South Korea

In 2023, 39.8 per cent of people over 65 were living below the country’s median income. About 57.6 per cent of seniors want to continue working out of economic necessity; two in three are unhappy with their standard of living. Retirees currently account for 20.3 per cent of the total population, but will reach 40 per cent by 2050. Divorces among seniors are also on the rise.

In 2024, South Korea recorded its highest number of suicides in 13 years, with a total of 14,872, a 6.3 per cent increase over the previous year. The causes lie in the intense social pressure imposed from childhood to excel in studies and careers. Seeking psychological support continues to be seen as a failure, preventing young people from getting proper help.

Bishop Moon of Cheju, chairman of the Bishops' Conference's Committee for Family and Life, met with Democratic Party lawmakers who are promoting a bill that the Church sees as a path towards unlimited abortions. The issue came to the fore in 2019 after a ruling by the Constitutional Court. For Bishop, “We must move towards respect for life.”

More than 300 South Korean workers were arrested at a Savannah, Georgia electric battery plant. While President Donald Trump called them “illegal immigrants”, they are in fact engineers needed in a plant owned by South Korean company that has invested in the United States to meet the president’s demands. In South Korea, the incident has sparked outrage and raised fears about defence cooperation.

The canonisation of the young man who lived between 1991 and 2006 and used the internet to spread the faith will take place tomorrow in St Peter's, together with Piergiorgio Frassati. Some of his relics are also travelling to Asian countries, where his peers are getting to know him. A ‘great message of hope’ for young Koreans preparing for the next World Youth Day. In Bangkok, young people say: ‘He is one of us.’ A new seminary named after him in Laos.

According to data from the Seoul government, there have been 252 reported cases of kidnappings for these activities run by transnational criminal groups. The testimony of a girl who was rescued: ‘They deceived me, robbed me and kept me together with other people identified only by a number instead of a name.’ In August, a fellow countryman was found dead with signs of torture.

At the White House summit, Trump said he was open to the idea. The meeting could take place in conjunction with the APEC summit in Gyeongju at the end of October, which Trump is expected to attend. So far, North Korea has made it a precondition that the US not continue to demand denuclearisation. Meanwhile, Lee has pledged to increase South Korea’s military spending and invest US$ 150 billion in shipbuilding in the US.

For the first time since 2018, the South Korean government may not publish its annual report denouncing violations by the North Korean regime. The decision, in line with President Lee Jae-myung's policy of rapprochement, aims to avoid tensions and revive contacts between the two Koreas. APyongyang has recently conducted military exercises in response to joint manoeuvres by Seoul and Washington.

This has been confirmed by data released by the Korean Agency for Occupational Safety and Health. Between 2022 and 2024, Kosha conducted 16,607 counseling sessions, with figures rising sharply over the last three years. The cases involve serious accidents at work, suicides of colleagues, bullying, harassment, and sexual violence.

In the large open space outside Rome, one million young people celebrated their Jubilee ahead of the next WYD in Asia. AsiaNews spoke to some of the 1,500 Koreans in attendance, “eagerly waiting” and “diligently preparing for 2027.” One said that his mother’s conversion “brought me here today, to Rome.” Young people from Japan, India, Lebanon, and Iraq will hold in their hearts the unique encounters that rekindled their faith.

On August 4, parliament will vote on the Yellow Envelope Law, a measure that blocks companies from seeking compensation from workers for “illegitimate” protests and extends liability to subcontractors. Already approved last year, the bill was blocked by a veto from then-conservative President Yoon. The chaebol, Korea's large industrial conglomerates, are opposed to the bill, fearing they will lose further ground.

For eleven consecutive months, South Korea, which held the sad record of being the country with the lowest fertility rate in the world, has been recording a reversal of this trend, albeit in a context that remains far from the replacement rate. ​From January to May 2025, birth growth accelerated with a 6.9% increase compared to the same period last year. This is mainly due to public incentives for marriage. But the challenge remains to convince those who do not want to have children today.