Try the Daily Briefing
Try the Daily Briefing for your country of choice for two weeks--free of charge and with no obligation.
Have a service or subscription question? We'd be happy to hear from you.
South Korea
Intelligence for Better Decision Making
National Assembly Launches First Comprehensive Audit of Lee Jae-myung Administration
Oct. 13, 2025 | Governance & LawThe National Assembly will conduct its first comprehensive audit of the Lee Jae-myung administration from October 13 to November 6, 2025.
**Seventeen standing committees will review 834 organizations, including major ministries such as Justice, National Defense, Foreign Affairs, and the Interior and Safety.**
Key panels—Legislation and Judiciary; Political Affairs; Strategy and Finance; Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting and Communications; Public Administration and Security; and the Operating Committee—will lead the inquiry. The Democratic Party positions the audit as a tool to remove lingering elements of the previous emergency decree and impeachment crisis and to “clear the remnants of the insurrection.”
**The Democratic Party intends to scrutinize alleged abuses under the Yoon Seok-yeol administration across prosecution, media, and the judiciary, calling witnesses tied to former President Yoon and his wife and focusing on accusations such as thesis ghostwriting and bribery.**
Meanwhile, the People Power Party will press the Lee administration on stalled US-Korea tariff talks and controversial economic measures, setting the stage for sharp partisan clashes over the national agenda.
**A central dispute involves whether Kim Hyun-ji, First Deputy Chief of the Presidential Secretariat, will appear as a witness on October 11.**
The opposition insists she clarify alleged personnel overreach—pressuring a ministerial nominee to resign and securing a rapid promotion before Chuseok—while the Democratic Party rejects these summonses as impractical political attacks and argues the audit should prioritize livelihoods and systemic reforms.
**In the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, Democrats will compel Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae to attend the October 13 session, take a witness oath, and explain a May Supreme Court decision that overturned a favorable ruling for Lee Jae-myung on public office election laws.**
If he declines, the committee has threatened accompaniment orders or criminal complaints. The People Power Party counters that this approach undermines the separation of powers and judicial independence, but Democrats insist it is necessary for accountability.
**On October 14, the Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting and Communications Committee will examine the disputed arrest of former Korea Communications Commission Chair Lee Jin-sook and the abolition of the KCC.**
Lawmakers will debate whether Lee can testify as a private citizen, and they will further probe her arrest by the National Police Agency on October 17 to understand the enforcement actions during the commission’s dissolution.
**That same day, the Public Administration and Security Committee will investigate the September 26 fire at the National Information Resources Service facility in Daejeon, which paralyzed 709 government information systems.**
Initial findings attribute the blaze to sparks from moving lithium-ion batteries at 80 percent charge, contrary to safety guidelines. As of October 11, only 35 percent of affected systems had been restored. Critics will question NIRS’s refusal of fire safety inspections, inconsistent personnel reporting, underestimated system counts, lack of redundancy despite prior commitments, and budget cuts requested by the Interior and Safety Ministry.
**The Operating Committee will consider summoning the Presidential Office, National Security Office, and Presidential Security Service to account for the December 3 emergency martial law incident.**
The Democratic Party opposes calling Kim Hyun-ji in this context, labeling it “political conflict,” and seeks to limit business community witnesses to foster industry cooperation on tariff negotiations and economic recovery. In contrast, the People Power Party aims to underscore policy impacts on livelihoods and national finances.
**On October 13, committees on finance, foreign affairs, and industry will convene.**
The Democratic Party plans to emphasize achievements such as the KOSPI surpassing 3,600 while critiquing the previous administration’s policies. The People Power Party will challenge the Lee administration on tariff negotiation deadlocks with the US and on populist measures like livelihood recovery consumption coupons, arguing these initiatives have strained national finances. The audit unfolds as a major confrontation over both institutional accountability and economic policy direction.
### IMPACT ANALYSIS
**From this Development, various impacts could cascade through the system, to a lesser or greater extent, depending on the severity and criticality of the shocks.**
| Domain | Causal Chain | Possible Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Politics | (Partisan ideological-polarisation score ↑ → Legislative gridlock duration ↑ → Policy-uncertainty index deviation ↑ → FDI project postponement count ↑) | Heightened policy uncertainty from partisan gridlock prompts investors to postpone FDI projects, weakening growth prospects. |
| Governance & Law | (Judiciary independence score ↓ → Judicial-intervention in electoral disputes ↑ → Democratic-backsliding score ↑ → International-reputation index ↓) | Erosion of judicial independence fosters interventions in electoral disputes, accelerating democratic backsliding and diminishing Korea’s rule-of-law reputation. |
| Governance & Law | (Separation-of-powers design ↓ → Policy-volatility index ↑ → Average business-permit approval time ↑ → Ease-of-doing-business percentile ↓) | Blurring separation of powers causes policy volatility and permit delays, reducing Korea’s ease-of-doing-business ranking. |
| Governance & Law | (Civil-service recruitment meritocracy ↓ → High-profile corruption indictment count ↑ → Public-trust index in national institutions ↓ → Sovereign governance-risk spread ↑) | Declining civil-service meritocracy heightens corruption indictments, erodes public trust, and raises Korea’s sovereign governance-risk spread. |
| Competitiveness | (Asset-declaration & conflict-of-interest laws ↓ → Regulatory-quality score ↓ → Credit-availability index (SME loan approval) ↓ → Business-formation rate ↓) | Weakened conflict-of-interest laws erode regulatory quality, restrict SME lending, and dampen new business formation. |
| Societal Resilience | (Critical-infrastructure redundancy ratio ↓ → Essential-service outage frequency ↑ → Post-disaster service-restoration time ↑) | Low infrastructure redundancy increases service outages and prolongs post-disaster recovery times for essential systems. |
| Societal Resilience | (Disaster-preparedness governance ↓ → Crisis-compliance behaviour ↓ → Post-disaster service-restoration time ↑ → Well-being bounce-back score ↓) | Inadequate disaster-preparedness governance reduces crisis compliance, delays service restoration, and diminishes societal well-being recovery. |
| Information Dynamics | (Media-ownership concentration ratio ↑ → Media-polarisation score ↑ → Echo-chamber exposure index ↑ → Misinformation-belief prevalence ↑) | Rising media concentration fosters echo chambers and polarization, boosting the prevalence of misinformation beliefs. |
| Social Cohesion | (Independent-media plurality score ↓ → Media-trust volatility index ↑ → Protest frequency ↑ → Protest-to-dialogue conversion ratio ↓) | Declining media plurality heightens protest frequency and reduces constructive dialogue, weakening social cohesion. |
| Macroeconomics & Growth | (Political-instability risk score ↑ → Sovereign spread over risk-free rate ↑ → Business-confidence diffusion index ↓ → Private-fixed-investment growth deviation ↓) | Increased political instability risk drives up sovereign spreads, depresses business confidence, and curtails private investment growth. |
| Competitiveness | (Trade-openness & preferential access ↓ → Global export-market share shift ↓ → WEF competitiveness rank change ↓) | Reduced trade openness and preferential access shrink export market share and lower Korea’s global competitiveness ranking. |
### BOTTOM LINE
- The 23‑day, 834‑organization audit will sharply intensify partisan confrontation and is likely to extend legislative gridlock, which will raise policy uncertainty and prompt multinational investors to delay or pause new FDI projects unless the government rapidly demonstrates policy continuity and a clear, time‑bound agenda to stabilize markets.
- Forcing Chief Justice Cho to testify under oath and threatening accompaniment orders creates a credible risk of undermining judicial independence, which will plausibly trigger domestic and international concern about separation of powers and could cause downgrades in rule‑of‑law assessments unless the legislature adopts less coercive, court‑sensitive procedures and third‑party monitoring is introduced.
- The opposition’s pursuit of First Deputy Chief Kim Hyun‑ji and other personnel probes will erode meritocratic norms in the civil service if left unchecked, increasing the probability of corruption investigations and public distrust that can widen sovereign governance risk; this can be mitigated by establishing an independent personnel review board, publishing transparent hiring and promotion records, and fast‑tracking inquiries through nonpartisan channels.
- The National Information Resources Service fire that disabled 709 systems exposed insufficient redundancy and safety governance, and absent immediate remediation—accelerated restoration, external safety audits, and emergency redundancy funding—critical public services are likely to face longer outages and slower recovery in future incidents.
- The investigation into the KCC’s abolition and the arrest of its former chair is creating regulatory uncertainty for telecom and media sectors, which will raise compliance costs and deter investment unless authorities publish a clear legal justification and an orderly transition plan that protects existing contracts and spectrum assignments.
- Public scrutiny of stalled US‑Korea tariff talks elevates the risk that exporters will lose or delay preferential access to key markets, hurting competitiveness in autos, electronics and components unless the administration prioritizes a restart of negotiations and forms an industry‑government task force to shield exporters during the audit period.
- Partisan media framing of the audit will concentrate audiences in ideological echo chambers and increase the spread of unverified allegations, which is likely to amplify protest activity and complicate crisis communications unless government and private actors rely on independent fact‑checking, diversified briefings, and proactive transparency measures.
- Legislative pressure on the judiciary and executive institutions will probably increase policy volatility and administrative delays (permits, approvals), degrading ease‑of‑doing‑business metrics and discouraging firm‑level investment unless the Assembly confines inquiries to fixed timelines, avoids retroactive regulatory changes, and commits to preserving regulatory stability for commercial processes.
- If the audit becomes perceived as partisan retribution rather than systemic reform, public trust in institutions will likely decline further and civic unrest could increase; calming this requires a bipartisan memorandum of understanding on audit scope, independent oversight for sensitive probes, and public reporting of remedial actions with measurable timelines.
- The combined reputational strain from perceived judicial coercion and disputes over fiscal measures (for example, consumption coupons) will plausibly raise political‑instability indicators and corporate risk premiums, which could depress private fixed investment and slow GDP growth unless the government immediately enhances fiscal transparency and introduces temporary stabilization measures to reassure markets.
- Immediate operational priorities that limit cascading problems are clear and actionable: expedite full restoration and verified inventories for all NIRS systems, commission an independent audit of IT redundancy and fire‑safety compliance, publish a governmentwide personnel‑transparency package, and reopen targeted tariff negotiations with a clearly defined negotiator and industry consultation timeline.
- To prevent longer‑term degradation of governance and competitiveness, lawmakers should protect conflict‑of‑interest and asset‑declaration regimes from politicization by strengthening independent anti‑corruption institutions, preserving meritocratic recruitment processes via an autonomous civil‑service commission, and codifying separation‑of‑powers safeguards for oversight activities.
Incheon Airport Workers Pause Strike Amid Labor Talks During Chuseok Travel Rush
Oct. 13, 2025 | Transportation & LogisticsUnionized workers at Incheon International Airport paused their strike as the Chuseok holiday travel surge approached, intensifying pressure on management to resolve lingering labor disputes.
**On October 11, unionized workers at Incheon International Airport paused their strike after ten days of collective action that began October 1.**
Originally, about 15,000 union members across 15 airports joined the walkouts, but only Incheon sustained its strike through the Chuseok holiday. Subsidiary employees at Incheon resumed work after an 11-day stoppage, and after a formal meeting at Terminal 1 on October 11, the main Incheon Airport branch of the Korean Public Service and Transport Workers’ Union shifted to a leadership-only strike.
**Against this backdrop, the union has tabled four core demands: implementing a more flexible shift system, increasing staffing levels, enhancing treatment and protections for subsidiary employees, and strengthening industrial accident prevention measures.**
Both sides aired these issues during their first formal negotiations with Incheon International Airport Corporation and agreed to pursue collaborative solutions.
**To address those demands, both parties scheduled intensive negotiations for October 13, with the union tying a full strike withdrawal to satisfactory progress.**
It has warned that if its demands go unaddressed, it will launch an indefinite strike on October 25. Meanwhile, the National Airport Workers’ Solidarity plans to hold a press conference on October 14 outside the presidential office in Yongsan, calling for a meeting with presidential officials to seek further intervention in the dispute.
Monitored Intelligence for South Korea - Oct. 13, 2025
News
Media
166
Government
Releases
0
City/State
Releases
4
Embassy
Releases
0
Foreign
Service
Advisories
0
Service
Advisories
0
Academic/
Think
Tank
0
Think
Tank
0
Podcasts
0
Videos
0
Social
Media
0
Business
Releases
0
Erudite Risk takes an all risks approach to intelligence reporting. We categorize key intelligence into one of 40 different risk intelligence categories.
The goal is to provide intelligence that allows decision makers to avoid being blindsided by what they may have missed, while informing them to make better decisions as well.
Risk Categories Reported on Today
Risk Category
Items Reported On
Geopolitical Conflict and Disputes
8
North Korea
11
Political Scandal or Corruption
5
IP Protection
4
Critical Infrastructure Failure
2
Corporate Corruption or Fraud
4
Accidents
3
Strikes and Work Stoppages
2
Crime
4
Regulation
1
Shifting Geopolitical Alliances
2
Erudite Risk also includes operations categories so you can monitor the environment for better decision making. Everything is tied together--what happens in risk affects operations and what happens in the market impacts risk profiles.
We categorize key intelligence into one of 30 different operations intelligence categories.
Different roles and functions within the organization can monitor different key issue areas. HR may monitor employment, wages, regulations, labor and management relations, etc., while P&L leaders may monitor overall developing trends.
Operations Categories Reported on Today
Operations Category
Items Reported On
Politics and Elections
2
Bizdev-Partnering
2
Asset Price Change
3
Operating Results
3
Tech Development/Adoption
9
Demographics
1
Legal Exposure
2
Budgets-Budgeting
1
Financial System Problems
1
Mergers & Acquisitions
2
실종된 20대 청년 인구…70대 이상에도 추월, 경제 활력 ‘빨간불’
Missing population of people in their 20s… Surpassed even those over 70, economic vitality on red alert
Maekyung | Local Language | News | Oct. 13, 2025 | UndeterminedDemographics
South Korea’s population of people in their 20s has rapidly declined over the past four years, shrinking by 700,000 and becoming the smallest among adult age groups for the first time since 1925. In 2024, their population stood at 6.3 million, falling below the 6.5 million aged 70 and over. This marks a significant demographic shift from 30 years ago when people in their 20s were the largest adult cohort.
The decline in the 20s population is compounded by labor market challenges. The employment rate for this age group was 60.5% as of August 2025, down 1.2 percentage points from the previous year, and has remained stagnant or decreased for 12 months straight. Youth unemployment reached 5.0%, the highest in three years. Large companies increasingly favor experienced hires over new graduates, with 28.1% of college graduate hires being experienced, up 2.3 percentage points from last year. Economic issues like U.S. tariff impacts on manufacturing and contractions in construction have worsened youth employment prospects.
Experts warn this demographic and employment crisis threatens South Korea’s economic vitality and national competitiveness. The increasing barriers for people in their 20s to enter the workforce may discourage marriage and childbirth, potentially exacerbating the country's low birthrate and aging population problems in a damaging feedback loop.
배민·쿠팡 ‘반칙’ 조사한다더니 하세월…공정위 배달앱 제재 1건뿐
BaeMin and Coupang ‘Cheating’ Investigation Dragging On… Fair Trade Commission Only Took Action Against One Delivery App Case
Maekyung | Local Language | News | Oct. 13, 2025 | Corporate Corruption or Fraud
More than a year after investigations began in June 2024, the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) has yet to conclude most cases involving unfair practices by delivery apps Baemin and Coupang Eats. The consent decision related to their “free delivery” advertising has been stalled for six months, well beyond the typical timeframe, raising concerns about prolonged harm to small business owners.
Since 2020, the FTC has only imposed sanctions once—when Yogiyo was fined 468 million won for enforcing a lowest-price guarantee. Currently, five cases involving Baemin, four involving Coupang, and one involving Yogiyo are under investigation. These include allegations of demanding most-favored treatment, bundling, preferential treatment, unfair contract terms, and deceptive advertising, with Baemin and Coupang both implicated in the “free delivery” fee-shifting issue.
Investigations started with Coupang’s bundling allegations in June 2024 and have expanded to various unfair practices by Baemin throughout the year. However, no conclusions have been reached despite average FTC case handling times being around 104 days, compared to the significantly longer delays now seen. Lawmakers criticize these delays for exacerbating the challenges faced by self-employed business owners struggling with commission fees and unfair platform practices.
The FTC maintains that the overall delays are not excessive and is working through a specialized task force to expedite resolutions. Meanwhile, lawmakers urge a swift conclusion to ease the financial burdens on small businesses caused by ongoing unfair delivery app practices.
北·中 총리 회담…"격변하는 국제정세서 공동 이익 수호"(종합)
North and South Korean Prime Ministers' Talks… Joint Protection of Common Interests Amid Rapidly Changing International Situation (Comprehensive)
Newsis | Local Language | News | Oct. 13, 2025 | North Korea
On October 11, 2025, North Korean Premier Pak Tae-sung and Chinese Premier Li Qiang held talks at the Mansudae Assembly Hall in Pyongyang during Li's visit to attend the 80th anniversary of the founding of the North Korean Workers' Party. Li emphasized the importance of strengthening cooperation amid a rapidly changing international situation to safeguard the common interests of both countries and uphold international fairness and justice.
Li expressed China's continued firm support for the Workers' Party of Korea and highlighted the shared historical ties between the two nations, referencing the 75th anniversary of the Chinese People's Volunteers' participation in the Korean War. He also indicated a desire to pursue practical cooperation with North Korea to advance socialist construction and strengthen cultural, educational, youth, and sports exchanges to deepen bilateral people-to-people relations.
Premier Pak reiterated North Korea’s support for China’s core interests and willingness to jointly commemorate the Korean War anniversary. He stressed the importance of close participation in multilateral cooperation and safeguarding mutual interests. Both leaders reaffirmed the outcomes of last month’s summit between Kim Jong Un and Xi Jinping, pledging to implement agreements to strengthen high-level exchanges, political trust, and traditional friendly cooperation.
During his visit, Li paid respects at the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun and met with key figures including Kim Jong Un, Vietnamese General Secretary To Lam, and Russian Security Council Vice Chairman Dmitry Medvedev. Li’s attendance marked the first visit by China’s second-highest official to the Workers’ Party founding ceremony in 16 years and the first Chinese attendance at the event in a decade.
Contact us for a free trial of the Daily Briefing for your country of choice.
We currently cover:
South KoreaJapan
China
Taiwan
Vietnam
India
info@eruditerisk.com
The Daily Briefing is delivered Monday through Thursday via email.
Each day's reports include a combination of:
Takes
Takes are our deep dives into a topic of enduring interest or concern. Takes include copious references to all the media resources we gathered to build them.
Developments
Developments are key issues and incidents being heavily reported on in country. These are the centers of local thought gravity around which everything else revolves.
Risk Media
Summaries and analysis of the most important risk issues reported on in media, arranged by risk category. Learn about risk trends and issues while they are developing--before they blow up.
Ops Media
Summaries and analysis of the most important operational issues reported on in media, arranged by operations category. See what's changing in your market, and what's not.
Government Releases
Government press and data releases on key economic data, regulation, law, intiatives, incidents. Straight from the government's press to your eyes in less than a day.
Embassy and Business Association Releases
Statements and news releases from foreign embassies and business/industry associations, including chambers of commerce.
The Daily Briefing is comprehensive!
The Daily Briefing can run 50-100 pages each day!
Luckily, Erudite Risk tailors every report specifically to you.
Content Filtering
We try hard to ensure that every piece of information included in each day's reports will be of interest to our readers.
To fulfill our goal of comprehensively monitoring the intelligence landscape and also keeping reports readable, we build big reports--then deliver only the information that applies to you.
Each Daily Briefing is a bespoke report matched to your concerns. Tell us what you want in it, or we can match it to your professional needs. It's that easy.