Korea JoongAng Daily - Daily News from Korea

This article is by Shin Ha-nee and read by an artificial voice.

For much of the 2020s in Korea, hip-hop has been both omnipresent and peripheral — still deeply influential in the world of K-pop, yet its disruptive edge has gotten diluted into fleeting rap verses or polished pop hybrids, sidelined as a niche genre past its commercial peak.

Lately, however, things might be shifting.

Hip-hop is once again pushing back onto the mainstream radar with renewed visibility, both as part of K-pop and as a genre standing on its own. Major K-pop debutants such as BigHit Music's Cortis, The Black Label's Allday Project and More Vision's LNGSHOT placed hip-hop sound at the forefront of their musical and visual identities. At the same time, the rapper competition program "Show Me The Money" (2012-) has returned with its 12th season after a three-year hiatus, in an ambitious attempt to reinvigorate the genre.

While it may be too early to declare a full-fledged comeback, hip-hop's visibility in Korea's mainstream music landscape has grown — and so have the longstanding tensions between culture and commodity, inspiration and appropriation and revival and repetition.

'Hip-hop stopped being cool'

Korean hip-hop's mainstream relevance has been in a noticeable decline since peaking in the late 2010s, as addressed by many artists including, most recently, rapper Jay Park.

"As K-pop music has become more elaborate, the distinction between genres has blurred," he suggested during a press conference for the latest season of "Show Me The Money" on Jan. 15. "And prejudice about the superficial elements of hip-hop culture might have contributed to the decline in relevance."

Hip-hop's rise to the mainstream was inseparable from the launch of the "Show Me The Money" franchise in 2012. The Mnet show transformed underground rappers such as Swings, Loco, BewhY and Woo into household names and propelled hip-hop to chart dominance throughout the 2010s.

But as the show's later seasons lost their competitive edge and several rappers became entangled in high-profile controversies, including drug allegations, the genre gradually lost its footing on streaming platforms as well.

A moment from the 10th season of "Show Me The Money" in 2021 became emblematic of this decline: During a viral performance of "Dissonance" (2021), AKMU's Lee Chan-hyuk sang the line, "hip-hop stopped being cool at some point," a lyric that soon became an online meme both as a critique of the show and a commentary on the genre's waning cultural relevance.

Now, amid the dragging stagnation, the producers of the newly-revived "Show Me The Money" aim to give hip-hop a renewed boost, which coincides with a broader resurgence of hip-hop-inspired aesthetics and narratives within K-pop.

Hip-hop in spotlight in K-pop, again

Hip-hop has long been an integral part of K-pop's DNA. First-generation acts such as Seo Taiji and Boys drew heavily from 1990s hip-hop music and fashion, while second-generation icons like Big Bang also used hip-hop and R&B as pillars of their sonic identity. Even BTS leaned heavily into hip-hop during the group's early years, both musically and thematically.

Yet while hip-hop's influence has remained etched into K-pop, the genre's presence among newer boy bands had waned in recent years. Many rookies debuting between 2023 and 2025 such as BoyNextDoor, TWS, Riize, NCT Wish and ZeroBaseOne leaned toward easy-listening pop, lighter concepts and youthful visuals rather than the assertive edge traditionally associated with hip-hop.

However, that trend has begun to reverse with the latest arrivals to the scene.

Cortis, arguably the biggest K-pop rookie group of last year, has been billed by BigHit Music as "a young creative crew," emphasizing the members' direct involvement in production. The Black Label's Allday Project centers its identity around hip-hop, apparent in its styling and performance mannerisms. LNGSHOT, which debuted in January under rapper Park's More Vision, is s...

This article is by Yoon Seung-jin and read by an artificial voice.

On a bitterly cold Wednesday, with temperatures plunging below minus 10 degrees Celsius (14 degrees Fahrenheit), a 74-year-old man surnamed Lee pulls a big cart through the Sinsa-dong neighborhood in Eunpyeong District, northern Seoul. The cart, weighing at least 100 kilograms (220.5 pounds) when full, carries discarded paper and cardboard that he collects to make money.

"I get up around 7 a.m., bundle up, and head out to collect papers and boxes," Lee said in a brief on-the-go interview with the Korea JoongAng Daily. "Even on freezing days like this, there is competition for discarded boxes, so I have to start early to fill this cart."

While Lee's situation may seem especially harsh given his advanced age and the extreme weather, it is not an unusual sight in Korea: He is one of about 14,831 people over the age of 65 who earn money by collecting discarded paper and boxes in the country, according to a Ministry of Health and Welfare survey released in 2024. The average age of such people was about 78, and there were more women than men.

The obvious and simple answer to 'why older adults collect discarded paper and boxes': Poverty

In a 2023 survey by the Ministry of Health and Welfare, 54.8 percent of respondents selected "to cover basic living expenses" as the main reason for collecting discarded paper. Another 29.3 percent said they did it for extra pocket money, while 9.1 percent cited health management and 4.3 percent said they did so simply to avoid boredom.

"Beyond the statistics, the reality is even worse. Some older adults can't even afford a proper meal or a warm place to rest. They come out to work even when it's extremely cold," said Kim Yu-jin, the vice CEO of the nonprofit organization LoveRe: Paper.

The organization, certified and supported by the Ministry of Economy and Finance, runs projects to help older collectors, such as purchasing discarded paper at higher prices and producing and selling items made from the purchased recycled materials.

This points to an obvious — and disheartening — reason: Korea's long-standing problem of having one of the highest poverty rates for older adults in the world.

According to Statistics Korea's 2025 data, the country's relative poverty rate among the older population stood at 39.7 percent, nearly double Japan's 20 percent, more than 10 times Iceland's 3.1 percent and nearly three times the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) average of 14.8 percent.

How much do they make by collecting and selling discarded paper, then?

According to the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment, the price of old newspapers per kilogram stood at 126.3 won (4 cents per pound) and that of cardboard and boxes at 81.7 won in December of last year, marking drops of 18.6 percent and 45.2 percent, respectively, from January 2022 levels.

At those rates, a simple calculation shows that a collector who gathers 100 kilograms of cardboard and boxes would earn only about 8,170 won. With Korea's minimum wage set at 10,320 won per hour this year, even collecting 100 kilograms does not amount to a single hour of minimum-wage pay.

"The price of discarded paper keeps falling, and older collectors earn even less because they sell to scrap dealers at the very bottom of the distribution chain," said LoveRe: Paper's Kim. "In reality, collectors receive about 50 won per kilogram of discarded paper, meaning they earn around 2,500 won for 50 kilograms, and most make less than 150,000 won a month despite working five to six hours a day, five to six days a week."

"Many of the older collectors we have met couldn't find other jobs and have no savings or alternative sources of income. In many cases, even their children are financially struggling," Kim added.

Taking care of parents is no longer a given responsibility

On top of primary factors such as the lack of job opportunities for older adults and insufficient savings, ex...

This article is by Nam Yoon-seo and read by an artificial voice.

Hyundai Motor will lower installment interest rates on select EV models as Korean automakers step up efforts to counter aggressive price competition from foreign rivals, including Tesla.

Under the move, Hyundai Motor will lower interest rates on its low-interest financing program for the Ioniq 5, Ioniq 6 and Kona Electric. The rate will fall from 5.4 percent to 2.8 percent, a reduction of 2.6 percentage points.

The promotion offers a 36-month installment plan in which customers can return the vehicle at the end of the term and settle the deferred payment with the guaranteed resale value. Customers who wish to keep the vehicle can either pay the remaining amount in a lump sum or extend the installment plan.

Under this program, the Ioniq 5 — a compact SUV — can be driven for 36 months with monthly payments of 310,000 won ($210), based on the Standard model.

This assumes maximum discounts of up to 3 million won through trade-in benefits and early bird incentives, as well as the application of government EV subsidies. The monthly payment is 50,000 won lower than before.

Using the same terms, the Ioniq 6 midsize electric sedan sees a drop in monthly payments from 330,000 won to 260,000 won, while the Kona Electric small SUV drops from 240,000 won to 230,000 won.

Hyundai Motor said the updated rates result in interest savings of around 2.5 million won for the Ioniq 5 and Ioniq 6, and about 2.1 million won for the Kona Electric.

This announcement comes one day after Kia, a Hyundai Motor Group brand, introduced price cuts of up to 3 million won on the EV5 and EV6 and reduced installment rates for the upcoming EV3 and EV4 models.

Industry watchers expect over 20 EV models to launch in Korea this year, leading to increasingly fierce price competition as automakers vie for market share.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.

This article is by Lee Su-jeong, Lee Yu-jung and read by an artificial voice.

The possibility that Norway will adopt Korea's Chunmoo multiple launch rocket system — developed by Hanwha Aerospace — as part of its next-generation long-range missile acquisition program is growing.

Hanwha Ocean and HD Hyundai Heavy Industries are participating as "one team" in the bid for Canada's next-generation submarine project (CPSP), with the bid deadline set for March. Hanwha Group and its affiliates are currently lobbying the Canadian government with industrial cooperation proposals.

As Hanwha's key defense affiliates intensify their export efforts, a defense delegation led by Kang Hoon-sik, the presidential chief of staff, will visit Canada and Norway next week.

The Norwegian parliament is scheduled to vote next week on the adoption of the Chunmoo system, according to the defense industry on Friday. If the legislature approves, the project could proceed to a final contract through follow-up procedures — a development that industry insiders are watching closely.

The potential deal is estimated to be worth approximately $1 billion for 16 launchers.

"Given the nature of defense contracts, all parties are remaining cautious until the final signing," said an industry source.

Chunmoo is a wheeled multiple rocket launcher system developed independently by Hanwha Aerospace to replace the Korean Army's K136 Kooryong system. It is often compared to the U.S.-made High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (Himars) by Lockheed Martin.

Both systems require three personnel to operate and have a maximum range of over 450 kilometers (280 miles). However, Chunmoo can fire 12 rockets with an 80-kilometer range, while Himars can fire up to six 70-kilometer range rockets.

If Norway decides to purchase the Chunmoo, it would mark the first export of a Korean multiple launch rocket system to a Northern European country. Following the war in Ukraine, European nations have been accelerating the adoption of long-range firepower systems.

In November 2022, Poland signed a basic agreement to purchase the Chumoo, followed by two execution contracts for 290 launchers and munitions. In December last year, a third contract worth 5.6 trillion won ($3.82 billion) added guided missiles and included co-production at a local joint venture.

That same month, Korea signed a 440 billion won export contract with Estonia, a Baltic state, to supply six Chunmoo launchers and three types of guided missiles.

A common thread among Norway, Estonia and Poland — the three countries that have either adopted or are considering adopting the Chunmoo — is their geographic proximity to Russia: either sharing a border, as with Norway and Estonia, or being adjacent to the Russian exclave Kaliningrad, as with Poland.

K-defense exports are also being put to the test in North America. Hanwha Ocean, the group's shipbuilding unit, is jointly bidding with HD Hyundai Heavy Industries in Canada's CPSP, a project estimated at up to 60 trillion won.

German firm Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems is considered a strong competitor. Canada is expected to close proposal submissions in March and select a preferred bidder within the first half of the year.

Victor Fedeli, Ontario's minister of economic development, visited Hanwha Ocean's shipyard in Geoje on Thursday.

Fedeli toured the shipbuilding facilities, including automated welding robots, and boarded the Jang Young-sil submarine, launched in October 2025, to assess the capabilities of Korean-built submarines.

Hanwha Ocean took the opportunity to highlight the potential for investment and job creation across Canada, including Ontario. The company has recently signed more than 10 memorandums of understanding with local Canadian firms for collaboration in shipbuilding and related industries.

Economic benefits such as industrial technology benefits, job creation and integration into Canada's defense supply chain account for 15 percent of CPSP bid evaluation criteria,...

This article is by Oh Hyeon-woo and read by an artificial voice.

Kakao will restructure its top decision-making body, the CA Council, in the wake of controversy over the panel's outsize influence within the group.

The company said Friday it will replace four committees, two divisions and one support unit with three offices and four executive leads. The new structure takes effect Feb. 1, and the council's headcount will be cut from about 150 to roughly half.

Under Corporate Alignment (CA) Council chair Chung Shin-a, Kakao will set up the Group Investment Strategy Office, Group Financial Strategy Office and Group Human Resources Strategy Office.

Kim Do-young, CEO of Kakao Investment, will lead the investment strategy office, while Shin Jong-whan, Kakao's chief financial officer, will head the financial strategy office. Hwang Tae-sun, who has overseen the council's secretariat, will shift to lead the human resources strategy office.

Government relations, public relations, environmental, social, and governance (ESG) strategy and compliance functions previously handled by the committees will be assigned to four executives. Government relations will be led by Lee Yeon-jae, head of the Corporate Relations Support Unit, while public relations will be led by Lee Na-ri, chair of the Brand Communication committee.

ESG will be overseen by Kwon Dae-yeol, chair of the ESG committee, and compliance will be handled by Jeong Jong-wook, chair of the Responsible Management committee.

A Kakao representative said the company expects decision-making within the Kakao Group to be streamlined by introducing the executive-in-charge posts. The company also plans to significantly cut the CA Council's headcount, reducing it to roughly half from about 150.

The CA Council was created in 2024 to coordinate competing interests among affiliates and serve as a group command center after a string of controversies in which executives at listed affiliates such as Kakao Pay and Kakao Bank sold shares when prices were near their peaks.

Kakao founder Kim Beom-su and CEO Chung served as co-chairs to accelerate reforms. Over the two years since its launch, Kakao has cut the number of affiliates by 33 percent and increased executives' purchases of company shares.

But after Kim — who also served as head of the council's management reform committee — stepped back from management due to health issues in March of last year, critics say the reform drive lost momentum. Instead, they argue, too much authority became concentrated in the CA Council, adding another layer to decision-making.

Some senior council executives were also accused of acting as "gatekeepers," exerting outsized influence over affiliate CEO appointments and management.

Inside Kakao, some say the latest overhaul focuses on downsizing but falls short of meaningful personnel changes.

"To see real reform, you need to start by changing the executives, but this is another revolving-door reshuffle — titles change, people don't," an industry source said. "Even after the restructuring, the same 'tower above a tower' problem will persist."

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.

This article is by Kim Ji-ye and read by an artificial voice.

Actor Kim Seon-ho transforms into Joo Ho-jin, a multilingual interpreter defined by his precision, rationality and emotional restraint, in Netflix's newly released romance series "Can This Love Be Translated?" While his performance appears effortless, Kim explained that every detail, down to the faint lift of an eyebrow, was meticulously calculated, as his character's personality is quite different from his own.

"I wanted to stay very composed and express my emotions with as few physical reactions as possible [when playing Ho-jin]," said Kim during a roundtable interview at a cafe in central Seoul on Thursday. "Things such as the direction of a character's gaze, the movement of their eyebrows or even a single hand gesture can carry much more weight when [the rest of the body] is still."

He admitted the restrained performance was anything but easy. "I had to think through every little detail. Even if a movement didn't really stand out, I put much thought and intention into it, just like I do with dialogue."

Kim also shared that there were moments when he struggled to understand Ho-jin. Go Youn-jung, who plays Cha Mu-hee, was the one who bridged that gap for him.

"Ho-jin is such a [MBTI] T," he said, referring to the Myers-Briggs personality trait indicator, in which "thinking," or "T," types are considered logical and rational thinkers.

He continued, "I'm an F, so I couldn't quite understand some of Ho-jin's dialogue because it felt hurtful to me. But Go, being a T, said that she could relate to him." In MBTI, "feeling," or "F," types stand opposite to T and are more emotional.

As a result, Go would often explain the character's perspective to Kim, and he, in turn, would do the same for her, as Mu-hee is undoubtedly an F on the MBTI scale. They even swapped roles and read each other's lines during rehearsals.

"Can This Love Be Translated?" debuted on Jan. 16 and follows the unexpected romance between Ho-jin, a multilingual interpreter, and Mu-hee, a globally famous actor, whose communication styles, including how they approach love, are completely different.

The rom-com is penned by renowned screenwriters Hong Jung-eun and Hong Mi-ran, known as the Hong sisters, who have written numerous hit series, such as "Hotel del Luna" (2019). Yoo Young-eun directs the project.

The love story has quickly captured viewers' hearts — landing at No. 2 on Netflix's global top 10 list for non-English shows as of Thursday, less than a week after its release — mainly due to the chemistry between Kim and Go.

That chemistry, Kim said, was evident on set as well.

One of the scenes he remembers most fondly, describing it as the moment when Go was at her most "lovable," was when Mu-hee playfully sings the word "aurora" in the third episode while trying to persuade Ho-jin to work with her on the same TV show.

"[Singing the word] wasn't in the script," Kim said. "In that moment, I realized that because [Go] is such a naturally lovable person, Mu-hee becomes even more charming."

He added, "Everyone, even the director, said, 'Wow, she's so lovable,' and 'There's no way Ho-jin wouldn't go with her.'"

Another fan-favorite moment is when Ho-jin bursts into laughter and bashfully stutters after Mu-hee rolls her eyes during his explanation of the science behind auroras. Due to how naturally the scene flowed, some viewers speculated that it was either a blooper or an improvised moment that made the final cut, and Kim revealed that they were right: It was an ad-lib by Go.

"I was thinking about how to portray a softer and more open Ho-jin to show the progress between [him and Mu-hee] when Go suddenly rolled her eyes, which I found so funny that I ended up stuttering," he said.

Director Yoo liked the moment so much that she asked the actors to recreate it for the following shots. Kim added that Go told him the gesture came from her own initial reaction to that part of the script.

Kim debuted in 2009...

This article is by Cho Yong-jun and read by an artificial voice.

Lacquerware inlaid with mother-of-pearl, or najeon chilgi, is not something you often get to see in real life. And the ones we do have access to are usually on display at museums and feature carved phoenixes, tigers and flowers.

But the najeon chilgi on display at CookieRun: Kingdom's "Legacy of the Kingdom" art exhibition offers something quite different. For example, instead of animals or flora, the naljeon chilgi piece is decorated with the Dark Cacao Cookie character from the mobile game.

However, the art exhibition is not just for the game's die-hard fans. It felt worthwhile even to someone who didn't play the game, as the 10 high-quality artworks crafted by Korea's master artisans and stunning media art dazzled visitors, regardless of their knowledge of CookieRun: Kingdom.

"Legacy of the Kingdom" will open at the Ara Art Center in Insa-dong in Jongno District, central Seoul, on Friday and run through April 23. The game developer plans to launch the exhibition in the United States and other nations — including Australia, Britain, Canada, Taiwan and Thailand — in the near future, given that 70 percent of players are from outside Korea.

"While the opening dates [for other countries] have yet to be finalized, we prepared this exhibition with the intent for it to go abroad from the very start," Devsisters CEO Cho Kil-hyeon said during a press conference at the Ara Art Center on Thursday. Devsisters is the developer and publisher of the CookieRun mobile game franchise.

The 10 collaborative artworks at the exhibition aren't simply placed side by side on the walls of one or two rooms but are spread across six different "chapters."

The works are paired with different media art by Nerdy Artist Union. Visitors with the special ticket are given a CookieRun-themed wristband when they enter the art center, which they can tap to different areas in each room for interactive effects, including large projections that seem to move the artwork or visual effects that change the mood of the room completely.

At the first chapter, visitors are welcomed with a projection of the sand art "Filling The Void with Creation 'Void'" by Chai Seung-woong, followed by the najeon chilgi lacquerware "'Resolution' That Creates Within Darkness" by Sohn Dae-hyun. The najeon chilgi in particular allures visitors, thanks to its rich colors that shine with the light.

The second chapter features "The Ultimate End to Perfection 'Destruction,'" a buncheong vase by Park Sang-jin. Buncheong refers to a traditional Korean pottery style that uses coats of white stoneware slip.

In the next room, the geumbakjang, or gold-leaf imprinted work, "The Gleam of Ambition 'Abundance,'" by Kim Gi-ho, which uses a projector to fill the space with layers of shimmering gold particles.

The third chapter features Shin Jung-chul's "Hope Beyond Truth 'Deceit,'" comprising CookieRun-inspired tal, or traditional Korean masks, as well as Park Myeong-ok's "Gleaming Beacon of Hope 'Truth,'" a hanji, or traditional Korean paper, piece. The fourth displays Choi Jeong-in's "Respite Towards Happiness 'Sloth,'" a cushion made through jasu, or a traditional Korean embroidery style, alongside Lee Jae-man's "Flower That Blooms Through Pain 'Passion,'" a hwagak chest inlaid with ox horns.

Visitors can witness the nakwha, or pyrography, painting "Discipline Without Sound 'Silence'" by Kim Yeong-jo and a large White Lily Cookie made with traditional Korean lanterns, named "Many Lights That Grow Brighter Together 'Freedom,'" by Jeon Young-ill at the fifth chapter.

The final chapter has two media art sessions. One asks visitors to draw their own CookieRun characters, which are then displayed on a screen. The second is inspired by madangnori, or Korean folk theater.

Tickets to the exhibition are 23,000 won ($15) for adults, but a special ticket is available for 45,000 won. The special ticket includes exclusive CookieRun bands, in-g...

This article is by Woo Ji-won and read by an artificial voice.

[GIVE IT A GO]

I am sitting on an absurd amount of power right now. Not two. Not five. But 15.

I have 15 Dubai chewy cookies.

If you are unfamiliar with the cookie's insane popularity, this might sound confusing. But in Korea right now, the cookie, also known as "Dujjonku" — a portmanteau of "Dubai" and the Korean words for "chewy" and "cookie" — is power.

With its extravagant price and near-impossible availability, the cookie has become a tongue-in-cheek symbol of power, with anyone who manages to get one considered "powerful."

Which then raises the question: How did I manage to secure so much?

I am a self-made queen. I made the power myself.

And no, it was not as easy as it sounds. As everyone rushes to get a bite of a 6,000 won ($4) cookie, ingredients are becoming scarce and prices are jumping, much like Tiffany bracelets that somehow get more expensive every year. Some cookies now cross the 10,000 won mark for a treat no bigger than half of my fist.

The popularity is obvious in how widely they are sold. Beef short rib soup restaurants sell them. The fried chicken place in my neighborhood sells them. Even fancy hotels have joined the frenzy, with the Fairmont Ambassador Seoul offering three for 25,000 won.

And people buy them desperately, some even giving blood for them — literally. Young people rushed to donation centers on Tuesday when the Korean Red Cross launched a one-day giveaway with the cookie for the first 50 donors.

But I did not return to the kitchen after two years — or three, if we only count human food — just to feel powerful by hoarding over a dozen of these ridiculously popular cookies. I had something I wanted to test, for myself and for the public.

With ingredient prices doubling, and pistachios seeing a nearly 10-fold increase, many sellers insist there is barely any profit left once costs are factored in. The issue has become a point of contention for both customers and makers. One cafe owner even said on Instagram that they would no longer be selling the cookie after an intense dispute broke out when a customer criticized a price increase to 7,000 won.

I had to see for myself whether the claims were really the case. Thanks to me, you do not have to spend 600 million won to find out whether making them at home is cheaper. (That math follows Dubai chewy cookie logic, where prices are so high you simply add extra zeros without explanation.)

For those who want a quick answer, depending on how you price my hourly wage, yes, the cookie does leave a margin of profit if sold at over 6,500 won. At 5,500 won, I would say the stores are mostly doing charity and customers should be grateful to be feasting at such an affordable price.

But the most important takeaway of this experiment, for me personally, is that I will not be spending another 60,000 won (or 600 million won, according to Dujjonku math) making or buying this chewy cookie again. That alone makes the whole thing a success.

Know your enemy

They say you have to know your enemy to win a battle. Although I had already eaten some 10 Dubai chocolates from different cafes before, I went on a proper hunt again for this experiment.

One popular place in Songpa District was set to open at 11 a.m. Blogs said it was "pretty chill," so I showed up at 11:20 a.m. That was a big mistake. All takeout stock was sold out.

Desperate to secure something, I searched more blogs and found another place. It seemed like they had recently hopped onto the trend. I will not name this place, so let's just call it the first cafe for clarity.

Inside, the worker eyed me as if he already knew I was there for the cookie. His body was half-turned, ready to retrieve the cookies hidden deep in the kitchen like diamonds in a mine.

When asked how many I wanted, I panicked and said two, even though I meant to buy one. They were 6,500 won each. There went 130 million won.

My next stop was the famous Cafe Pepper, scheduled to ...

This article is by Noh Yu-rim and read by an artificial voice.

With the won hovering near 1,500 to the dollar, foreign arrivals in Korea are expected to keep rising, and offer a lifeline to local retailers as domestic demand remains sluggish.

The number of foreign tourists visiting Korea totaled 17,418,270 from January to November of last year, up 15.4 percent from 15,098,766 during the same period a year earlier, according to the Korea Tourism Organization on Tuesday, already surpassing the 16.37 million foreign visitors recorded in all of 2024.

With December arrivals added, the total is expected to top the 2019 record of 17.5 million and set a new all-time high.

A surge in Chinese visitors, in particular, followed the launch of a visa-free entry program for Chinese nationals on Sept. 29 of last year. The number of Chinese tourists visiting Korea reached 472,477 in October 2025 and 377,866 in November, up 20.5 percent and 26.9 percent, respectively, from the same months a year earlier.

Industry sources and experts expect demand for trips to Korea to remain for the time being as the won stays weak.

"The weak yen once drove up demand for travel to Japan, and a weaker won could similarly push foreign visitors to choose Korea over other East Asian destinations," said Yang Jun-sok, a professor of economics at the Catholic University of Korea.

In Seoul's foreign exchange market on Tuesday, the won closed weaker by 4.4 won to the dollar at 1,478.1 in onshore daytime trading.

Department stores are the segment with the highest expectations. The department store outlook in the Retail Business Survey Index for the first quarter of this year came in at 112, according to the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry. A reading above the benchmark of 100 indicates expectations that business conditions will improve.

That contrasts with other retail categories — including e-commerce, supermarkets, convenience stores and hypermarkets — all of which remained below 100.

After posting a rebound in the third quarter of 2025, department store operators are looking to expand fourth quarter gains by leaning on K-beauty and luxury sales.

Luxury sales to foreign customers in the second half of 2025 rose 33.1 percent from a year earlier, according to Hyundai Department Store. The share of foreign customers in sales at The Hyundai Seoul, the retailer's flagship store in Yeongdeungpo District, western Seoul, jumped to around 20 percent in 2025 from 3.3 percent in 2022.

"Foreign customers with a strong interest in K-fashion brands and K-pop idols have been visiting in large numbers to experience pop-up stores," a Hyundai Department Store spokesperson said. With more foreign visitors expected, the retailer has officially launched "Global Tour Support" at major stores this year, offering services such as free luggage storage and interpretation.

Lotte Department Store's main store also saw sales to foreigners rise 40 percent in 2025 from the previous year. "Seventy percent of total sales last year at 'Kinetic Ground,' a K-fashion brand zone designed to target younger shoppers, came from foreign customers," said a representative of Lotte Department Store.

Hypermarkets are also stepping up efforts to attract foreign shoppers. The number of foreign customers who visited Lotte Mart in 2025 rose 23 percent from a year earlier, while sales to foreign customers grew 30 percent over the same period. Emart reported foreign customer sales in 2025 increased 15 percent from 2024.

"Chinese visitors to Lotte Mart increased 14 percent month on month as of November last year, while Taiwanese visitors rose 10 percent," a Lotte Mart source said. "A joint promotion with Line Pay will be held this month, and a campaign targeting Chinese shoppers ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday will follow next month."

Duty-free shops have yet to show a clear recovery, but the industry is hoping the visa-free entry program for Chinese visitors will help drive traffic. At Lotte Duty Free's...

This article is by Sarah Chea and read by an artificial voice.

[NEWS ANALYSIS]

Silver's rising strategic value is adding a new dimension to the critical minerals alliance between Korea and the United States as China implements export controls on the most conductive element vital to producing semiconductors.

At the heart of the cooperation is Korea Zinc, the world's largest zinc smelter and one of the top silver producers, as it outputs around 2,000 tons of silver per year, nearly 6 percent of all silver produced globally. It helps explain the U.S. government's highly unusual decision to acquire a roughly 10 percent stake in the company, a rare case of Washington taking an equity position in a private foreign firm.

Silver prices climbed 148 percent in 2025 alone, powered by the surge in AI, solar energy and other next-generation industries, eclipsing returns from other major metals, according to recent data from the Bank of Korea. Over the same period, gold rose 64.6 percent, copper 41.7 percent, aluminum 17.4 percent and nickel 8.6 percent.

Silver is trading near $94 per ounce on Wednesday after reaching an all-time high due to escalating U.S.-Europe tensions over Greenland.

Despite having the moniker "the devil's metal" due to the volatile nature of its price, experts argue that silver's ascent is far from over, with demand expected to continue accelerating and strategic importance deepening.

Korea's refiners step into the spotlight

Silver's dramatic ascent has propelled Korean companies like Korea Zinc into the global spotlight, positioning them as pivotal players outside of China.

Korea Zinc announced a plan to invest $7.4 billion to build a smelting facility in Tennessee, with the metals produced at the site to be supplied primarily to the United States once the facility becomes operational. The factory will produce 13 products, including precious metals such as gold and silver, as well as key nonferrous metals such as zinc, lead and copper.

Korea Zinc is a major silver producer, with roughly 2,000 tons of capacity at its Onsan smelter in Ulsan, which makes it the world's largest single-site silver smelting facility.

As of last year, silver generated 2.38 trillion won ($1.6 billion) in revenue for Korea Zinc, representing 29.5 percent of its total standalone sales of 8.09 trillion won. Silver ranked second only to zinc, which accounted for 31.7 percent of revenue.

"As the world's largest smelter, producing about 5 to 6 percent of global silver supply, Korea Zinc is poised to post record earnings as metal prices rise," said Park Kwang-rae, a research analyst at Shinhan Investment & Securities.

"Silver is no longer merely a precious metal. It is emerging as a strategic asset at the center of decarbonization and electrification," Park said. "Over time, it will shed the label of 'the poor man's gold' and take on the role of a strategic monetary asset."

LS MnM is also gaining prominence as it produced roughly 400 tons of silver last year as a by-product of its copper smelting operations. As Korea's largest copper refiner, LS MnM produces about 680 kilotons of electrolytic copper annually, extracting silver in the process.

Though classified as a precious metal, more than half of the demand for silver originates in the power, electronics and energy sectors, where roughly 60 percent of global silver production is consumed for industrial purposes.

With the highest electrical and thermal conductivity of any metal, silver has become indispensable in industries that require high-efficiency power, including solar panels, EVs and AI data centers.

Each solar panel contains several dozen grams of silver, and installing enough panels to generate 1 gigawatt of electricity requires roughly 200 tons of silver. The International Renewable Energy Agency estimates that if global solar capacity triples by 2030, demand for silver will double from current levels.

"Over the next three years, demand for silver is expected to rise structurally,...