Aug. 31

• ●President Yoon unveils plan for secure pension payments and variable premiums (The Chosun Daily)
  On Aug 29., President Yoon Suk-yeol announced new pension reform measures, which include codifying the guarantee of national pension payments and implementing premium increases that vary by generation.

Sept. 1

• ●Less than 40% of young S. Koreans willing to have children, survey reveals (The Chosun Daily)
  Amid the worsening low birthrate in South Korea, a recent survey revealed that less than 40% of the younger population is willing to have children.

Sept. 2

• ●43% of Koreans aged 20-49 do not plan to have kids: survey (The Korea Herald)
  Nearly 43 percent of South Korean nationals between ages 20 and 49 do not plan to have children, though a substantial number of respondents said they would consider changing their minds if government policies and corporate support for it were significantly expanded, a survey showed.
  
  

• ●Health minister seeks to soothe concerns over hospital emergency rooms (The Korea Times)
  Health Minister Cho Kyoo-hong on Monday tried to soothe concerns about hospital emergency rooms, as some doctors have warned of a potential disruption of emergnecy care due to a prolonged walkout by trainee doctors.
  
  

• ●Nearly 70% of Koreans support gradual increase in med school quota: survey (The Korea Times)
  Nearly 7 out of 10 Koreans voiced support for a gradual increase in the medical school admission quota rather than a drastic hike, a survey showed Monday.

Sept. 3

• ●1 in 3 workers taking parental leave are dads (The Korea Herald)
  According to the Ministry of Employment and Labor, one in three workers who took parental leave in the first half of this year were fathers.
  
  

• ●Can egg freezing help solve Korea's low birthrate? (The Korea Times)
  Dozens of people lined up outside a two-story building in Seongsu-dong, Seoul, on Aug. 23, despite the scorching heat.
  
  

• ●Health authorities advise Japanese encephalitis vaccinations after year's first cases confirmed (Korea JoongAng Daily)
  National health authorities on Tuesday advised people to get vaccinated to prevent infections of mosquito-borne Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) after they confirmed the year's first two human cases.
  
  

• ●Seoul begins accepting applications for Filipino caregivers on rolling basis (Korea JoongAng Daily)
  Seoul began accepting applications for the country's nwly adopted foreign domestic caregiver program on a rolling basis following the withdrawal of some selected families.
  
  

• ●What's really going on in ERs? (The Korea Herald)
  Last month, 33-year-old office worker Kim A-young experienced a nightmare when a first responder refused to take her to the emergency room despite her severe stomach pain.
  
  

• ●Foreign nannies start service with 'clarified guidelines' (The Korea Herald)
  A total of 100 Filipina domestic workers began providing services on Tuesday for 142 families across Seoul, following the introduction of detailed job guidelines designed to clarify their role, according to the Seoul Metropolitan Government.

Sept. 4

• ●First responders' request to locate ERs doubles amid medical strike (The Korea Herald)
  As South Korea suffers from the prolonged disruption of medical services across the country, government data showed Wednesday that rescue workers' requests for ERs have more than doubled this year compared to the same period last year.
  
  

• ●Strategies to avert Korea's extinction (The Korea Times)
  A simple calculation highlights the severity of Korea's demographic crisis.
  
  

• ●Short-staffed hospitals curtail ER operations amid deepening health care crisis (The Korea Times)
  The health ministry on Wednesday began deploying military doctors and public physicians to hospital emergency rooms suffering from staff shortages, but concerns about further disruptions to the health care system have grown, officials said.
  
  

• ●As burned-out senior doctors resign, emergency rooms feel the pinch (Korea JoongAng Daily)
  The recent resignation of senior doctors has crippled emergency rooms nationwide even further, aggravating the medical vacuum that has persisted the country's junior doctors' began their walkout in February.
  
  

• ●Gov't proposes first pension contribution hike in 3 decades (Korea JoongAng Daily)
  The government has unveiled a proposal to gradually raise the national pension contribution rate from 9 percent to 13 percent with the first increase in nearly three decades.
  
  

• ●Stress and unhealthy stress relief fan cancer prevalence in Korea (The Korea Herald)
  High stress and subsequent unhealthy eating habits are key factors contributing to the surge in cancer diagnoses in South Korea, according to Kim Eui-shin, a leading cancer specialist.
  
  

• ●Illegal immigration starts to fall from last year's record high (The Korea Herald)
  Among foreign nationals in South Korea, approximately 1 in 6 -- 15.8 percent -- is here illegally, according to government data from the end of June.
  
  

• ●1 out of 3 households in Gyeonggi live alone (The Korea Herald)
  A full 31.2 percent of the 5.5 million total households in Gyeonggi Province consist of just one person as of last November, a report by the regional government showed Wednesday.
  
  

• ●Gov't proposes to raise pension contribution rate to 13%, differentiate pace of raising rate by age group (The Korea Times)
  The government proposed raising the pension contribution rate to 13 percent from 9 percent and differentiating the pace of raising the contribution rate by age group, Health Minister Cho Kyoo-hong said, in what would be the biggest overhaul of the ailing pension system in 21 years.

Sept. 5

• ●Gov't calls emergency care crisis major reason for medical reform (The Korea Times)
  The difficulty that hospitals face in operating emergency rooms has long been a serious issue in Korea, the health ministry said Thursday, adding that it is a major reason for the government to push for medical reform that includes the increase in the medical school admission quota.
  
  

• ●Gov't seeks to raise pension premium rate to 13% of income (The Korea Times)
  The government is seeking to gradually increase the pension premium rate from the current 9 percent of income to 13 percent and the pension's income replacement rate from 40 percent to 42 percent through a major reform designed to restore public trust in the funds's sustainability, particularly among young people.
  
  

• ●Gov't announces measures to stabilize emergency room care (Korea JoongAng Daily)
  The government on Thursday announced special measures to stabilize emergency patient care nationwise, including a monitoring program where municipalities and Health Ministry officers oversee and control patient volume in emergency departments.
  
  

• ●More dads taking paternity leave while fewer Koreans get married (The Korea Herald)
  Amid growing concerns over Korea's low birth rate with the government grappling to tackle the demographic crisis, the proportion of men who took parental leave last year increased by fivefold from eight years ago, recent numbers show.
  
  

• ●Seoul welfare scheme rebranded as 'Stepping Stone Income' (The Korea Herald)
  The Seoul Metropolitan Government announed the rebranding of its "Safety Income" scheme as the "Seuol Stepping Stone Income," in order to promote its program as a model welfare program for other regions.

Sept. 6

• ●Man dies after 4-hour search for doctor following construction site accident (The Korea Times)
  A construction worker in his 70s, who fell from a building site in Busan and sustained severe injuries, died while being transported between hospitals in search of emergency surgery.
  
  

• ●Presidential office open to revising medical school admission quota increase: Report (Korea JoongAng Daily)
  The presidential office may be open to adjusting the government's previously announced plan to increase the 2026 medical school admissions quota by 2,000 seats.
  
  

• ●S. Korea to freeze health insurance premiums for 2nd year in 2025 (The Korea Herald)
  South Korea will keep next year's state health insurance premiums unchanged for a second straight year in an effort to help ease people's financial burdens, the health ministry said Friday.
  
  

• ●Gender pay gap inches down to 26.3% but persists (The Korea Herald)
  The gender pay gap in South Korea among companies required to disclose such information -- those with total assets of more than 5 trillion won ($5 billion) in affiliated companies -- narrowed slightly to 26.3 percent last year, a report showed Friday.