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🇰🇷Lee Pushes Self-Reliant Defense Amid Global Flux South Korean President Lee Jae Myung chaired a regular integrated security meeting at Cheong Wa Dae on March 23, stressing that South Korea must be capable of defending itself without outside assistance. Lee described the international situation as very complex and fluid, citing the impact of the US-Israeli conflict with Iran on global energy markets, now in its fourth week. Lee called for a national-level integrated defense system covering not only military threats but also cyberattacks, terrorism, climate change, and disasters. He noted that South Korea's defense spending amounts to approximately 1.4 times North Korea's gross domestic product, pointing to the country's advanced conventional military strength and defense industry. During the meeting, the Joint Chiefs of Staff briefed on South Korea's integrated defense posture, and the National Intelligence Service presented its assessment of North Korea for the year. Participants also reviewed response measures for potential casualties and property damage from large-scale explosions at gas and oil refinery facilities. #SouthKorea @asianomics

🇰🇷South Korea Mandates EV Battery Origin Disclosure South Korea's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport has announced proposed amendments to the Motor Vehicle Management Act that would expand battery disclosure requirements from six to ten items. The newly required information includes the battery's manufacturer, country of origin, product name, and manufacturing date. The ministry also plans to raise the maximum fine for carmakers and sellers that fail to disclose required battery information to 10 million won (US$6,600). A new standard will allow safety certifications to be revoked if the same defect occurs two to four times within a two-year period, depending on its nature. South Korea recorded 334 EV battery fires in the twelve months ending March 22, up from 270 cases in the prior twelve-month period, according to National Fire Agency data. #SouthKorea @asianomics

🇰🇷South Korea's Lee Nominates BIS Official as BOK Chief South Korean President Lee Jae Myung nominated Shin Hyun-song, head of the monetary and economic department at the Bank for International Settlements, as the next governor of the Bank of Korea. Shin is set to replace current governor Rhee Chang-yong when his four-year term ends in April. Shin's academic background includes professorships at Princeton University, the London School of Economics, and Oxford University. He also previously served as an adviser for international economic affairs to former President Lee Myung-bak in 2010 and as a member of the Financial Advisory Roundtable at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Shin will undergo a parliamentary confirmation hearing, though the procedure is considered a formality as his formal appointment does not require National Assembly approval. The Bank of Korea held its benchmark interest rate steady at 2.5 percent at its most recent meeting, marking the sixth consecutive on-hold decision. #SouthKorea @asianomics

🇰🇷Fire kills 11 at South Korea auto parts plant A car parts factory in Daejeon caught fire on March 20 while around 170 workers were inside, killing at least 11 and injuring 59. South Korea's interior ministry confirmed 25 of the injured were in serious condition, with three workers still missing as of March 21. Fire crews were initially unable to enter the building due to collapse risk, and response was further complicated by sodium stored on site, which can detonate if improperly handled. The fire was extinguished by the afternoon of March 21. The cause has not been determined, though a witness reported hearing an explosion. The factory belonged to Anjun Industrial, a maker of engine valves that supplies Hyundai Motor and Kia. President Lee Jae Myung directed officials to deploy all available personnel and equipment for rescue operations. #SouthKorea @asianomics

🇰🇷 Yoon Suk Yeol appeals life sentence over martial law case South Korea’s ex-president Yoon Suk Yeol filed an appeal against his life sentence for rebellion tied to the brief December 2024 martial law decree, arguing the court made factual and legal errors. The case is expected to move to a Seoul High Court panel specializing in rebellion cases. Yoon was impeached in December 2024, removed by the Constitutional Court in April 2025, and re-arrested in July. Prosecutors had sought the death penalty, while the trial court said Yoon unlawfully mobilized troops and police to pressure the National Assembly. Yoon insists he acted for the nation and criticized the ruling as biased. #SouthKorea @asianomics

🇰🇷 Sentencing trial begins for former President Yoon Suk Yeol In Seoul, the first-instance sentencing hearing opened for former President Yoon Suk Yeol, accused as the ringleader of an insurrection tied to his brief martial law declaration on December 3, 2024. The court found him guilty of insurrection and sentenced him to life in prison over the martial law decree. The verdict, delivered by a three-judge panel of the Seoul Central District Court’s Criminal Division 25, was the harshest and most consequential ruling yet stemming from Yoon’s brief imposition of martial law on December 3, 2024, and the events leading up to it. #SouthKorea @asianomics

🇰🇷 South Korea’s President calls for probe into links between religious group and politics South Korea’s President Lee Jae Myung has called for an investigation into suspected illegal links between a religious group and politicians. Lee’s ​order should apply “no matter whether (a politician is from the) ‍ruling or opposition party, a high or low position”, the presidential office said on ‍Dec 10. Some politicians have said that Lee’s comments appeared to be directed at the Unification Church, ​whose leader Han Hak-ja is on trial over allegations she bribed former first lady Kim Keon ‌Hee in return for political favors. #SouthKorea @asianomics

🇰🇷 President Lee says S. Korea's own nuclear armament 'impossible' President Lee Jae Myung on Tuesday dismissed calls for South Korea's own nuclear armament, saying it would be "impossible" to gain the international community's approval. Lee made the remark during a Cabinet meeting amid renewed calls from some opposition lawmakers to push for the country's nuclear armament. "The uranium enrichment and nuclear reprocessing issues are in some ways not proceeding smoothly and swiftly. The reason for that is there are concerns about nuclear armament," Lee said during the meeting at the presidential office, citing "various kinds of talk" in some departments of the US government. #SouthKorea @asianomics

🇰🇷 South Korea’s military shrinks by 20% in six years as male population drops South Korea’s military shrank by 20% in the past six years to 450,000 troops, largely due to a sharp drop in the population of males of enlistment age for mandatory service in the country with the world’s lowest birthrate. The dramatic decline in the pool of available males for military service is also causing a shortfall in the number of officers and could result in operational difficulty if it continues, the Defense Ministry said. South Korea’s military has steadily declined since the early 2000s, when it had about 690,000 soldiers. The pace accelerated during the late 2010s, and there were about 563,000 active-duty soldiers and officers in 2019. #SouthKorea @asianomics

🇰🇷South Korea's Lee orders new investigation team to look into deadly 2022 crush South Korean President Lee Jae Myung has ordered the setting up of a new investigation team, involving police and prosecutors, to look into the deadly Halloween crowd crush that killed 159, mostly young people, in 2022, his spokesperson said. Lee's move to launch a new probe came as he met the bereaved families of victims from recent major disasters, including the Halloween crush in Seoul's Itaewon district. Lee, who took office in June, has promised to make the country safer and to prevent any repeat of the disasters in recent years that have often been blamed on the inadequate response by authorities. #SouthKorea @asianomics

🇰🇷 South Korea's ex-leader Yoon returns to jail as martial law probe accelerates Former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol was back in a solitary jail cell on Thursday with basic food and a khaki prison uniform after prosecutors secured a new detention warrant over his bid to impose martial law last year. The Seoul Central District Court's decision to approve the warrant bolstered the special counsel investigation into allegations that Yoon's move in December represented obstruction of justice and abuse of power. The court said in a statement it granted the request because of concerns Yoon could seek to destroy evidence, returning him to confinement at the Seoul Detention Center where he spent 52 days earlier in the year before being released four months ago on technical grounds. #SouthKorea @asianomics

🇰🇷 South Korea's former President Yoon to attend hearing on detention warrant South Korea's former President Yoon Suk Yeol will appear on Wednesday at a Seoul court, which will consider a special prosecutor's request to detain him as part of a probe into his botched bid to impose martial law. The Seoul Central District Court will hear from the special counsel team investigating Yoon's martial law decree in December and Yoon's legal team on the request to detain the deposed president over allegations of abuse of power and obstruction of justice. After the hearing, Yoon is expected to await the court's decision at the Seoul Detention Center, or in a detention area within the court, the special prosecutor's team has said. There has been tight security around the court, which is expected to announce a decision late on Wednesday or in the early hours of Thursday. #SouthKorea @asianomics