South Korea

Joongang Ilbo | English | News | Jan. 23, 2026 | UndeterminedInitiative

Seoul has discontinued its foreign caregiver pilot program launched in August 2024 due to ongoing controversies surrounding wages, working conditions, and legal protections for the recruited Filipino caregivers. The initiative aimed to address a shortage of child care workers caused by Korea’s low birthrate and to reduce child care costs while supporting women’s workforce participation. However, the program faced immediate challenges, including absenteeism by some caregivers, high service fees for families, and labor rights concerns amid ambiguous job definitions and visa constraints.

Caregivers in the program earned approximately half the average Korean monthly wage, with significant deductions leaving take-home pay low despite high costs charged to households. The program’s structure involved multiple stakeholders, including government bodies and private platform companies, which weakened worker protections, fostered rigid management controls, and contributed to dissatisfaction among caregivers. The E-9 visa system restricted workers’ employer mobility and residency security, exacerbating vulnerabilities inherent in the pilot.

The initiative revealed deeper systemic issues in Korea’s approach to migrant labor and care work, including fragmented oversight across ministries and undervaluation of caregiving jobs. Experts highlighted that improving domestic working conditions might better address caregiver shortages. Despite ongoing demand for child care, program critics argue that without coordinated reforms to labor policies and residency rights, integrating foreign caregivers effectively remains unlikely.

Joongang Ilbo | English | News | Jan. 23, 2026 | Extreme Weather Events

Korea is experiencing its strongest cold wave of the winter, with temperatures in Seoul expected to drop to minus 14 degrees Celsius, the coldest of the season, and subzero conditions below minus 10 degrees forecast to continue through Sunday. Wind chills in parts of the greater Seoul area could make temperatures feel as low as minus 24 degrees. This prolonged cold is linked to a powerful upper-level low-pressure system north of the Korean Peninsula funneling Arctic air southward.

The Korea Meteorological Administration projects temperatures will remain below seasonal averages through the end of January. Health officials warn that the extreme cold raises mortality risks, especially for older adults, with increases in deaths from cardiovascular, cerebrovascular, and respiratory illnesses following cold spells. Between December 1 and January 19, there were 215 cold-related illness cases nationwide, including seven deaths, marking an 8 percent rise from last winter. Authorities emphasize the importance of wearing insulated clothing and monitoring vulnerable populations.

In addition to the cold, heavy snow warnings are in effect along the western coast of Jeolla and in Jeju Island's mountainous areas, with snowfall of up to 3 centimeters per hour expected, potentially causing damage to livestock facilities, greenhouses, and weak structures. Drivers are advised to prepare winter equipment and exercise caution on snow-covered roads.

국정자원 화재 교훈 잊었나...민관 '오프라인 백업' 포기

ET News | Local Language | News | Jan. 23, 2026 | Critical Infrastructure Failure

The National Information Resources Service (NIRS) has discontinued the use of offline backups—physical isolation of data—in the Daegu Center's private-partnership cloud (PPP) zone. This decision removes the last line of defense against ransomware and large-scale network outages, despite a recent fire at NIRS's Daejeon headquarters that caused significant operational paralysis. Instead of physical, offline data dispersion using fireproof safes at the Gongju backup center, the three tenant cloud service providers (Samsung SDS, KT Cloud, and NHN Cloud) shifted to an online backup method via the "G-Cloud dispersion network" connecting the Daegu and Gongju centers.

Previously, NIRS stored data on physical media like tapes, kept disconnected from any network to protect against simultaneous compromise of original and backup data by disasters or cyberattacks. The new online backup approach, with continuous network connectivity, raises concerns about vulnerability to combined physical and cyber threats. This practice conflicts with the Electronic Government Act and National Information Security Basic Guidelines, which require remote data dispersion including physical isolation for systems rated "high" in importance. While remote dispersion is technically maintained via online transmission, abandoning the air gap undermines the intended security standards.

Additionally, the globally accepted "3-2-1 rule" for data protection—three copies on two media types with one offline backup—has been disregarded. Cost and administrative convenience are cited as primary reasons for abandoning offline dispersion; cloud service providers resisted the manual handling of physical tapes required by regulations, and government authorities deferred to CSPs' autonomy within the PPP zone contracts. NIRS officials noted they lack authority to impose offline backup mandates in privately operated PPP zones.

Security experts criticize this approach, noting major global cloud providers like Amazon AWS maintain isolated backup services despite additional costs. They emphasize that sacrificing critical security measures for convenience is unacceptable for nationally important data and call for urgent development of alternative protections such as logical air gaps.