January 15, 2026 – South Korea Headlines

Story gist: Seoul city bus labor and management reached an agreement. Normal operations resumed from the first bus today.

Bias summary: Left-leaning Hankyoreh leads with resolution and immediate normal service. Center KBS focuses on ongoing second-round negotiations, omitting agreement and emphasizing process. Right-leaning Chosun Ilbo mirrors left by highlighting concluded talks and normal operations from first bus, both positively framing swift resolution while center portrays unresolved status.

Story gist: Japanese official Takaichi bowed 90 degrees to Lee and proposed an impromptu drum duet during Korea-Japan leaders’ casual talks. China questioned Japan’s sincerity.

Bias summary: Left-leaning MBC emphasizes the 90-degree bow, surprise drum duet, and lavish welcome with a reporter’s insight, portraying warm hospitality. Center policy briefing neutrally reports the drum collaboration proposal via photo during summit talks. Right-leaning Chosun Ilbo highlights the bow but stresses China’s doubts on Japan’s sincerity, introducing skepticism absent in others.

Story gist: South Korean youth in their 20s and 30s reportedly prefer unemployment over small and medium enterprise jobs amid mockery of 3 million won monthly salary expectations. This follows record-high overall employment rates as of January 2024.

Bias summary: Left-leaning Hankyoreh sympathizes with youth ‘exclusion,’ urging urgent government measures despite high employment. Center outlets like Seoul Economic Daily neutrally detail policy claims of reducing 120,000 resting youth via jobs. Right-leaning Dong-A Ilbo emphasizes irresponsibility, exclusively reporting half of resting youth as long-term unemployed not job-hunting over a year. No strong pro-business SME defense.

Story gist: Key NASA-experienced officials have departed South Korea’s Korea Space Agency one after another. The deputy prime minister has initiated oversight of the agency.

Bias summary: Left-leaning outlets like Kyunghyang Shinmun use sensational headlines questioning crisis and turmoil at the agency, emphasizing successive exits and high-level crackdown. Center outlets like ZDNet Korea stress procedural ministry responses, framing follow-up measures from 55 organizations as routine tasks. Right-leaning coverage is absent, omitting any conservative viewpoint on agency issues.

Story gist: Rain forecast for South Korea’s central regions, Gyeongbuk, and Jeonbuk from tonight through tomorrow morning, with possible freezing rain and icy roads. Freezing cold temperatures expected to return next week.

Bias summary: Left-leaning Kyunghyang warns of ‘freezing rain’ and icy roads, urging caution. Center Daum reports cold easing from today with morning rain and snow in central areas, neutrally factual. Right-leaning Weekly Chosun dramatizes commute as ‘survival’ amid shifting weather woes from cold to dust to ice, emphasizing hardship.