February 26, 2026 – South Korea Headlines

Story gist: South Korea’s National Assembly passed the third amendment to the Commercial Act, requiring listed companies to cancel acquired treasury shares within one year.

Bias summary: Left-leaning Hankyoreh frames passage positively, emphasizing market heating up. Center Daum highlights mandate details and business calls for supplements, balancing views. Right-leaning Chosun notes passage but pairs with ‘law distortion crime’ bill advancement, implying controversy or criticism; no overt negative tone on amendment itself.

Story gist: President Lee stated the Democratic Party is fulfilling its role well and expressed thanks. He met ruling party elders and stressed uniting everyone to advance national governance.

Bias summary: Left-leaning Kyunghyang highlights President Lee’s direct praise and thanks to opposition Democratic Party, using positive quote. Center Daum emphasizes splits between ‘new’ Lee Jae-myung and old mainstream supporters, noting president’s daily unity appeals. Right-leaning Chosun focuses on president’s meeting with own party elders for internal integration, omitting cross-party praise. Left stresses bipartisanship; right internal unity.

Story gist: South Korea’s Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service announced a full investigation of 7,700 medical procedures and plans to establish a ‘Re-evaluation Promotion Team’ under it. Reports note declining national health insurance surpluses and proposed 90% co-payment hikes for over 300 annual outpatient visits.

Bias summary: Left-leaning MBC focuses on national health insurance surplus decline and first 5-year fiscal outlook, emphasizing financial strain. Center Newsis neutrally details policy like 90% co-pay for excessive outpatient visits. Right-leaning outlets absent, omitting potential emphasis on cost controls or overutilization critiques.

Story gist: Gangnam Police Station in Seoul lost seized Bitcoin from storage. Police arrested two suspects linked to the leak.

Bias summary: Left-leaning MBC focuses on police arresting suspects in the seized coin leak, emphasizing enforcement action. Center KBS exclusive stresses Gangnam station’s failure to follow hard wallet storage directive, highlighting procedural negligence. Right-leaning Chosun mirrors the sensational ‘missing Bitcoin’ title and notes arrests, aligning with left on police response. Center uniquely emphasizes institutional lapse; left and right prioritize arrests.

Story gist: Trump delivered a 108-minute State of the Union address, the longest in history. Democrats shouted during the speech.

Bias summary: Left-leaning outlets absent, omitting coverage of the event. Center outlets like Daum.net shift focus to VP Vance urging Iran’s supreme leader to accept a no-nuclear-weapons principle. Right-leaning Chosun Ilbo emphasizes Trump’s record-length speech as historic while framing Democrats’ shouting as symptomatic of divided U.S. politics, highlighting opposition disruption negatively.