South Korea Mortgage Rates Rise for Sixth Month to 4.34%, Highest in 2 Years Mortgage rates in South Korea rose for a sixth straight month, reaching their highest level in 2 years and 4 months. According to the Bank of Korea’s “weighted-average interest rates of financial institutions” data released on the 28th, the average rate on new mortgage loans at deposit-taking banks in March was 4.34% a year, up 0.02 percentage points from the previous month. It was the highest since November 2023 (4.48%). Lee Hye-young, head of the BOK’s financial statistics team, said t April 28, 2026

General Insurance Association of Korea Launches Consumer Protection Council The General Insurance Association of Korea said on the 28th that it held a launch ceremony and first meeting for its “General Insurance Consumer Protection Council.” The council was formed — the first of its kind in the financial sector — as regulators step up consumer-protection efforts. The association said the group will work to strengthen consumer rights and advance a “consumer-centered transformation” of the nonlife insurance industry. It is expected to propose industrywide consumer-f April 28, 2026

Climate Ministry to Train ESG Specialists, Issue Scope 3 Guides for Petrochemicals and Steel The government will move ahead this year with a program to train ESG professionals and will release guidance on calculating Scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions for the petrochemical and steel industries, aiming to strengthen companies’ ability to respond to environmental, social and governance rules. The Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment said April 28 it will run an ESG management professional training program from May through November to help companies build capacity for sustainab April 28, 2026

South Korea raises minimum antitrust fines for cartels to 10%, seeks full recovery for unfair support The Fair Trade Commission will sharply raise the minimum rates used to calculate administrative fines for violations of South Korea’s Fair Trade Act, including a steep increase for cartels and tougher penalties for unfair support and private-benefit schemes. The FTC said on the 29th it will enforce revised fine guidelines starting on the 30th. Violations that ended before the effective date will be handled under the previous guidelines. Under the act, the FTC calculates fines based on s April 28, 2026

Korea to Tighten Oversight of Green Claims in Online Platform Ads With Industry Training The Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment and the Fair Trade Commission will provide training to strengthen oversight of environmental labels and advertising in the online retail market, aiming to improve the credibility of green claims. The ministry and the FTC said on April 28 they will hold an “environmental labeling and advertising” training session on April 29 at the Korea Environmental Industry & Technology Institute auditorium in Eunpyeong-gu, Seoul, for major mail-order April 28, 2026

South Korea Renames ‘Job Basic Skills’ as ‘Job Common Skills,’ Cuts Framework to Seven Areas The Ministry of Employment and Labor and the Human Resources Development Service of Korea said on 28일 they will rename “job basic skills” as “job common skills” and overhaul the framework into seven areas. The ministry described job common skills as core competencies all workers need regardless of occupation, such as communication, numeracy and problem-solving. The broader system consists of three parts: job-specific skills under the National Competency Standards (NCS), job common skills April 28, 2026

South Korea to Pay ‘Fair Allowance’ to Short-Term Public Workers, Ban Sub-1-Year Contracts The government will introduce a new “fair allowance” for short-term fixed-term workers in the public sector after a survey found that about half of such workers were hired on contracts of less than one year. The plan also calls for, in principle, banning fixed-term contracts shorter than one year and tightening rules to prevent abuse of ultra-short-hour workers. The Ministry of Employment and Labor reported the measures at a Cabinet meeting on the 28th as part of a “public-sector nonre April 28, 2026

Nippon Electric Glass Installs Large Rooftop Solar System at Malaysia Site Nippon Electric Glass said April 27 that it installed a solar power system on the rooftop of a building at its subsidiary Nippon Electric Glass in Selangor state, Malaysia, and began operating it March 17. It is the subsidiary’s first solar installation, with a maximum output of 7.6 megawatts-peak (MWp). All electricity generated will be used on-site, and the company expects it to cut carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 6,900 tons a year. Local solar company Samaiden Group partic April 28, 2026

Cho Eung-cheon Announces Run for Gyeonggi Governor as Reform Party Candidate Cho Eung-cheon, a former Reform Party lawmaker, announced on April 28 that he will run for governor of Gyeonggi Province, urging voters to “put down the wrong answer sheets of bad and strange candidates” and choose him as a “good candidate.” Speaking at a news conference at the National Assembly, Cho said he has lived by “principles and conviction.” He criticized eight years of Democratic Party leadership in the province, from Lee Jae-myung to Kim Dong-yeon, asking what had changed for April 28, 2026

India’s Prasada Urges Skoda Auto to Expand Investment in Indian Auto Sector India’s Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Prasada met with executives of Czech automaker Skoda Auto and urged the company to expand investment in India’s automotive industry, PTI reported on the 23rd. Prasada held the talks while on an official visit to the Czech Republic from the 22nd to the 23rd. Skoda’s vehicle sales in India in January-March rose 17% from a year earlier to 20,028 units. During his stay, Prasada also visited leading local companies in automobiles, transport April 28, 2026