The government will increase the discount rate on spectrum fees for small and medium-sized budget phone operators from the current 50% to 90%. It will also introduce a new budget phone business model that moves beyond simply reselling mobile carriers' networks to include operators with their own facilities.Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Koo Yun-cheol discussed the "Budget Phone 2.0 Leap Plan" during a meeting of the Emergency Economic Headquarters, the Economic Relatio

The government has identified 57 aging bridges across the country that require urgent safety measures but lack secured funding. In response, it will provide 2.1 billion won in emergency disaster safety grants to four bridges rated as E grade.The Ministry of the Interior and Safety announced on July 31 that a joint safety inspection of aging bridges was conducted nationwide from June 23 to July 10, involving the ministry, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, local governments, the

The New Leap Fund has acquired an additional 2.6 trillion won in long-term delinquent loans held by securitization companies, public institutions, mutual finance, and lending companies. This purchase will immediately halt collection efforts against 236,000 debtors.The Financial Services Commission announced that on July 31, the New Leap Fund purchased 2.6146 trillion won in long-term delinquent loans from securitization companies such as Sangnoksoo and K-Bista, as well as from public institution

President Yoon Suk Yeol is set to engage in "economic sales diplomacy" in Argentina, the final stop of his South American tour, focusing on establishing supply chains for key minerals, including lithium, and resuming negotiations for the Korea-Mercosur trade agreement.On July 30, local time, President Yoon departed Santiago, Chile, for Buenos Aires, Argentina. This marks the first bilateral visit by a South Korean president to Argentina in 22 years, since Roh Moo-hyun's visit in 2004.On July 31,

Kim Yong-min, a member of the Democratic Party, criticized the People Power Party on July 31 for linking the sudden addition of dismissal reasons to a criminal procedure law amendment focused on abolishing supplementary investigation rights to President Lee Jae-myung's trial, calling it a political framing.In a phone interview on SBS Radio's 'Kim Tae-hyun's Political Show,' Kim stated, "We have specifically codified the dismissal reasons that were recognized by existing case law," adding that th

The government received a total of 7,476 opinions through its online platform, 'realestateforum.kr', aimed at gathering public feedback on real estate policy. Opinions related to housing finance accounted for the largest share at 39%. The Ministry of Finance announced on July 31 that the operation of realestateforum.kr would conclude at midnight. As of midnight on July 30, the platform had approximately 43,000 visitors. The breakdown of submissions showed that housing finance received 2,943 opin

Kia announced on July 31 that it has successfully completed its Green Light Project initiatives in Albania and Zimbabwe, transferring operational authority to local communities.The Green Light Project is Kia's flagship social contribution initiative, launched in 2012 across 19 locations in 15 countries in Africa, Europe, and Asia. With this transfer, Albania and Zimbabwe become the 13th and 14th self-sustaining sites of the project.Since 2023, Kia has established a treatment center for children

The Ministry of Science and ICT has officially launched a research and development project aimed at developing core technologies for agentic artificial intelligence (AI).On July 30, the Ministry and the Institute for Information & Communications Technology Planning & Evaluation (IITP) held a kickoff meeting for the 'Real-World Active Behavior Agentic AI Technology Development' project at the AI·SW Maestro Seoul Center in Mapo-gu, Seoul.This initiative is a key task under the government's recentl

Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix experienced significant gains in pre-market trading on July 31.According to NextTrade, as of 8:37 a.m., SK Hynix shares rose by 207,000 won (15.66%) to 1,529,000 won. Samsung Electronics also saw an increase of 27,500 won (13.29%), trading at 234,500 won.The surge in domestic semiconductor stocks follows a rebound in U.S. semiconductor shares, which has improved investor sentiment. Analysts suggest that the recent sharp declines in stock prices have led to a wave