Fifth-Generation Private Health Insurance to Launch May 6, Cutting Premiums and Narrowing Some Noncovered Benefits Fifth-generation indemnity health insurance will launch May 6, marking a broader overhaul of South Korea’s private health insurance system as insurers introduce redesigned coverage. The new plans are expected to lower premium burdens for consumers while insurers look to improve loss ratios. A key challenge, however, will be creating incentives for existing policyholders to switch. According to reporting by Aju Business Daily on the 27th, major nonlife insurers including Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance, Hyundai Marine & Fire Insurance, KB Insurance and DB Insurance will roll out fifth-generation plans on May 6. The launch had been set for May 1 but was adjusted in consideration of a holiday break. The fifth-generation product shifts benefits toward severe conditions. Unlike the fourth-generation plans, which broadly covered noncovered services, the new plans keep coverage for severe noncovered care but reduce limits and reimbursement rates for nonsevere noncovered services. Manual therapy and some new medical technologies are excluded, and the out-of-pocket share for nonsevere noncovered care rises to as much as 50%. Premiums are also expected to drop sharply, offering an alternative for people who do not frequently use noncovered medical services. For a man in his 40s enrolled in second-generation plans—where insurers have the largest number of policyholders—the average monthly premium as of the end of last year was about 45,000 won, compared with an estimated 17,000 won for the fifth-generation plan. Insurers expect the changes to curb excessive use of noncovered care and improve a loss-ratio structure that has been described as chronically unprofitable. Indemnity health insurance has posted high loss ratios for years, weighing on insurers’ profitability. According to the Korea Insurance Research Institute, the combined risk loss ratio for first- through fourth-generation plans reached 119.3% as of the third quarter of last year. Still, industry officials say broader adoption will depend on moving first- and second-generation policyholders into the new plans. Those older products can be maintained long term with coverage lasting to age 80 or 100 and typically offer broader benefits, raising concerns that customers will see little reason to switch. “First- and second-generation indemnity plans, unlike the third and fourth generations, are structured so policyholders can keep their existing coverage,” an industry official said. “If there are not sufficient incentives to encourage switching, the impact of the market overhaul could be limited.” Financial authorities plan to announce measures soon, including a contract buyback option to encourage conversions of first- and second-generation policies, as well as guidance related to optional riders. Financial Supervisory Service Gov. Lee Chan-jin said at a press briefing late last month that even after the fifth-generation plans launch, incentives would remain an issue for continued discussion. 2026-04-27 15:40:49

Taiwan court sentences ex-Tokyo Electron engineer to 10 years for TSMC trade secret theft Taiwan’s court specializing in intellectual property and commercial cases has sentenced a former employee of Japanese chip-equipment maker Tokyo Electron (TEL) to 10 years in prison for stealing confidential data from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., the world’s largest contract chipmaker. Bloomberg News and other outlets reported on the 27th that the Taiwan Intellectual Property and Commercial Court sentenced engineer Chen Li-ming, who previously worked at Tokyo Electron, to 10 years. Four other defendants in the case received sentences of up to six years, and one woman was sentenced to 10 months in prison, suspended for three years. Applying a dual-liability provision, the court also fined Tokyo Electron’s Taiwan unit 150 million New Taiwan dollars (about 7 billion won). Prosecutors said Chen recruited two TSMC employees and obtained confidential drawings related to the company’s next-generation 2-nanometer process technology. The employees accessed the company’s internal network while working from home, photographed the materials with mobile phones and passed them along. Authorities said the leaked materials totaled about 1,000 pages. The ruling was seen as reflecting Taiwan authorities’ push to strengthen protection of semiconductor technology, a core foundation of the global artificial intelligence industry. Taiwan has maintained a high level of vigilance over intellectual property leaks, stepping up monitoring not only of activity linked to China, which is seeking to build up its own semiconductor industry, but also of existing partners. In early 2025, Taiwan authorities began investigating whether China’s largest foundry, SMIC, illegally recruited local engineers to obtain advanced technology. Last year, prosecutors also searched the home of a former TSMC executive after allegations of a technology leak surfaced following the executive’s move to Intel.* This article has been translated by AI. 2026-04-27 15:40:04

Non-Apartment Housing Supply Shrinks as Korea’s Market Tilts to Apartments Apartment-focused supply policy and market preferences are rapidly squeezing non-apartment housing on both the supply and demand sides. According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport on the 27th, nationwide housing permits totaled 379,000 units last year. Of those, non-apartment homes accounted for just 8.7%, or 33,061 units. Seoul had the highest non-apartment share at 15.5%, but of its 6,442 permitted units, multi-family homes made up 5,108, or 79%. The decline reflects a long-running structure in which both the private sector and the government favor apartments for efficiency, infrastructure and liquidity. As that preference has hardened, supply of non-apartment types such as detached, multi-household and row houses has effectively stalled. Broader supply indicators are also weakening. Total housing permits fell from 740,000 households in 2016 to about 410,000 recently, and Seoul’s permit volume has also dropped by about half. Because permits typically translate into move-ins three to five years later, analysts say a medium- to long-term supply decline is likely. Starts and presales have also fallen, tightening the pipeline across multiple stages. For builders, non-apartment projects offer thinner margins. Surging construction costs have raised burdens, and small-scale projects make it difficult to achieve economies of scale. With financing conditions worsening and tax burdens such as acquisition and comprehensive real estate taxes adding pressure, demand has also concentrated on owning a single apartment rather than multiple homes. Falling demand is reshaping the rental market. As more tenants avoid jeonse, preference has shifted toward monthly rent, putting upward pressure on monthly rents for non-apartment homes. Combined with a weakening apartment jeonse market, tenants’ housing costs are rising. The shift is also eroding the role non-apartment housing has played as a “housing ladder.” In the past, tenants often used jeonse in non-apartment homes to build savings before moving to an apartment. With the market moving toward monthly rent, asset-building has become harder, and housing burdens for vulnerable groups are increasing, critics say. Byun Chang-heum, a professor of public administration at Sejong University, said current rules on parking and sunlight rights mean “places where you can build have already been built out.” He added that “prices fall as demand declines, but regulations stay the same and construction costs rise, so the business case doesn’t work.” Byun said rising building costs have created a mismatch in which both supply and demand fail to align. He also said policies that convert non-apartment areas into apartments take a long time and face limits because alternatives for existing residents are insufficient. As an alternative, Byun proposed mid-rise, high-density housing. “In a structure split between low-rise neighborhoods and high-rise apartments, mid-rise high-density complexes can be a realistic option,” he said, calling for eased building, urban planning and parking rules and incentives to improve feasibility. He said the floor area ratio for redevelopment projects, now around 250%, should be raised to about 400%, along with institutional changes such as easing consent requirements. Park Won-gap, senior real estate specialist at KB Kookmin Bank, cited rising construction costs, financing difficulties and the fallout from so-called “underwater jeonse” as key factors behind the supply contraction. “To revive the non-apartment market, policy design should separate apartments and non-apartments,” he said. “Overall housing stability is possible only if the non-apartment market survives.” He added that expanding tax benefits for non-apartment housing could also be considered.* This article has been translated by AI. 2026-04-27 15:39:19

Korail to Add Train Service for Buddha’s Birthday Holiday in May Korea Railroad Corp., known as Korail, said Monday it will expand train service by adding special trains for the Buddha’s Birthday holiday period in May. Korail will operate 38 additional KTX and conventional train services on four routes nationwide, including the Gyeongbu and Honam lines, from May 23 through the substitute holiday on May 25. The added runs will increase capacity by about 19,000 seats. Korail will also add three early-morning KTX services on May 26, the day after the holiday period, to improve commuting convenience. Tickets for the additional trains will go on sale at 10 a.m. on April 28 through Korail’s ticketing website, its mobile app KorailTalk, and station ticket counters nationwide. Lee Min-seong, head of Korail’s customer marketing division, said the operator is increasing service to meet higher travel demand during the holiday and will do its best to provide safe and comfortable service.* This article has been translated by AI. 2026-04-27 15:36:23

Samsung SDS, LG CNS Sign Reseller Deals for OpenAI’s ChatGPT Edu in Korea Samsung SDS and LG CNS have each signed reseller partner agreements for OpenAI’s education-focused service, ChatGPT Edu, stepping up competition to secure an early lead in the education AI transformation market. The two companies said on the 27th that they secured the right to supply ChatGPT Edu on the same day and will ramp up sales to South Korean universities and other educational institutions. ChatGPT Edu is designed for educational institutions, supporting tasks such as generating lecture materials, organizing research and reports, and providing personalized tutoring. It applies a “non-training” policy under which user conversations and responses are not used as AI training data, strengthening data privacy. Built on the latest GPT-5 language model, it supports text generation, coding, data analysis, document summarization and custom chatbot creation. The service offers the same security environment as ChatGPT Enterprise, allowing use without concerns about sensitive information leaks, and it is also positioned at a more affordable price for schools, the companies said. Arizona State University, the California State University system, Harvard University, the University of Oxford, the University of London, the Wharton School and the National University of Singapore are using ChatGPT Edu, and Estonia has introduced it across its secondary education system to expand AI use by students and teachers. Samsung SDS is conducting a proof of concept with Korea National Open University, which has about 90,000 students, and plans to discuss a formal rollout. The company said it will provide end-to-end AI transformation services through a “One-Team” setup spanning AI consulting, development, operations, cloud and security, supported by its own cloud and GPU-based AI infrastructure. LG CNS said it will run a series of introductory tours and AI education seminars for major universities in the Seoul metropolitan area. It is also reviewing plans to work with universities and OpenAI on developing AI education curricula and operating hackathons. LG CNS said its dedicated ChatGPT organization, the “OpenAI Launch Center,” will handle full-stack services from adoption consulting to technical support, with participation by AI engineers, architects and consultants alongside OpenAI specialists. Both companies pointed to progress in the corporate market. Samsung SDS said it has signed supply contracts with major companies across the public, finance, manufacturing, distribution and service sectors, including Nexen Tire. LG CNS said it began supplying ChatGPT Enterprise in February and has secured about 10 corporate customers in manufacturing, chemicals, finance and biotech. Lee Jeong-heon, vice president and head of strategic marketing at Samsung SDS, said the company will “strengthen our role as an AX partner that designs and scales corporate AI operating systems, beyond being a simple reseller.” Kim Tae-hoon, vice president and head of the AI Cloud Business Division at LG CNS, said, “As we have rapidly expanded customer use cases through our ChatGPT Enterprise business, this Edu reseller agreement expands our business into the education AX field.” * This article has been translated by AI. 2026-04-27 15:34:09

Jipyeong to Hold Seminar on Building Sales Act Risks After Supreme Court Ruling Jipyeong LLC said Sunday it will hold a seminar at 2 p.m. on May 11 titled “Building Sales Act A to Z Every Developer Must Know.” The firm said the event will examine the practical impact of a Supreme Court ruling issued Dec. 24, 2025 (2025Da215248) and outline ways to identify and respond to legal risks that can arise throughout the sales process. The ruling clarified that when a corrective order is issued under the Act on the Sale of Buildings, buyers are entitled to cancel their contracts regardless of how serious the violation is. The decision is viewed as a precedent that could significantly affect industry practice, as even relatively minor violations — such as missing information in sales advertising — may lead to contract cancellation and refunds. As a result, developers face increased pressure to strictly comply with legal obligations at every stage, before and after contracts are signed. Jipyeong said the seminar will cover key issues and response strategies from the pre-sale stage through contract signing and post-sale management. It also plans to introduce recent issues, including the main points of a proposed enforcement decree revision and the potential use of constitutional complaints. The seminar will open with remarks by partner attorney Song Han-sa and feature three presentations. Partner attorney Kang Min-je will speak on the pre-sale stage, focusing on the Act’s regulatory framework and practical precautions. Attorney Kim Min-ju will address legal duties and risk management at the contract-signing stage. Partner attorney Baek Jong-hyeon will discuss major post-sale issues and response strategies. Song, head of Jipyeong’s Construction and Real Estate Group, said the ruling made clear that even minor procedural flaws can lead to contract cancellations, requiring close legal review across the entire project. He said he hopes the seminar will help developers assess risks in advance and prepare response plans. * This article has been translated by AI. 2026-04-27 15:33:16

Samsung union flags 18% output hit, raises stakes with 18-day strike threat SEOUL, April 27 (AJP) - Unionized workers at Samsung Electronics said last week’s rally cut memory output by nearly 20 percent, signaling the scale of disruption a looming 18-day strike could unleash on global chip supply. In a statement Monday, Choi Seung-ho, head of the company’s Enterprise Union branch, said a hours-long rally on April 23 led to a 58 percent drop in foundry production and an 18 percent decline in memory chip output, based on overnight wafer transfer data. According to the union, wafer movement — a key production indicator — fell sharply during the night shift following the rally. Foundry output dropped about 58.1 percent, with the Giheung S1 line plunging 74.3 percent. Memory production fell 18.4 percent overall, with a steeper decline in DRAM processes. “A union of 40,000 members is a reality management cannot ignore and a powerful driving force for change,” Choi said, warning that an 18-day general strike would create a “30 trillion won ($21.7 billion) vacuum.” An estimated 40,000 workers — about 30 to 40 percent of union members — joined the rally at the Pyeongtaek campus on April 23. The union plans to proceed with an 18-day strike from May 21, beginning protests at Chairman Lee Jae-yong’s residence. The scale marks a sharp escalation from Samsung’s first-ever strike in 2024, which drew about 5,000 workers, or roughly 15 percent of union members. Semiconductor cleanrooms must operate continuously, as chipmaking involves hundreds of tightly sequenced processes building microscopic circuit layers on silicon wafers. Even brief disruptions risk yield losses and equipment instability. The union is demanding the removal of caps on performance bonuses and greater transparency in the compensation system, accusing management of abandoning Samsung’s “people first” philosophy and reducing employee contributions to market-driven metrics. Samsung maintained a neutral stance on the union’s claims. “It is not for us to confirm or deny the figures; they should be understood as the union’s position,” a company official said, adding that efforts to reach a settlement would continue. Analysts warn that any disruption at the world’s largest memory chipmaker could tighten an already constrained market. “If the May strike materializes, supply shortages could deepen due to production disruptions, adding upward pressure on prices,” said Kim Dong-won, head of research at KB Securities. Kim added that even in a worst-case scenario where the strike lasts 18 days, it could take an additional two to three weeks to fully restart and stabilize automated production lines. Given Samsung’s global market share — about 36 percent in DRAM and 32 percent in NAND — and the production weight of its Pyeongtaek and Hwaseong campuses, KB Securities estimates the strike could reduce global supply by 3 to 4 percent for DRAM and 2 to 3 percent for NAND. “In a tight supply-demand environment, this strike could become a key variable reinforcing upward price pressure,” Kim said. The union has said it will proceed with the strike from May 21 to June 7 unless an agreement is reached on its demands, which include scrapping the performance bonus cap and implementing a more transparent compensation system. Shares of Samsung Electronics continued to rally, regardless of the strike risk. They ended Monday 2.3 percent up at 224,500 won, a tad off the record-high closing of 229,500 won. 2026-04-27 15:32:54

Moon Jae-in urges dialogue for Korean Peninsula peace; Lee Jae-myung vows no hostile acts Former President Moon Jae-in on April 27 voiced concern over strained inter-Korean ties and said the Lee Jae-myung government should help ensure the Korean Peninsula becomes “a land of sustainable peaceful coexistence and prosperity,” not confrontation. President Lee also reaffirmed his intention to pursue a policy of peaceful coexistence without hostile acts. Moon made the remarks at the National Assembly during a ceremony marking the eighth anniversary of the April 27 Panmunjom Declaration, saying, “Protecting and building peace on the Korean Peninsula ultimately depends on our own capabilities.” It was his second visit to the Assembly since leaving office in May 2022, following his attendance at the same event last year. Moon called the Panmunjom Declaration “a historic declaration” that included improving inter-Korean relations, easing military tensions, substantially reducing the risk of war and building a peace regime on the peninsula. “The spring of peace on the Korean Peninsula in 2018 did not come on its own,” he said. “Even though North Korea’s response remains cold and hostile, this is precisely the time to be patient and stay the course. If we do, opportunities for dialogue will surely return.” Lee did not attend due to scheduling conflicts, but Senior Presidential Secretary for Political Affairs Hong Ik-pyo read his message. Lee said, “Eight years ago today, the Korean Peninsula was filled with the feeling of spring,” and that the two leaders had shown the world “a hopeful path forward.” “Unfortunately, that promise was not kept,” Lee said, adding that peace must still be made to take root amid “severance and hostility.” He said the “people’s sovereignty government” would not pursue absorption-based unification and, under the principle of “no hostile acts of any kind,” would steadily push a coexistence policy in which the two Koreas live peacefully and grow together. The Panmunjom Declaration was issued after a summit on April 27, 2018, at Panmunjom between Moon and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. It included goals such as a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula, a declaration ending the war and the establishment of a joint inter-Korean liaison office. This year’s event was co-hosted by the Council for the Inheritance and Development of Democratic Governments’ Korean Peninsula Peace and the Ministry of Unification, and sponsored by the Democratic Party, the Rebuilding Korea Party and the Friedrich Ebert Foundation. The council is a group formed last year by the Korean Peninsula Peace Forum, with participants including the Kim Dae-jung Foundation, the Roh Moo-hyun Foundation and Forum Sasae. Attendees included Moon and his wife; Hong; National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik; Democratic Party leader Jung Cheong-rae; Unification Minister Chung Dong-young; Kim Dae-jung Foundation Chairman Kwon Noh-kap; Roh Moo-hyun Foundation Chairman Cha Sung-soo; and Korean Peninsula Peace Forum Chairman Lim Dong-won.* This article has been translated by AI. 2026-04-27 15:27:20

South Korea, Australia to hold foreign ministers' meeting in Seoul this week SEOUL, April 27 (AJP) - Foreign Minister Cho Hyun is scheduled to meet his Australian counterpart in Seoul later this week, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Monday. Cho is expected to discuss cooperation in various areas including the defense and energy sectors, during his meeting with Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong on Thursday. According to the ministry, the two sides will reaffirm their commitment to working together on shared challenges including the ongoing conflict in the Middle East and supply chain disruptions, while also exploring ways to deepen broader cooperation. Their meeting comes about a month after they spoke by phone and follows their meeting in October last year, when Wong visited South Korea to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in the southeastern city of Gyeongju. Wong's trip to Seoul is part of her three-nation Asian tour, which will take her to China and Japan. With a "strong bilateral relationship underpinned by shared strategic interests, complementary economies and generational ties between our people," South Korea is "one of Australia's most important sources of refined fuels, including diesel, automotive gasoline and aviation fuel," she said in a press release. 2026-04-27 15:27:08

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon Launches Local Election Bid, Vows to Check Lee Jae-myung Government People Power Party Seoul mayoral candidate Oh Se-hoon stepped down from the mayor’s post on April 27 and began full-scale campaigning, seeking to close the polling gap with Democratic Party candidate Jung Won-oh. Oh carried out mayoral duties in the morning, then around lunchtime completed his preliminary candidate registration with the election commission. He then walked from Seoul City Hall to Bosingak in Gwancheol-dong, Jongno District, greeting residents along the way, and held a news conference in front of the bell pavilion to announce his candidacy. “I will protect Seoul and help get the country back on its feet,” Oh said. Referring to what he called moves by the government and ruling party to cancel the prosecution in the Daejang-dong case, he added that he would “set right this runaway behavior by the Lee Jae-myung government.” Oh also criticized the period under former Mayor Park Won-soon, saying housing supply stalled while support for government-aligned civic groups surged. He called Park’s tenure “10 years of darkness” and “a period of Seoul’s decline,” and said that during his past five years in office he laid the groundwork to supply 310,000 homes in Seoul by 2031. He also criticized what he described as “no-questions-asked” support totaling 1.0222 trillion won for such groups at the time, and said he would prevent Seoul from again becoming “prey” for organizations that present themselves as civic groups. Oh also addressed his decision to register about two weeks earlier than expected. The National Election Commission’s official candidate registration period is May 14-15. Oh said he decided to work harder because polls showed him “slightly behind” Jung, and said the early move reflected his determination to “protect Seoul” and stop what he called the Lee administration’s “runaway” actions. Asked about his strategy as he seeks a third consecutive term and a fifth term overall, Oh said elections are “not about strategy but about sincerity.” He said he would reach out to residents, communicate more and turn candid advice into policy. Oh said he would make the Lee government, which he said had begun to “run wild,” feel uneasy as it watches Seoul voters’ choice. He also appealed for support, saying Seoul residents had “raised” him into a “public asset of the Republic of Korea” through four elections. Oh opened his campaign office, called the “Jumping Up Camp,” in the Daewang Building near Bosingak. He said the name reflects his goal of helping Seoul “jump” into a “special city for quality of life.” In a Facebook post, Oh said “Jumping Up” carries a promise that if the past five years were about restoring the foundation, the next step is to “jump higher” with residents and unlock Seoul’s potential.* This article has been translated by AI. 2026-04-27 15:16:54