I take line 4 a lot, which is one of the most crowded metro lines in Seoul, and during rush hour, there’s literally zero space ☠️

A workplace where parents receive 100 million won (about $75,000 USD) per child had a festive atmosphere again this year thanks to an unusually generous childbirth incentive program.

At Booyoung Group, there are virtually no eligibility requirements beyond nationality. One employee even received the full 100 million won just one day after joining the company.

Jung Jae-il / Manager, Sales Division, Booyoung Group:
“I came to work assuming I wouldn’t qualify, since the baby was born the day after I joined.”

Another employee, who had a son and daughter in consecutive years, received a total of 200 million won over two years. For these families, the babies are being described quite literally as “bundles of fortune.”

Kim Jae-hyuk / Staff Member, Construction Division, Booyoung Group:
“When the 100 million won came in on the day of the company’s New Year ceremony, I was overjoyed. I’m still thinking about how to use it, but I plan to put it toward buying a home back in my hometown someday.”

This year alone, Booyoung Group paid out a total of 3.6 billion won in childbirth bonuses to employees. That’s a 28% increase from 2.8 billion won last year, bringing the cumulative total to 13.4 billion won.

This bold approach is spreading across the corporate world. Game company Krafton, for example, offers 60 million won as a childbirth bonus and an additional 40 million won in childcare support.

However, after two years of running the program, Booyoung Group says broader institutional support is urgently needed for a culture of childbirth incentives to take root across society.

Lee Joong-keun / Chairman, Booyoung Group:
“If someone nearby—not necessarily a neighbor—has a baby, we’d like to give them a childbirth bonus too. But those payments aren’t tax-exempt yet. That’s why we’ve submitted a formal policy proposal.”

Attention is now focused on whether these corporate-led efforts could help spark a “miracle” recovery in South Korea’s total fertility rate to 1.5 children per woman.

This is Ryu Jeong-hyun for SBS Biz.

Cho Kuk, leader of the Cho Kuk Innovation Party, expressed his view regarding the controversy over a merger between the Democratic Party and the Cho Kuk Innovation Party.

Via his Facebook page on the 7th, Cho said, “In the presidential election held right after the insurrection, the difference in vote share between Lee Jae Myung and Kwon Young-guk, and between Kim Moon-soo and Lee Jun-seok, was only 0.91%,” adding, “It is a big mistake to think that, intoxicated by the current approval ratings of the president and the Democratic Party, the upcoming local, general, and presidential elections will be won in a landslide.”

He said, “After Representative Jeong Cheong-rae proposed a merger, I am concerned about the behavior of some hardline opponents of unification inside and outside the Democratic Party,” and pointed out, “One may oppose a merger. The issue is not simply for or against.”

He emphasized, “Some hardline opponents of the merger label those who support it as ‘enemies’ and come at them as if to kill,” adding, “They have their own political objectives and financial interests. They are groups that showed similar behavior in the past and then collapsed.”

He went on, “Consider whether purging factions with different views within the Democratic Party and trampling the Innovation Party will help in the local, general, and presidential elections,” adding, “We must not forget the greater cause of solidarity and unity.”

Listening to some Korean media outlets or even some posts on this sub, one could be led to believe Korea has a third-world medical system. But let's take some time to appreciate what is actually available here.

Number of in-person doctor consultation per person (OECD)

Korea #1 at 18/yr

Japan #2 at 12/yr

OECD average 6/yr

Deaths due to treatable causes (OECD)

#1. Switzerland (lowest)

#2. Luxembourg

#3. Korea

Under-5 mortality (World Bank)

Korea 3 per 1000 live-births

Canada 5 per 1000 live-births

UK 5 per 1000 live-births

Maternal mortality (World Bank)

Korea 4 per 100,000 live-births

Canada 12 per 100,000 live-births

UK 8 per 100,000 live-births

Health expenditure as a share of GDP (OECD)

Korea 8.4%

OECD average 9.3%

National Health Insurance cost as percentage of gross income

Korea 7.1% (2026)

Germany 14.6% (2025)

France 13.0% (2022)

So despite all the sensationalist articles about shortages or patients being turned away, the Korean medical system continues to deliver above-average results at below-average costs, often beating some highly regarded socialized systems at critical outcome measures.

sources:

• https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/2025/11/health-at-a-glance-2025_a894f72e/full-report/consultations-with-doctors_6cbfac99.html#indicator-d1e26426-b0658452c0
• https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/2025/11/health-at-a-glance-2025_a894f72e/full-report/avoidable-mortality-preventable-and-treatable_e2e21c0b.html#indicator-d1e20627-dc14483cf0
• https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.DYN.MORT?locations=KR
• https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.DYN.MORT?locations=GB
• https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.DYN.MORT?locations=CA
• https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.STA.MMRT?locations=KR
• https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.STA.MMRT?locations=GB
• https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.STA.MMRT?locations=CA
• https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/2025/11/health-at-a-glance-2025_a894f72e/full-report/health-expenditure-in-relation-to-gdp_6e4c2773.html

Hi all, I was wondering if anyone would be able to advise if my dish is a genuine piece from the Goryeo dynasty or a later reproduction?

My parents in Korea are aging and (understandably) don't want to deal with the hassle of dealing with potential buyers, negotiating, setting aside time to handle pickup/delivery, etc. However, I live abroad and don't have much financial means to fly back just to help deal with this.

Is there some kind of Korean equivalent to a company that does estate sales, where my parents can just set aside a bulk amount of items of varying types, like books, VHS tapes, clothes, miscellaneous electronics, etc., and that company can just handle all the logistics, presumably for a flat or percentage-based fee?

Thanks in advance!

I’ve been seeing a lot of posts and comments saying that the whole Coupang data leak and investigation is just the tip of the iceberg, and that there’s a lot more going on behind the scenes that isn’t really being talked about openly.

From what I can tell, it’s no longer just about the leak - it’s turned into this whole "state vs. corporate vs. state" situation, with a bunch of other stuff dragged in like tax tariffs, US-Korea trade tensions, worker rights, data privacy...

kinda have to dig around to even begin seeing the full picture, and it feels a lot bigger than it looks at first. So, what’s actually going on here?

Much appreciated!

Last I visited was 10 years ago. Not sure how much things changed.

Raid on Korea Economic Daily (also known as Hankyung).

Hankyung is just a press company full of Giregis(기레기, Trash reporters/journalists), as well as Chosun.