Lotte Mart Targets Golden Week Travelers; Gmarket Extends Midnight Cutoff for Fast Delivery Lotte Mart steps up promotions for foreign shoppers ahead of Golden Week holidays Lotte Mart said April 26 it will strengthen promotions for foreign customers to coincide with major holiday periods, including Japan’s Golden Week (April 29 to May 6) and China’s Labor Day break (May 1-5). The retailer will work with Japan-based online travel platform Konest to offer Lotte Mart discount coupons. It will also provide hotel-guest-only discount vouchers through Lotte City Hotel Gim April 26, 2026

Lee Ye-won wins KLPGA Deoksin EPC Championship for 10th career title Lee Ye-won, known as the "queen of spring," reached the 10-win mark on the Korea Ladies Professional Golf Association Tour. Lee won the Deoksin EPC Championship on Saturday at Kingsdale Golf Club in Chungju, North Chungcheong province, shooting a 4-under 68 in the final round with six birdies and two bogeys. The tournament carried a total purse of 1 billion won. She finished at 12-under 204, beating Park Hyun-kyung (9-under 207) by three strokes for her first title of the season. With April 26, 2026

Kim Jong Un Meets Visiting Russian Duma Speaker as Defense Minister Arrives in Pyongyang Kim Jong Un met with Vyacheslav Volodin, speaker of Russia’s lower house, the State Duma, during Volodin’s visit to North Korea for a ceremony marking the completion of a memorial honoring troops deployed to Kursk. The Russian Embassy in North Korea said on Telegram, and Russia’s state-run TASS news agency reported, that Kim met Volodin in Pyongyang on Saturday. Volodin delivered greetings from Russian President Vladimir Putin and a message congratulating Kim on his reappointment a April 26, 2026

How to File South Korea’s May Comprehensive Income Tax Return, and Who Must File May is South Korea’s annual filing and payment period for comprehensive income tax. Individuals with comprehensive income in 2025 must file and pay from May 1 to June 1, 2026. Comprehensive income tax combines interest, dividends, business income, wages, pensions and other income. Even salaried workers may need to file if they also earned side income such as freelance pay, financial income or rental income. Those who may need to file include workers who received wages from two or more em April 26, 2026

Banks Lift South Korea Growth Forecasts After Q1 Surge, but Potential Growth Seen Sliding Global investment banks have been raising their forecasts for South Korea’s growth after a surprise first-quarter jump, but economists warn the country’s underlying growth capacity continues to weaken, with potential growth projected to fall into the mid-1% range next year. According to government-related sources on April 26, major investment banks recently revised up their outlooks for South Korea’s growth. JPMorgan lifted its forecast to 3.0% from 2.2%, an increase of 0.8 percentage April 26, 2026

CNN: Suspect in Trump Shooting at White House Correspondents’ Dinner Identified as 31-Year-Old California Instructor CNN, citing two sources, reported on 25 (local time) that the suspect in the shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner venue has been identified as a 31-year-old man named Cole Tomas Allen. According to the report, Allen is an instructor and game developer who lives in Torrance, outside Los Angeles. A LinkedIn profile lists him as a part-time instructor at the private tutoring company C2 Education, and shows he received the company’s “Instructor of the Month” award in Dec April 26, 2026

Justice Ministry Probes Incheon Textile Plant After Reported Assault on Bangladeshi Worker The Justice Ministry said it has conducted an on-site inspection of a textile manufacturer in Incheon after a reported assault on a foreign worker and will consider administrative sanctions. According to the ministry, police received a report on April 24 that a Korean employee assaulted a Bangladeshi national at a textile plant in Gajwa-dong, Seo-gu, Incheon. The ministry’s Immigration and Foreign Policy Headquarters said its task force for protecting migrants’ rights visited the site wit April 26, 2026

South Korea’s Lee Condemns Shooting at White House Correspondents’ Dinner South Korean President Lee Jae-myung on Saturday condemned a shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner in Washington, calling political violence “a serious threat that undermines the foundations of democracy” and saying it can never be justified for any reason. In a post on X, Lee said he was “shocked” by the violence at the dinner, a gathering meant to reaffirm communication with the press and freedom of expression. He said he was relieved to hear that Preside April 26, 2026

Badminton to End 21-Point Scoring, Adopt 15-Point Games Starting in 2027 Badminton will scrap its more than two-decade-old 21-point scoring system and shift to 15-point games. The Badminton World Federation (BWF) said it approved the new format, known as "15 points, best-of-three games" (3x15), at its annual general meeting on April 25 (local time) in Horsens, Denmark. The proposal passed after securing the required two-thirds majority. The current 21-point system, introduced in 2006, will be replaced starting in January 2027. Under the new rules, the first April 26, 2026

Korean Won’s Real Value Hits 17-Year Low as Middle East War Lifts Oil, FX Rates The won’s real value fell last month to its lowest level since the global financial crisis, pressured by a Middle East war that pushed up both the exchange rate and energy prices. According to the Bank for International Settlements on April 26, South Korea’s real effective exchange rate (REER) index stood at 85.44 (2020=100) at the end of March, down 1.57 points from a month earlier. It was the lowest reading in 17 years, since March 2009 (79.31). The REER measures a curren April 26, 2026