Starting in August, the minimum period for childcare leave will be shortened from 30 days to one week.

The amount of unpaid wages protected in the event of a company's bankruptcy will increase from three months' worth to six months' worth.

Statutory penalties for wage arrears will also be increased.

Railway tickets will be available for booking two months in advance, and the disaster text message service will be improved.

An AI-powered Government 24 service, which upgrades administrative services using artificial intelligence (AI) technology, will also be launched.

The government announced that it has published a booklet titled "Changes in the Second Half of 2026," which outlines 245 policy and institutional changes that will affect the lives of the public in the second half of the year.

In the fields of health, welfare, and employment, the reform of the childcare leave system stands out.

A short-term childcare leave system will be implemented starting August 20, allowing parents to take leave for short-term care needs, such as when a child aged 8 or under (up to the second grade of elementary school) is hospitalized due to illness or accident, or when daycare centers or schools are closed or on vacation.

Currently, one must take at least 30 days of childcare leave to receive childcare leave benefits.

The government is reforming the system to allow benefits to be paid in one- or two-week increments, enabling working parents to respond more flexibly.

The scope of protection for unpaid wages in the event of a business bankruptcy will also be expanded.

While currently only the final three months of unpaid wages can be claimed, the system will change on August 20 to allow for the final six months to be covered.

Statutory penalties for wage arrears will be strengthened starting October 8.

The penalty will increase from the current imprisonment of up to three years or a fine of up to 30 million won to imprisonment of up to five years or a fine of up to 50 million won.

Any citizen who reports violations of industrial safety and health rules, the concealment of industrial accidents, or violations of work suspension orders will be eligible for a reward.

Detailed information will be provided later through the Ministry of Employment and Labor's Labor Portal (labor.moel.go.kr).


In the fields of land and transport, railway-related services will be improved.

A high-speed railway integrated app, which allows users to book all trains including KTX and SRT, will be launched in August.

Currently, the services are divided between the Korail Talk and SRT apps, but in the future, users will be able to search, reserve, and purchase tickets through a single app.

The time frame for booking railway tickets will be extended from one month to two months in advance.

The government plans to enhance user convenience through this change.

Administrative services closely related to daily life will also be improved.

The disaster text message service will be changed to reduce fatigue caused by duplicate or excessive messages and to deliver more detailed information.

The current character limit of 90 characters will be increased to 157 characters.

A duplicate check function will also be introduced to prevent the repeated sending of disaster messages with similar content.

AI will be integrated into Government 24, which allows citizens to quickly process various administrative civil complaints online.

The government will officially launch the AI Government 24 service at the end of the year.

Even if a user does not know the exact administrative terminology, the AI will grasp the intent of the question when asked in everyday language.

The AI is expected to provide customized information by finding appropriate items among the approximately 20,000 civil complaint and benefit services provided by Government 24.

An AI-based voice conversation service will also be piloted for the digitally vulnerable.

Weather forecasts will be provided in much greater detail starting November 12.

Medium-term weather forecasts, which provide information for 6 to 11 days ahead, will be provided at 3 to 6-hour intervals.

The spatial range of weather forecasts, currently provided by province, will be subdivided into 5km by 5km grids.

The government aims to improve accuracy through these measures.

Starting in August, farmers or agricultural corporations are expected to be able to install toilets or parking spaces on farmland without obtaining farmland conversion permits.

This is expected to help alleviate inconveniences experienced by farmers during work and secure parking spaces for tractors and other agricultural machinery.

Support for vulnerable groups will also be expanded.

The "Just Dream" hubs, which provide food and daily necessities to those in need, will be expanded to 300 locations across 229 cities, counties, and districts nationwide starting in September.

Users will also be able to receive professional welfare counseling and assistance linked to welfare services.

Free sanitary pads will be provided in public facilities such as community centers, libraries, cultural centers, welfare centers, public health centers, family centers, and youth centers.

Previously, sanitary pads were provided to vulnerable youth aged 9 to 24 through a voucher system.

In the second half of the year, all women in need will be able to receive support through public facilities and other venues.

Voucher support will also continue in parallel.

Online shopping malls and other mail-order intermediaries must notify agricultural and fishery product sellers about the country-of-origin labeling system.

This measure is intended to prevent sellers from receiving fines or criminal punishment due to a lack of awareness regarding their obligation to label the country of origin.

It is also a measure to ensure the consumer's right to verify origin information.

Illegal activities related to culture will be strictly punished, and opportunities for cultural enjoyment will be expanded.

A reporting reward system will be introduced to eradicate scalping for performances or sports events.

Fines of up to 50 times the amount gained from illegal sales may also be imposed.

Violators can also be punished with imprisonment of up to one year or a fine of up to 10 million won.

The response speed against illegal webtoon and video sites will be accelerated so that they are blocked within 1 to 6 days after discovery.

Previously, it took two to three weeks to block such sites, but faster action will reduce copyright damages.

For anyone wishing to watch a movie, 4.5 million discount coupons worth 6,000 won will be distributed on a first-come, first-served basis.

Each person can receive up to two coupons.

Policies to promote balanced regional development and encourage investment in areas with declining populations will also be implemented.

The government will select growth engine industries for each of the five major regions and three special zones.

In addition, the government will provide exceptional support for pan-governmental policies in seven major fields to promote local investment.

For areas with declining populations, a higher weight for balanced regional development will be applied in the comprehensive evaluation of the feasibility study for private investment projects.

Local small and medium-sized enterprises will be given preferential treatment through systems such as regional restricted competitive bidding.

Furthermore, to increase foreign investors' access to the foreign exchange market and respond to the real-time currency exchange needs of import and export companies, the interbank foreign exchange market will be open 24 hours a day.

Accordingly, the foreign exchange market is expected to operate 24 hours a day without interruption, excluding January 1 and weekends.

The "Changes in the Second Half of 2026" booklet will be distributed and made available at local governments, public libraries, braille libraries, and correctional institutions nationwide during July.

It will also be provided on the Ministry of Economy and Finance website, online bookstores such as YES24, Kyobo, and Aladin, and the dedicated "Changes" webpage (https://whatsnew.mofe.go.kr).

Categorized data such as "#Youth" and "#Housing" has been added to the booklet.

The content has also been organized in a natural language question-and-answer format so that it can be easily searched or checked using artificial intelligence (AI).

To make it easier to check the changes via AI, the content of the booklet has also been provided in a markdown format optimized for AI reading.

(Photo: Yonhap News)