Lee Jae-myung declines to pledge he will not seek a consecutive term

Lee Jae-myung declines to pledge he will not seek a consecutive term

Lee Jae-myung refused on September 4 to pledge he will not seek a consecutive term (연임).

Why this matters. Civic groups want that pledge before they back a consecutive-term rewrite. Until Lee gives it or they drop it, the rewrite is still about whether he can run again.

What changed.

• Civic groups met Lee at the Blue House (청와대) on September 4, the first sitting since December 2024 martial law, per Yonhap
• Attendees told Hankyoreh he compared a no-consecutive-term pledge to being asked to declare he would not steal
• The session ran about 3 hours 30 minutes, per Chosun Ilbo

Catch up.

• Lee Seung-hoon, chair of the Civil Society Organizations Network in Korea, and Ju Je-jun, policy chair of the Korean Progressive Alliance, attended, per Yonhap
• Groups present also included Minbyun (민변), the Citizens' Coalition for Economic Justice (경실련), and Korean Women's Associations United, per Yonhap

One complication. The Blue House says even with an amendment, a sitting president cannot take a consecutive term, so he need not say so, per Chosun Ilbo. Attendees said Lee added that the public and the National Assembly (국회) would not accept it even if he tried, per Hankyoreh.

Worth knowing. In the same meeting, Lee said a Hormuz deployment is still undecided and that sending a warship could look like joining a war, per Hankyoreh. Assembly consent is not in, per Hankyoreh. He also sketched two years of in-hospital mifepristone (미프진), then outside-pharmacy manufacture, after an August 14 Cabinet review order, per Hankyoreh.

The last time. President Moon Jae-in's government amendment, a four-year consecutive presidential term plus a lower voting age, reached the National Assembly floor on May 24, 2018. Only 114 members took part, short of the 192 quorum, and the speaker declared the vote not constituted, per KBS. The bill died, and the rewrite talk faded.

What's next. No amendment vote is on the calendar. Hormuz is still under review. A US administration official said on September 4 local time that Washington is still waiting for Korea to send resources to the region, per Hankyoreh.

Korea This Week

National Pension adds a 15-day stay rule for foreigner back payments

Foreigners who want to pay missed National Pension (국민연금) months now have to show they were actually in Korea that month.

What changed. From August 31, a month counts only if the applicant spent at least 15 days in Korea. They submit entry and departure records plus marital-status papers. The old rule treated a valid visa and registration as residence, even if the person was abroad, per Korea Herald.

The numbers.

• A ministry audit found three foreign nationals who paid one month, then 119 months back. Only one is drawing an old-age pension. All three had lived in Korea through those months, per Seoul Economic Daily
• Applications from foreign nationals rose from 530 in 2023 to 1,517 in 2025, with 994 in the first half of this year, per Korea Herald
• Ethnic Koreans from China were 79.7 percent of first-half applicants, 792 cases, per Seoul Economic Daily

What's next. The government wants the law changed so back payments follow reciprocity, the same rule already used for enrollment and lump-sum refunds, per Korea Herald. Overseas beneficiaries would be checked twice a year, up from once.

Bank of Korea stops publishing the world FX-reserve ranking

The Bank of Korea dropped Korea's world FX-reserve ranking from its August-end release on September 3, the first skip since February 2001.

What changed. Officials said a simple ranking skips economic size and the short-term foreign-exchange equalization bond ratio, and gold prices now swing the table, per Dong-A Ilbo.

Worth knowing. Korea was 10th at the end of July, per Dong-A Ilbo. The bank said anyone can still build the table from IMF data, and that it is not hiding a worse rank, per Seoul Economic Daily.

Overnight police reshuffle replaces 14 of 18 provincial chiefs

Police replaced 14 of 18 provincial chiefs in an overnight reshuffle announced September 1.

What changed. The National Police Agency (경찰청) posted second-half senior-superintendent and superintendent transfers late on September 1. About 81 percent of superintendent-level posts moved, per Seoul Shinmun. Dong-A Ilbo counted 25 of 31 superintendents moved. All 18 provincial chiefs were posted away from their hometowns (향피제).

Worth knowing. Kim Jong-cheol, previously South Gyeongsang provincial chief, is deputy commissioner and acting commissioner. Go Beom-seok, previously South Jeolla chief, is Seoul metropolitan chief. Yoo Seung-ryeol is Incheon chief.

One complication. Go Pyeong-gi, previously Jeju provincial chief, did not get the senior-superintendent promotion that had been lined up. He moves to the life-safety and traffic bureau, per Seoul Shinmun. Hankyoreh ties that posting to the Jeju missing-person false-close case, and notes the commissioner post has been empty for about one year and eight months.

What's next. No commissioner nomination has a date. Two investigation specialists were placed in National Office of Investigation posts, per Seoul Shinmun, ahead of a Criminal Procedure Act (형사소송법) revision Dong-A Ilbo dates to October.

Realmeter: Lee Jae-myung at 38.9 percent, first 30s print

Realmeter put Lee Jae-myung's job approval at 38.9 percent, the first print in the 30s since he took office.

The numbers.

• Realmeter, commissioned by Energy Economic News, fieldwork August 24 to 28, nationwide, age 18+, n=2,509, wireless automated response; job approval 38.9 percent (down 1.3 percentage points week on week); disapproval 58.7 percent (up 1.8); gap 19.8 points; "don't know" 2.5 percent, per Seoul Shinmun
• Seventh consecutive weekly decline; Munhwa Ilbo dates the slide from a late-July 48.4 percent print
• Margin of error plus or minus 2.0 points at 95 percent for the job rating (response rate 3.9 percent); party rating n=1,006 on August 27 to 28, plus or minus 3.1 points, response rate 3.7 percent, per Seoul Shinmun
• Democratic Party of Korea 43.1 percent; People Power Party 37.7 percent

Worth knowing. Realmeter blamed housing sentiment, the Supreme Court nominee-refusal fight, Jeju missing-person police distrust, and an internal ruling-camp row over remarks by writer Yu Si-min (유시민).

Cabinet Chuseok livelihood package: toll holiday, Onnuri extra, holiday goods

The Cabinet on September 1 announced a Chuseok (추석) livelihood package covering tolls, train fares, and holiday goods.

What changed. Expressway tolls are waived nationwide September 24 to 27, per Edaily. KTX fares fall about 10 percent from September, not only over the holiday: Seoul to Busan general fare ₩59,800 to ₩54,400, with reverse-commute and some trains 30 to 50 percent off September 23 to 27 and a four-person ₩99,000 flat on designated trains.

What this means for you. Digital Onnuri gift certificates (디지털온누리상품권) raise the monthly purchase cap from ₩1 million to ₩1.2 million on September 16 to 20. The extra ₩200,000 gets 10 percent off; the existing ₩1 million stays at 7 percent. Non-capital lodging coupons: 80,000 from September 22 to November 8, ₩20,000 to ₩30,000 off inland and ₩30,000 to ₩50,000 on islands.

The numbers.

• 183,000 tons of 19 holiday items from September 3 to 23, about 1.6 times the usual volume, per Edaily
• Grocery discount support ₩103 billion, ₩13 billion more than last year; farm and livestock up to 40 percent off, major seafood up to 50 percent, ₩20,000 per person per retailer per week, per Edaily
• SME and small-business holiday funds: ₩43.4 trillion in new loans and guarantees; ₩62.4 trillion in maturing loans and guarantees extended one year for current borrowers, per Edaily

What's next. The Onnuri extra window opens September 16. Toll waiver, palaces, Jongmyo, and royal tombs run free September 24 to 27; the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (국립현대미술관) is free the same window except the Seoul branch, closed on Chuseok day, per Edaily.

Festivals worth checking out

• September 18 to 20. Bucheon International Comics Festival (부천국제만화축제): Asia's largest annual comic-art gathering at the Korea Cartoon Museum in Bucheon, Gyeonggi. Admission is ₩5,000. Many exhibitors have English-language materials. Seoul Metro Line 1 or 7 to Bucheon Station, then about a 10-minute walk.
• September 19. Jeju Haenyeo Festival (제주해녀축제): a small community gathering at the Haenyeo Museum in Gujwa-eup honoring Jeju's women free-divers (해녀), a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage. It is small, not a stadium show. The museum stays open year-round.
• Still running. Gwangju Biennale (광주비엔날레), Gwangju, September 5 to November 15: English wall texts, full English catalogue, book ahead for a long visit.

See the full festivals calendar for what's running across the country.

Good Reads

• Korea JoongAng Daily. "Korea's 2027 culture budget hits record 9.6 trillion won, expanding youth culture pass." The Culture Ministry earmarked a record ₩9.6 trillion for 2027, up 22.6 percent from ₩7.9 trillion. The Youth Culture Pass expands from ages 19 to 20 to ages 19 to 34, with ₩792.5 billion budgeted against ₩36.1 billion this year: ₩100,000 per person in the capital region and ₩150,000 elsewhere, now including sports. (link)

• Seoulstart. "Essential Apps for Foreigners in Korea." KakaoTalk, Naver Map, and Papago cover messaging, maps, and translation before an Alien Registration Card (외국인등록증). Banking, payments, and most government apps wait until the card, a phone line in your name, and identity verification are in place. Baemin runs in English, Japanese, and Chinese and accepts foreign cards.

• Korea Times. "Seoul unveils 7 new water fountain designs for tumblers, wheelchairs, pets." Seoul installed a first standardized Arisu fountain in City Hall's lobby and plans design guidelines this month for parks, schools, and offices: tumbler refill, wheelchair and child access, a pet-friendly design, burn prevention, and low-pressure tactile buttons. Three outdoor types and four indoor types are in the set. (link)

• Seoulstart. "AI Compute Decoded, Part 6: Where Korea Actually Stands." Korea makes the memory AI chips need, and almost none of the rest of the stack. This last part of the series is the honest map: what Seoul owns, what it announced, and what the power gap means if you live here.

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New on Seoulstart this week

• Following feed: company news and open roles in one feed, with unread dots.
• Essential Apps for Foreigners in Korea: KakaoTalk, Naver Map, Papago, and the apps that wait until you have an Alien Registration Card.
• Benefits: get government benefits and subsidies. Child Allowance, housing support, refunds, and more for foreign residents.

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That's Seoulstart Korea Weekly for this week. See you next week.