Korea Cuts Jobless Benefits by 230,000 Won a Month, Raises Premium to 2.0%

* Editor's note: 'AI PRISM' (Personalized Report & Insight Summarizing Media) is an artificial intelligence-based personalized news recommendation and summary service developed with support from the Korea Press Foundation. It selects and provides six news items tailored to each reader type.

1. "Monthly Jobless Benefits to Fall by 230,000 Won Next Year"

Key summary: The government is changing the basis for unemployment benefits from seven days a week to six days, excluding unpaid holidays, reducing monthly payments by up to 230,000 won starting next year. Based on next year's minimum wage, recipients at the floor will see payments fall to 1.76 million won from 1.98 million won, while those at the ceiling will drop to 1.81 million won from 2.04 million won. Total payment days (120 to 270) and the total amount remain unchanged, meaning the payout period will be stretched out. The employment insurance premium rate will also rise to 2.0% from 1.8% in 2027, the first increase in five years. For a worker earning 3 million won a month, the monthly premium will rise by 3,000 won to 30,000 won.

2. "Labor Ministry Goes All In on Youth Jobs, Half of Next Year's Budget Programs Are New"

Key summary: The Ministry of Employment and Labor's budget proposal for next year totals 38.95 trillion won, up 3.4% from this year, while the youth employment budget jumps by 700 billion won to 3.3 trillion won. The newly created First-Job Support Program for Young Adults will provide employment services to 160,000 people, and the K-New Deal Academy will expand fivefold to 50,000 participants from 10,000. Of 95 major programs, 45, or 47%, are new initiatives. The overhaul was largest in youth policy, where 16 of 28 programs, or 57%, are new. Support for young adults is being expanded into a stage-by-stage structure covering entry, work experience and employment.

3. "Seoul to Supply 17,500 More 'Mirinae House' Units by 2030"

Key summary: The Seoul Metropolitan Government plans to add about 4,000 units a year to its 'Mirinae House' housing support program for newlyweds through 2030, for a total of 17,500 units. Under the installment deposit program introduced this year, tenants pay 70% of the deposit at move-in and defer the balance at an annual interest rate of 2.73% until they move out. Between April and August this year, 92% of contract signers used the program, easing 76.5 billion won in upfront costs. The city is also considering widening the scope of priority purchase rights for children born before move-in; households with four or more children currently receive the benefit for children born before move-in. Officials say the model combines affordable housing costs with good locations and high-quality homes to target genuine demand from newlyweds.

4. "1.93 Million Won for Working, 1.98 Million for Not: Scalpel Taken to Income Reversal"

Key summary: The unemployment benefit account of the employment insurance fund posted a 1.8 trillion won deficit last year, and real reserves stand at negative 6 trillion won when 7.7 trillion won in borrowings from the Public Capital Management Fund are counted. A key driver of the overhaul is an income reversal in which a worker at the minimum wage takes home 1.93 million won a month after taxes but receives 1.98 million won in unemployment benefits after losing that job. Analysts also point to maternity protection spending, including parental leave, which more than doubled to 4.3 trillion won last year from 2.1 trillion won in 2022, adding to the strain on the fund. Labor groups warn of a heavier burden on low-wage jobless workers, while business groups say the plan falls short of fixing structural problems, pointing to a difficult path through the legislature.

5. "Pension Money Fuels Bond-Mixed ETFs Past 20 Trillion Won"

Key summary: Surging demand from retirement pension investors pushed net assets in domestic bond-mixed exchange-traded funds to 20.5792 trillion won as of the 31st of last month, topping 20 trillion won for the first time. That is up 156.5% this year alone from 8.0239 trillion won at the end of last year, and eight times the 2.5604 trillion won recorded at the end of 2024. Investors in defined-contribution and individual retirement pension accounts who have hit the 70% cap on risky assets can still add stock exposure through bond-mixed ETFs, which hold 50% or less in equities, driving demand higher. Product lineups are diversifying quickly into semiconductors, autos, space technology, gold and silver.

6. "'The Quantum Era Is Coming, and Software and Algorithms Will Decide It'"

Key summary: Baek Han-hee, director of IBM's Quantum Algorithm Center, said industrial use of quantum computing will spread rapidly from 2029, a more advanced timeline than the market's earlier 10-year forecasts. After fault-tolerant quantum computers (FTQC) arrive, the director said, competition will center on software and algorithms rather than hardware. IBM has expanded its ecosystem to about 350 partners since making quantum computers available via the cloud in 2016. The director also advised that Korea concentrate on software and algorithm capabilities while the government pursues long-term investment in education and research to train a 'quantum native' next generation.