Demand Deposits at Top South Korean Banks Drop Nearly 19 Trillion Won, Raising Loan-Rate Concerns Demand deposits at South Korea’s five major commercial banks fell by nearly 19 trillion won in the first half of this month, fueling concerns that lending rates could rise as banks’ funding costs increase. Financial industry data showed that as of April 16, demand deposits at KB Kookmin, Shinhan, Hana, Woori and NH Nonghyup Bank totaled 680.9236 trillion won. That was down 18.9845 trillion won from 699.9081 trillion won at the end of last month. Demand deposits can be withdrawn at any April 21, 2026

Masked Stepfather Who Tied 10-Year-Old Girl’s Hands Gets Suspended Prison Term A foreign man in his 30s who covered his face and tied up his stepdaughter’s hands has been given a suspended prison sentence. According to legal officials on the 21st, the Ulsan District Court’s Criminal Division 1 (Presiding Judge Bae On-sil) sentenced a Vietnamese national identified as A to one year in prison, suspended for three years, for violating the Child Welfare Act. Prosecutors said A entered the bedroom of his 10-year-old stepdaughter, identified as B, at their April 21, 2026

South Korea Supreme Court Upholds Acquittal of Lim Jeong-hyeok in Baekhyeon-dong Case Attorney Lim Jeong-hyeok, a former high prosecutors’ office chief accused of taking money in exchange for seeking to blunt an investigation into alleged corruption in the Baekhyeon-dong development case, has been cleared in a final ruling. According to legal officials on the 22nd, the Supreme Court’s Second Division (Justice Cheon Dae-yeop presiding) on March 12 upheld an appeals court decision acquitting Lim of violating the Attorney-at-Law Act. Lim was indicted after prosecutors said April 21, 2026

Survey: 34% of South Korean travelers say food is a main reason to travel; searches rise for spring destinations Food is increasingly a primary reason for travel, and South Korea ranked third in a survey of Asian travelers on “food trips.” Demand is also rising at home this spring for travel tied to seasonal ingredients. Agoda, a digital travel platform, said Tuesday that its “2026 Travel Outlook Report” survey across eight Asian markets found Taiwan had the highest share of respondents citing food as a main travel purpose, at 47%. Vietnam followed at 35% and South Korea at 34%. Malaysia was at 33%, April 21, 2026

Lumenrai Targets South Korea’s On-Premises Local LLM Market South Korean on-premises AI company Lumenrai, led by CEO Ahn Tae-min, is moving to target the country’s local large language model market. Lumenrai supplies on-premises AI platforms tailored to Korean corporate environments. The company said it has proprietary technology to fine-tune and deploy retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) systems using vetted open-source LLMs, including Meta Llama, OpenAI GPT-OSS, Microsoft Phi, Qwen, Mistral, DeepSeek and EXAONE. The company’s core capability April 21, 2026

Korea Fair Trade Commission Probes Olive Young, Daiso Over Supplier Dealings South Korea’s Fair Trade Commission has sent investigators to the headquarters of CJ Olive Young and Asung Daiso, which operates Daiso, to secure transaction records with suppliers. The on-site inspection is aimed at determining whether the companies violated the law governing large retailers. While the probe appears to be separate checks on two firms, it also reflects a broader effort to set clearer rules for fast-growing retail powerhouses. Familiar consumer brands should not be exempt April 21, 2026

New Bank of Korea Gov. Shin Hyun-song Faces Inflation, Debt Squeeze Shin Hyun-song’s inauguration as Bank of Korea governor is widely seen as an asset for South Korea’s economic policy establishment. He helped lead global central bank debates at the Bank for International Settlements and has rare experience spanning macro-finance theory and policymaking, fueling high expectations in markets and academia. But even a top economist is facing a difficult reality at the central bank. In his first remarks as governor, Shin said the bank must “promote price stability April 21, 2026

Choi Won-yong Wins Democratic Nomination for Pyeongtaek Mayor, Eyes June 3 Race The local political scene is closely watching whether Choi Won-yong can win his first bid for Pyeongtaek mayor, with attention rising after he secured the Democratic Party of Korea nomination for the June 3 local elections by winning a runoff on April 20. The campaign is also moving to form a “one team” with participation from candidates he faced in the primary. Choi formally declared his run for Pyeongtaek’s ninth popularly elected mayor on Feb. 24 at the National Assembly’s press briefi April 21, 2026

South Korea Defense Ministry Denies U.S. Forces Commander Protested Minister Over Jung Dong-young Remarks South Korea’s Defense Ministry on Monday denied a claim that the commander of U.S. Forces Korea protested to Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back over a controversy involving Unification Minister Jung Dong-young’s remarks about a North Korean nuclear facility. In a statement issued Monday afternoon, the ministry said it was “not appropriate in terms of South Korea-U.S. military diplomacy” and “not true at all” that the U.S. commander lodged a protest with the defense minister. April 21, 2026

Actor Lee Hoon Says Projects Have Collapsed for Three Years, Will Cut Fee to Audition Actor Lee Hoon said several of his recent projects have repeatedly fallen through. Lee appeared on the KBS Joy variety show "Ask Anything" on the 20th. He said projects he prepared from 2024 to 2025, as well as one he was preparing this year, were postponed indefinitely because of budget problems. "If acting really doesn’t work out, I could boldly give it up," Lee said. "The problem is that offers do come in. But when production gets canceled or delayed, it feels like false hope." Lee a April 21, 2026