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  Anseong Mayor Kim Bo-ra Questions Eligibility Limits in Proposed Regional Doctor Program South Korea’s government is pushing to introduce a “regional doctor program” to address uneven distribution of medical workers. The plan aims to fill gaps in essential care in rural areas, smaller cities, and island and mountainous regions where staffing is scarce. Support for the idea is broad, but the debate has focused on how the program is designed. On Tuesday, Anseong Mayor Kim Bo-ra raised questions in a social media post. Kim said she supports the program in principle but asked whe January 29, 2026
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  Gyeongju to Allow Pets in Restaurants and Bakeries Starting in March GYEONGJU, South Korea — Starting in March, restaurants and other food-service businesses in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang province, will be allowed to admit pets if they meet specified hygiene and safety standards. Gyeongju City said Tuesday the system allowing customers to bring pets into food-service establishments will take effect March 1. The city said the move is intended to improve convenience for pet owners while also protecting the choice of customers who do not have pets. The po January 29, 2026
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  Pohang City Council Speaker Kim Il-man Announces Run for Mayor Kim Il-man, speaker of the Pohang City Council, officially announced his candidacy for Pohang mayor on the 28th in front of the “Goddess Statue” in Songdo, saying the city’s next decade should be guided by “one blueprint,” not fragmented projects. He adopted the campaign slogan “Only Pohang, only citizens, therefore Kim Il-man,” and set “a self-sufficient city where citizens are happy, a Pohang that feels good to live in” as his municipal administration slogan. “Politics is ultimately a January 29, 2026
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  North Gyeongsang Provincial Council Approves Support for Daegu Integration North Gyeongsang Province’s council approved a measure backing administrative integration with the city of Daegu, even as opposition sentiment has been rising in the province’s northern region. The North Gyeongsang Provincial Council said it passed a motion titled “Submission of the council’s opinion on the integration of North Gyeongsang Province and Daegu Metropolitan City” at the first plenary meeting of its 360th extraordinary session on Jan. 28. The vote was 46 in favor, 11 against January 29, 2026
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  Busan’s City Treasury Deposit Rate Lags at 2.46%, Near Bottom Among Major South Korean Cities Busan, South Korea’s second-largest city, is posting one of the lower treasury deposit rates among the nation’s metropolitan governments, newly released data show. The Ministry of the Interior and Safety, publishing a nationwide comparison for the first time, disclosed figures that allow side-by-side analysis of local governments’ treasury interest rates. According to the “local government treasury rate integrated status” posted Tuesday on the Local Finance Integrated Disclosure System January 29, 2026
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  South Korea’s Democratic Party to Introduce Special Act for Jeonnam-Gwangju Special City The Democratic Party said it will introduce, as a party-line bill, a special act to establish “Jeonnam-Gwangju Special City,” a key step toward administrative integration between Gwangju and South Jeolla Province. The party said on Tuesday that its special committee on the Gwangju-Jeonnam integration plan postponed the filing of the bill that had been scheduled for that day. The delay was to address shortcomings in the draft. Provincial and city officials and local lawmakers had agreed January 28, 2026
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  Ruling Bloc Slams Court After Kim Keon Hee Gets 1 Year, 8 Months; Parties Agree on Chip Bill Ruling bloc blasts court after Kim Keon Hee gets 1 year, 8 months Yoon Suk Yeol’s wife, Kim Keon Hee, who was indicted on charges including stock-price manipulation involving Deutsche Motors, was sentenced in a first trial to 1 year and 8 months, far below what prosecutors sought. Lawmakers in the ruling bloc responded with broad criticism of the court. On Tuesday, Park Soo-hyun, senior spokesperson for the Democratic Party, said, “Kim, a ‘comprehensive case of power-type corruption,’ January 28, 2026
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  Ruling, opposition parties agree to pass chip bill and filibuster rules change at Assembly session South Korea’s ruling and opposition parties agreed to pass a semiconductor special act and a revision to the National Assembly Act at a plenary session on Jan. 29. Democratic Party floor leader Han Byung-do and People Power Party floor leader Song Eon-seok reached the deal during a meeting on Jan. 28 in the office of the National Assembly steering committee chair. The Assembly Act revision would allow the National Assembly speaker to hand off presiding duties if an unlimited debate, or f January 28, 2026
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  South Korea presidential office says real estate tax overhaul not imminent The presidential office said it is taking a cautious approach to discussions on revamping real estate taxes, citing the potential impact on markets, while stressing the need for a long-term review to address housing issues at their root. In a briefing with reporters on Tuesday, Policy Chief Kim Yong Beom said that if the government is to find a fundamental solution to real estate problems, the tax system is “an important part” of that effort. But he said it is not something that can be ann January 28, 2026
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  Late Prime Minister Lee Hae-chan to be cremated Jan. 31, laid to rest in Sejong Late Prime Minister Lee Hae-chan, who died while on a business trip to Vietnam on Jan. 25, will be laid to rest in Sejong City after a funeral procession and memorial service on Jan. 31. Lee Hae-sik, a lawmaker from the Democratic Party who serves as vice chair of the funeral committee’s executive body, told reporters at the funeral hall at Seoul National University Hospital on Tuesday about the planned schedule. According to Lee, the funeral procession will begin at 6:30 a.m. on Jan. 3 January 28, 2026