South Korea's Ministry of Employment and Labor has unveiled a roadmap to reduce annual working hours to the OECD average of 1,700 hours by 2030, including legislation that would give workers the right to refuse work-related messages after office hours.
Key Policy Changes
The ministry's plan introduces a "right to disconnect" that will be codified in the Working Hours Reduction Support Act scheduled for enactment next year. Workers will be legally entitled to refuse work-related communications, including messaging apps like KakaoTalk, after leaving the office.
Korea's annual working hours stood at 1,859 hours last year, 151 hours above the OECD average of 1,708 hours. The government is also pushing to amend the Labor Standards Act to prevent misuse of the "comprehensive wage system," which has been criticized for enabling unpaid overtime.
Seoul Rental Market Outlook
A Seoul Economy Daily survey found that 85.3% of real estate experts expect Seoul's jeonse (lump-sum deposit lease) and monthly rental prices to rise in the first half of next year. Among respondents, 28.6% predicted increases of 5% or more.
Experts cited strict lending regulations that have shifted housing demand from purchases to rentals (32.3%), rising liquidity and cascading effects from higher home prices (18.1%), and transfer of property tax burdens to tenants (16.4%) as primary factors.
The designation of transaction permit zones has blocked gap investment strategies, leaving major developments like Olympic Park Foreon (12,000 units) with rental listings accounting for just 4% of total units.
AI Startup Investment Surge
Investment in AI startups reached $202 billion this year, a 77.2% jump from $114 billion last year, according to Crunchbase data. The boom has minted billionaires in their 20s and 30s.
At least seven AI startups—including Perplexity, Mercor, and Scale AI—surpassed $10 billion in valuation this year, with six of them founded after 2022. The three co-founders of AI hiring startup Mercor are all 22 years old.
However, some observers have raised concerns about potential overheating in the AI sector.
Corporate Developments
Hyundai Motor Group (005380.KS) is expected to achieve annual U.S. production of one million vehicles next year. The automaker's U.S. factory output is projected to exceed 800,000 units this year for the first time. Domestic sales from Hyundai and Kia's U.S. plants reached 720,058 vehicles from January to November, up 8.3% year-on-year.
The company plans to expand production to 500,000 units annually at its Metaplant facility, raising the local production ratio from 43.5% in the first half of this year to 60% next year to reduce tariff exposure.
Meta Platforms has acquired Manus, a China-linked AI agent startup dubbed "the second DeepSeek," for $2 billion (approximately 2.872 trillion won). Manus, which develops general-purpose AI agents, generated $125 million in revenue within eight months of launching its eponymous service in March. Meta plans to integrate Manus with its Meta AI chatbot and social platforms including Facebook and Instagram as part of a paid subscription business.
Binggrae Foundation signed a second partnership agreement with the National Police Agency to expand scholarship programs for descendants of national merit recipients. The foundation has provided 180 million won in scholarships to 119 students over five years since 2019. Under the new agreement, support will extend to preschool children, with an additional 180 million won to be distributed over the next three years.