May 24

• ●'Marry and receive 20 million won' - but will cash incentives really drive marriage? The Korea Times
  As South Korea continues to grapple with plummeting birthrates and fears of regional depopulation, local governments are now expanding their efforts beyond childbirth subsidies to include cash incentives for marriage, covering everything from first dates to engagement and honeymoon expenses.
  
  

• ●To raise or not to raise? The grandparent dilemma in modern Korean families The Korea Times
  In May, often celebrated in Korea as "family month," many elderly parents find themselves reconnecting with their children and grandchildren over meals and conversations.

May 25

• ●4 in 10 workers unable to take paid sick leave at work: survey Korea JoongAng Daily
  Four out of 10 people were unable to use paid leave at work when they were sick, a civic group said Sunday.
  
  

• ●More young adults economically 'inactive,' especially women, college grads The Korea Herald
  Young adults aged 15 to 34 who remained economically "inactive" rather than seeking employment reached 590,000 in 2024, an increase of 197,000 from 2019, according to a report released by the state-run Korea Employment Information Service on Friday.

May 26

• ●61% of resigned medical trainees take up general practice ahead of recruitment deadline Korea JoongAng Daily
  As the deadline approaches for the additional May recruitment of medical residents who previously resigned from university hospitals, data shows that six out of 10 residents who have left their training have since been employed as general practitioners.
  
  

• ●Do kids really gain more weight when moms work longer hours? The Korea Herald
  Children whose mothers work long hours are more than twice as likely to develop abdominal obesity, according to a recent South Korean study examining the link between maternal working hours and metabolic health risks in adolescents.
  
  

• ●Korean kids are happier than before, but economic divide still factor The Korea Herald
  Though the level of happiness among South Korean children has shown general improvement, the gap in happiness based on socioeconomic background factors, such as household income, remains.
  
  

• ●One Seoul district wants residents to get first spots in 'elderly kindergartens' The Korea Herald
  South Korea is running out of space for its aging population, and many neighborhoods don't want care centers for older adults built in their apartment complexes.

May 27

• ●Korean gov't to raise 'paternity bonus' to match standard parental leave pay Korea JoongAng Daily
  The Korean government will raise the so-called paternity bonus--a special parental leave benefit granted to the second parent taking leave--to match the standard parental leave pay, the Ministry of Employment and Labor announced Tuesday.
  
  

• ●Brother, sister duo fined for exploiting woman with disabilities to make credit cards Korea JoongAng Daily
  A brother and sister in their 30s were fined for exploiting a woman with a severe intellectual disability by convincing her to open phone accounts and making unauthorized credit card purchases in her name.
  
  

• ●Busan begins shuttering its day care centers as birthrate struggles on Korea JoongAng Daily
  Super-aging Korea's super-aging port city Busan is embracing its reality and turning its empty kindergartens into facilities for the larger community.
  
  

• ●No women on the Korean presidential ballot, no gender policies on the platforms Korea JoongAng Daily
  Korea heads into its 2025 presidential election with a glaring absence: For the first time in nearly two decades, not a single woman will appear on the final presidential ballot.
  
  

• ●4 care workers charged over assault of patient in 60s Korea JoongAng Daily
  Four care workers at a nursing home in Incheon have been referred to prosecutors for allegedly assaulting a patient in her 60s on multiple occasions.
  
  

• ●Employment rate for women in their 30s rises as many choose work over marriage Korea JoongAng Daily
  The employment rate for women in their 30s has surged by 10 percentage points over the past three years.
  
  

• ●Women in 30s diving S. Korea's sharpest employment growth The Korea Herald
  More South Korean women in their 30s are working today than at any point in the country's history, driven by changing views on marriage, childbirth and career, along with a labor market that is slowly adapting in response.
  
  

• ●Korea's high senior employment rate masks low job quality The Korea Times
  A 65-year-old man surnamed Kim, who retired three years ago froma  medium-sized company after working in accounting, recently began working part-time stocking shelves at a neighborhood supermarket after struggling to find a new job.
  
  

• ●S. Korea tops OECD in senior employment but lags in job quality The Chosun Daily
  South Korea has the highest employment rate among OECD countries for people aged 65 and older, yet many seniors work in low-quality, non-regular jobs involving simple and repetitive tasks.

May 28

• ●Teacher assaulted by third grader over marked answer as classroom violence rises The Korea Times
  A third-grade student at an elementary school in Gyeonggi Province physically assaulted their teacher after the student's answer was marked incorrect, according to the Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education and the Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union (KTU) on Tuesday.
  
  

• ●Seoul expands Korean language support for immigrant students The Korea Times
  The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education (SMOE) said Tuesday that it will launch a new Korean language support program in June, targeting multicultural and recently arrived immigrant students to meet the rising demand for language instruction.
  
  

• ●Healthy but not happy: Korean youth survey raises alarms on mental health, phone use Korea JoongAng Daily
  A sound body but not so sound mind--teenagers in Korea say they're in good physical health and enjoy school life but are becoming mentally unstable, reliant on private education and smartphones, according to the latest findings by the government.
  
  

• ●Korea sees first Q1 birth uptick in a decade, boosted by rising marriages Korea JoongAng Daily
  For the first time in a decade, Korea recorded a year-on-year increase in newborns during the first quarter of the year--a rare uptick in a country battling chronically low birthrates.
  
  

• ●Korea's middle class rises to a record high of 60%. But many don't feel that way Korea JoongAng Daily
  The proportion of Korea's middle class has risen to a record high of around 60 percent, but half of them feel like they belong to the lower class, according to latest data.
  
  

• ●Average Gangnam wedding costs 34 million won, three times that of provinces Korea JoongAng Daily
  The average cost of wedding services across Korea stands at 21.01 million won, with that in southern Seoul's Gangnam District topping the list at 34.09 million won--nearly three times their average price in the Gyeongsang region, according to data the Korea Consumer Agency released Wednesday.
  
  

• ●Has baby bust bottomed out? S. Korea sees 7% rebound in births in Q1 The Korea Herald
  For the first time in years, South Korea is seeing signs of a turnaround in its record-low birth rate.

May 29

• ●Hurdles remain for voters with disabilities in Korea The Korea Times
  While Koreans headed to early voting stations for the June 3 presidential election on Thursday, a sizable segment of the electorate--voters with disabilities--confronted persistent barriers to accessing crucial election information and casting their ballots at polling sites.
  
  

• ●Exposure to secondhand smoke rises after 3-year decline The Korea Herald
  The rate of exposure to secondhand smoke in indoor spaces in South Korea rose in 2023 after falling for three consecutive years, according to a report released by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, Thursday.

May 30

• ●Over 70,000 deaths caused by smoking in 2022: KDCA The Korea Herald
  In 2022, over 70,000 preventable deaths were attributable to people's smoking habits, with socioeconomic costs resulting from such deaths reaching as high as 13.6 trillion won ($9.89 billion), according to a report released by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency.