South Korea announces mandatory retirement pensions and reports strong export growth

South Korea's government announced it will require all workplaces to provide retirement pensions, implementing the mandate in phases. The country also reported strong export figures for January, showing the sharpest rise since 2021, and logged a record current account surplus for 2025.

Other economic developments include a decline in foreign exchange reserves for a second month and a study warning that overseas transfers of map data could cost the country billions of dollars. Separately, a global increase in demand for Korean cultural products is reportedly making seaweed more expensive.