Vice Minister Kim Min-jae Inspects Local Centers Ahead of High Oil Price Relief Payments The Ministry of the Interior and Safety said April 24 that Vice Minister Kim Min-jae visited Seoul’s Jongno district to closely review preparations and hear difficulties from the field ahead of the start of first-round payments for high oil price relief assistance on April 27. Kim, who led the inspection, went to the Sungin 2-dong community center to check whether arrangements were in place so applicants would not face inconvenience, and he encouraged local government staff handling the wo April 24, 2026

Hotel Shilla Returns to Profit in Q1 With 20.4 Billion Won Operating Gain Hotel Shilla said Thursday it swung to an operating profit in the first quarter (January-March), as it focused on profitability despite a weak duty-free market and pressure from a strong exchange rate. The company reported first-quarter revenue of 1.0535 trillion won, up 8.4% from a year earlier. Operating profit totaled 20.4 billion won, reversing a year-earlier loss. Hotel Shilla said the results reflected efforts to secure a stable earnings base in a difficult business environment. April 24, 2026

South Korea, Japan Customs Chiefs Hold First Talks Under New Governments, Discuss RCEP The Korea Customs Service said April 24 that Commissioner Lee Myeong-gu met in Seoul on April 23 with Mitsuhiro Teraoka, director-general of the Customs and Tariff Bureau at Japan’s Ministry of Finance, for the 34th South Korea-Japan customs chiefs meeting. It was the first such meeting since new governments took office in both countries. With trade and exchanges expected to expand, the two sides discussed key issues and explored forward-looking cooperation, the agency said. They shared t April 24, 2026

Seoul Mayor Oh Blames Past Halt in Rainwater Tunnel Plan for 2022 Flood Damage Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon said April 24 that delays in the city’s deep underground rainwater tunnel program contributed to flood damage in 2022, blaming a previous mayor for halting most of the plan. “Only one was completed in Sinwol-dong, and the rest of the plan was all stopped,” Oh said after visiting the Gwanghwamun tunnel construction site earlier in the day to check progress. He said a plan set in 2010 was not carried out, leading to the 2022 flood damage. The deep underground rainw April 24, 2026

Brokerage Units Deliver First-Quarter Earnings Surprises for Korean Financial Groups Brokerage subsidiaries of South Korean financial holding companies posted first-quarter earnings surprises, emerging as key profit engines as a strong stock market and broader revenue streams lifted results. According to the financial investment industry on Thursday, major brokerages including NH Investment & Securities, KB Securities and Shinhan Investment Corp. reported sharp year-on-year gains for the first quarter. NH Investment & Securities posted quarterly record results April 24, 2026

Seoul, Incheon and Gyeonggi Show Diverging Trends in Capital Area Apartment Auctions Apartment auctions in the Seoul metropolitan area showed mixed signals in the fourth week of April, with a higher win rate but a lower winning-bid ratio, widening gaps by region. GG Auction, a court and public auction platform, said April 24 that it analyzed apartment auction trends for April’s fourth week (April 20-24). The number of auctions held was 366, down about 8% from 397 the previous week, but stayed above 300 for a third straight week. The win rate rose to 39.3% from 33.0%, u April 24, 2026

Kia Profit Falls as U.S. Tariffs and Incentives Rise; Hybrid and PBV Push Planned Kia posted its highest-ever quarterly revenue but saw profitability slide as external costs piled up, including more than 700 billion won in U.S. tariff-related expenses. The automaker said it will lean more heavily on hybrids and expand into purpose-built vehicles to seek a rebound. Kia said in a regulatory filing on Thursday that first-quarter revenue rose 5.3% from a year earlier to 29.5019 trillion won, a record for any quarter. Operating profit fell 26.7% to 2.2051 trillion won. Th April 24, 2026

Democratic Party calls 30-year sentence request for Yoon Suk Yeol in Pyongyang drone case 'anti-state crime' The Democratic Party on April 24 called prosecutors’ request for a 30-year prison term for Yoon Suk Yeol, indicted over allegations he ordered a drone operation into Pyongyang, “a deserved response to an anti-state crime.” Some party figures said prosecutors should have sought life in prison. Spokesman Kim Nam-guk said Yoon “used the nation’s survival and the lives of its people as chips in a gamble to maintain his power.” Earlier, the special counsel team asked the Seoul Central District April 24, 2026

IBK Industrial Bank Q1 Net Profit Falls 7.5% to 753.4 Billion Won on FX Volatility IBK Industrial Bank of Korea said Friday its first-quarter net profit fell 7.5% from a year earlier to 753.4 billion won, citing the impact of exchange-rate volatility. The bank said the decline was linked to currency-related factors stemming from Iran. Lending to small and midsize enterprises increased as the bank expanded what it called “productive finance.” The outstanding balance of SME loans rose 0.9% from the end of last year to 264.2 trillion won. Its share of the SME market was 2 April 24, 2026

Huawei to Invest Up to 80 Billion Yuan in Autonomous Driving Computing Power Over 5 Years China’s Huawei is sharply increasing investment in smart driving technology, aiming to expand its influence in China’s electric-vehicle market as a supplier of autonomous driving systems rather than a carmaker. According to Reuters on the 24th, Huawei Senior Vice President Jin Yizhi said at an event in Beijing that the company will invest 70 billion to 80 billion yuan ($13.6 trillion to $15.5 trillion won) in computing power over the next five years. The event was held ahead of China’s la April 24, 2026