The Maeil Business Newspaper has compiled the top 10 domestic news of the year

1. Coronavirus puts the global economy to a standstill

The novel coronavirus from Wuhan, China hit Korean shores in January and made Korea one of the first global hotspots for the virus. Once dubbed a mitigation success story, Korea battles the year-end its worst wave of infections with first lockdown.

2. Housing upheaval

Housing frenzy was fueled by 24 sets of real estate regulatory and taxation measures that only fanned red-hot property market.

3. Korea’s top prosecutor suspended

The Justice Ministry’s power struggle with the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office resulted in an unprecedented two-month suspension of the Prosecutor General. The Anti-Corruption Investigative Agency will be launched in January, despite vehement protests from the opposition party.

4. Kospi hits record 2,700

Korea’s main Kospi crossed the 2,700 threshold for the first time this month, driven by retail investors and ongoing demand for the bluechip stock Samsung Electronics.

5. Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-hee dies

Lee Kun-hee, the legendary business titan who grew Samsung into one of the world’s leading technology giants, died in October at the age of 78.

6. Parasite, BTS sweep global stage

Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite made Korean movie history by grabbing four Oscar wins, including for Best Film, Best Direction, Best Original Screenplay and Best International Feature Film. The boyband BTS set another record by landing seven entries on the latest Billboard Hot 100, with their recent single “Life Goes On” soaring to No. 1, and is nominated for a Grammy as the first K-pop act.

7. Ruling party wins supermajority in parliament elections

The ruling Democratic Party won a decisive victory in the April parliamentary elections, taking 180 seats in the 300-seat National Assembly.

8. Passage of anti-corporate laws

The ruling party used its supermajority power to pass a series of anti-corporate regulation bills.

9. Korean hedge funds go bust

Scandals at Lime Asset Management and Optimus Asset Management threw investors into a panic as 1.5 trillion won in funds were held frozen.

10. Pandemic relief weighs on national debt

Korea’s national debt swelled by 114 trillion won this year as the government unleashed two rounds of relief handouts and four extra budgets to stem the fallout of the coronavirus pandemic.

[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]