9 January – South Korea bans the breeding and slaughter of dogs for consumption, effective in 2027, with the government promising to fully support dog meat farmers, butchers and restaurant owners.[4][5]
15 January – The government announces its decision to invest a total of 622 trillion won by 2047 to build a semiconductor mega cluster of Pyeongtaek, Icheon, Yongin, Hwaseong, Seongnam, and Suwon in the southern part of Gyeonggi Province. The plan also includes raising the self-sufficiency rate of key material, parts, and equipment supply chains to 50% by 2030, and policy support for companies.[6]
6 February – Ministry of Health and Welfare Cho Kyu-hong says that the number of medical students will increase by 2,000 from 2025, marking the first time since 1998 that the number of medical students will be expanded. The Korea Medical Association warns that it would go on a nationwide strike if the government pushes for expanding the number of admissions to medical schools.[12]
2024 South Korean doctors' strike: The government begins suspending the medical licenses of thousands of striking doctors due to growing concerns that the month-long strike is affecting medical services.[13]
Over 10,000 doctors go on strike at 100 educational hospitals, leading to a number of delays in treatment.[13]
20 March – The South Korean-flagged tankerKeoyoung Sun capsizes off the coast of Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan, during stormy weather. Nine crew members are found dead, while one person remains missing. Two people are rescued.[15]
2 May – South Korea raises its terrorism alert level to the second highest level, citing strong chances of an attack from North Korea on its overseas diplomatic offices.[23]
9 May – President Yoon holds a press conference in the Presidential Office to mark his second anniversary in office. Yoon acknowledgesthat the government's measures to solve various economic problems, including high prices, have fallen short of people's expectations and expresses his concern about the country's low birth rate. He also announces plans to establish a new ministry.[24]
22 May – President Yoon announces a ₩26 trillion (US$19 billion) support package for the country's semiconductor industry, which accounts for 18% of the country's total exports.[26]
29 May – North Korea deploys 260 balloons carrying garbage and possible human waste over South Korea, which Pyongyang says is in retaliation for balloons sent into the North by anti-regime activists.[27]
6 June – A South Korean activists’ group led by North Korean defector Park Sang-hak sends 200,000 anti-Pyongyang leaflets, U.S. bills, and USB sticks containing K-pop songs and South Korean dramas to North Korea with 10 balloons in retaliation to for the North's deployment of balloons carrying trash to South Korea.[30]
7 June – Samsung Electronics experiences its first ever labor walkout following a dispute over pay and workers' bonuses.[31]
9 June:
South Korea announces that it would resume loudspeaker broadcasts into North Korea for the first time since 2018 in retaliation for the latter's deployment of trash-filled balloons.[32]
A group of North Korean soldiers enter the South Korean side of the DMZ, prompting warning shots from South Korean forces that force them to retreat.[33]
12 June – A magnitude 4.3 earthquake strikes North Jeolla Province, damaging at least 285 structures.[34]
18 June:
A group of North Korean soldiers enter the South Korean side of the central section of the DMZ, prompting warning shots from South Korean forces that force them to retreat.[35]
President Yoon Suk Yeol declares a 'demographic national emergency'.[36]
20 June – A group of North Korean soldiers enter the South Korean side of the DMZ, prompting warning shots from South Korean forces that force them to retreat.[37]
8 July–ongoing – Members of the National Samsung Electronics Union go on strike following a dispute over pay and workers' bonuses.[42] On 10 July, the union extends the strike indefinitely.[43]
8 July – The government withdraws its plan to suspend the licences of junior doctors participating in the ongoing doctors' strike.[44]
16 July – The National Intelligence Service announces the defection of North Korean diplomat Ri Il Kyu and his family from his posting in Cuba in November 2023.[45]
23 July – Kim Beom-soo, the head of Kakao, is arrested in Seoul on charges of manipulating the stock prices of K-pop firm SM Entertainment to ensure his takeover of the latter.[49]
5 August – The benchmark KOSPI records its highest fall on record amid concerns over an economic slowdown in the United States.[53]
20 August – A North Korean soldier defects to South Korea by crossing through a section of the DMZ in Goseong County, Gangwon Province.[54]
22 August
The Bank of Korea freezes its benchmark interest rate at 3.5 percent, with Governor Rhee Chang-yong saying its board had opened the door to a potential rate cut within three months.[55] The presidential office calls the decision "disappointing from the perspective of boosting domestic command."[56]
At least seven people are killed and 12 others are injured in a fire at a hotel in Bucheon.[57]
28 August – The Korea AeroSpace Administration announces its 2025 budget, amounting to ₩964.9 billion (US$ 725.5 million), a 27% increase from the previous year.[58]
The Constitutional Court of Korea orders the government to revise the country's laws on dealing with climate change following a class suit by environmental campaigners and youth.[60]
President Yoon boycotts the opening of the inaugural session of the new National Assembly, making him the first South Korean leader not to attend the ceremony since the restoration of democracy in 1988.[62]
4 September – President Yoon and New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon hold a summit in Seoul. Both leaders pledged to strengthen bilateral relations in various fields including trade, investment, security and technology, and to cooperate on regional and international issues, and express concerns about the international situation, including security in the South China Sea, the Taiwan Strait and the Russian invasion of Ukraine.[63]
6 September – Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida makes his last visit to South Korea before leaving office. President Yoon and Kishida emphasize that it is very important to maintain the momentum of cooperation and exchange between the two countries.[64]
30 September –
The Seoul Western District Court convicts three police officers, including the former head of Yongsan police station Lee Im-jae, of negligence over their handling of the Seoul Halloween crowd crush in 2022 and sentences them to up to three years imprisonment.[65]
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico makes an official visit to South Korea and holds a summit with President Yoon, resulting in a joint statement to establish a strategic partnership in the areas of security, defense, economy, trade, energy, and technology.[66]
A defector from North Korea is arrested near Paju after trying to return to North Korea using a stolen bus which crashes into a barricade at the Unification Bridge in the DMZ.[67]
As the conflict between Israel and Iran intensifies, President Yoon holds an emergency meeting with senior government officials and orders the immediate dispatch of military transport planes to repatriate South Koreans. They also discuss measures to minimize the impact on the economy and energy supplies.[68]
10 October – Han Kang is awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in recognition for “her intense poetic prose that confronts historical traumas and exposes the fragility of human life”.[69]
11 October – North Korea accuses South Korea of sending drones carrying propaganda leaflets over Pyongyang on three occasions since 3 October. South Korean officials deny the claims.[70]
15 October – The Changwon District Court rules that misogyny is a hate crime in the case of a man convicted of physically assaulting a woman over her short hair.[71]
17 October –
North Korea revises its constitution to formally designate South Korea as a "hostile" state.[72]
8 November – At least two people are killed and 12 others are reported missing after a fishing boat capsizes off the coast of Jeju Island.[76]
9 November – South Korea accuses North Korea of jamming GPS signals in the Yellow Sea, causing disruptions to shipping and aviation.[77]
14 November – Former assemblywoman Yoon Mee-hyang is convicted by the Supreme Court of fraud and embezzlement of funds from the Korean Council for Justice and Remembrance for the Issues of Military Sexual Slavery by Japan that she headed and is given a three-year suspended prison term.[78]
15 November – Democratic Party of Korea leader Lee Jae-myung is convicted by the Seoul Central District Court of making false statements during his presidential campaign in 2022 and is given a one-year suspended prison sentence.[79]
25 November – Lee Jae-myung is acquitted by the Seoul Central District Court of instigating a witness in a 2019 case involving Lee to commit perjury.[80]
^Oh, Yu-jin (18 February 2024). "60·70년대 영화 스타 남궁원씨 별세...홍정욱 前의원 부친" [Namgoong Won, a movie star in the 60s and 70s, passes away...father of former lawmaker Hong Jeong-wook]. The Chosun Ilbo (in Korean). Retrieved 5 February 2024.