seoul on Feb. 4. Yoon has been working to cheer domestic retail investors, who have been heavy sellers of Seoul shares.
BUSINESS / ANALYSIS
Feb 23, 2024
Seoul hopes Japan stock playbook can narrow 'Korea discount'
Reforms floated last month by South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol may not continue to boost the Seoul bourse, analysts say.
Polish soldiers near a K2 tank, delivered in the first batch of arms from South Korea under contracts signed in recent months, in Wierzbiny near Orzysz, Poland, in March last year
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 8, 2024
Financing uncertainty clouds South Korea's push for massive arms deals
Both parties in South Korea have introduced bills to boost the state bank as the country seeks to expedite a $22 billion weapons purchase from Poland.
South Korea's President Yoon Suk-yeol arrives for a State Banquet at the Guildhall, in London on Nov. 22.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Dec 4, 2023
South Korea's Yoon picks Choi Sang-mok to spearhead economy
Choi will need to maintain economic momentum ahead of elections next April, which will determine the legislative support level for a number of bills.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
May 14, 2022
Kids later than sooner: South Korean women freeze eggs as child-rearing costs surge
Fewer women are having children and those who do are in no rush, with the sky-high costs of housing and education making financial security a must.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Mar 23, 2022
The jobs — and aging faces — behind South Korea's record low unemployment numbers
The country logged a record-setting run of low unemployment through February, at 2.7%, with almost half of the job increases driven by people 60 and older.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Oct 25, 2021
No 'Squid Game': South Korea's real-life debt trap
The reality for some in the country is rising personal borrowing, the highest suicide rate among advanced nations, and the rarity of getting free of debt.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Aug 25, 2021
South Korea's youth debt binge shows no sign of slowing as rate hike looms
A debt binge by young Koreans concerns the country's central bank, which may soon deliver its first interest rate rise in three years.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jun 10, 2021
Young voter anger over housing and jobs threatens Moon's legacy in South Korea
With one year left in his single five-year term, Moon's promise for a more just, compassionate and equitable society rings hollow to many.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Mar 16, 2021
Last three schoolchildren on Nokdo beach trace South Korea's arc to demographic crisis
South Korea has become the world's fastest-graying society with the lowest birth rate anywhere in 2020, according to the World Bank.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / ANALYSIS
Oct 29, 2020
As COVID-19 persists and U.S. poll nears, China's growth lifts Asia
China is now the only major economy forecast by the International Monetary Fund to report growth — of 1.9% — this year.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / ANALYSIS
Jul 19, 2018
Wage, hours policies by South Korean leader Moon backfire for jobless, low income workers
President Moon Jae-in wants South Koreans to work less and earn more — and to achieve that his government has hiked the minimum wage and slashed the maximum length of the working week.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / FOCUS
Feb 23, 2018
Distrust of unions and GM hangs over South Korean efforts to stem job losses
South Korean President Moon Jae-in is in a bind.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / FOCUS
Sep 14, 2017
One year after China's THAAD warning, South Korean business suffer
On a faded notice pasted to the padlocked doors of the Lotte Mart superstore in Jiaxing, China, a date can still be read: March 6, 2017 — when the store was ordered to "temporarily" close over alleged fire safety issues.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 9, 2017
South Korean President-elect Moon's main policy pledges
South Korean liberal human rights lawyer Moon Jae-in won the presidency in an election on Tuesday, exit polls showed, ending nine years of conservative rule.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / FOCUS
May 4, 2017
In the South, voters seeking 'Korea first' leader may head to polls in near-record numbers
Jason Lim, a 36-year-old South Korean engineer living in Washington, thinks it is important to maintain a solid alliance with the United States — but not at any cost.
Mother hopes for reunion with daughter ensnared by Tokyo host clubs
The Kabukicho district in Tokyo, where the daughter of a woman in her 60s fell deeply into the host club culture.
A year after going private, structural reforms bearing fruit for Toshiba
Toshiba's Corporate Senior Executive Vice President Koji Ikeya speaks during an interview in Tokyo on Monday.
Taiwan lawmakers brawl over bills that would 'damage democracy'
Lawmakers from the Democratic Progressive Party and opposition party Kuomintang brawl in parliament in Taipei on Friday.
Record 78% of people in Japan feel anxious, government survey finds
The public opinion survey on people's lives, conducted by the Cabinet Office, found that 28.1% of respondents think that their standard of living is at a lower-middle level among the general public — the highest percentage to give that response in 35 years.
Police raided suspect's home to arrest him after fatal Kitakyushu stabbing
Broken window glass is seen at Masanori Hirabaru's house in Kitakyushu's Kokuraminami Ward.
Japanese officials inspect Yokota Air Base over PFAS concerns
The Yokota Air Base in western Tokyo in September 2019. An inspection of the base by Japanese government officials on Friday came amid public pressure to investigate suspected links between the use of PFAS-containing firefighting foam by the U.S. base and contamination of soil and groundwater in western Tokyo.
Crime numbers rise in Japan for second straight year
A police officer stands in front of the residence of a man alleged to have stabbed two junior high school students in Kitakyushu.
A year of Oscar wins and a quiet push for diversity
Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s “Evil Does Not Exist,” released in Japanese theaters in April, sharply dramatizes the clash between rural and urban values. The film won five awards at the 2023 Venice Film Festival, including the second-place Silver Lion prize.
Curiosity didn’t kill the meme: Why cats still rule Japanese YouTube
A screen shot from YouTube user @lagelda shows the simplicity of going viral in Japan in 2024: A cat dancing to EDM in front of a green screen.
With rare Asia carrier deployment, France seeks greater interoperability
The flight deck of the French Navy's Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier during a stop at Changi Naval Base in Singapore in May 2019

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Yasuyuki Yoshida stirs a brew in a fermentation tank at his brewery in Hakusan.
The quake that shook Noto's sake brewing tradition
By Alex K.T. Martin

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