New York stock market closes mixed…Beware of icy roads in the cold [Morning Briefing]

◆ New York stock market, taking a breather while searching for direction…closes mixed

The three major U.S. stock indices closed mixed after trading near the flat line. On the 4th local time, the Dow closed at 47,850.94, down 31.96 points (0.07%) from the previous session. The S&P 500 closed at 6,857.12, up 7.40 points (0.11%), and the Nasdaq closed at 23,505.14, up 51.04 points (0.22%). U.S. weekly jobless claims fell short of expectations, marking the lowest level in three years. However, on Wall Street, assessments largely said the figure was distorted by seasonal factors. With next week's Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting approaching and key Federal Reserve (Fed) officials entering a 'quiet period,' there was a lack of material likely to move the market.

◆ All traffic restrictions on Seoul roads lifted…Beware of icy roads and black ice

All road traffic restrictions in Seoul due to the sudden heavy snowfall have been lifted. According to Seoul's Traffic Information Center (TOPIS) on the 5th, the 28 sections of downtown Seoul expressways and nine city roads that had been closed by the previous day's heavy snowfall were all reopened, with the final reopening at 4:53 a.m. after snow removal work was completed on the Bundang-Suseo Road toward Seongnam, at the section from the south end of Cheongdam Bridge to Tancheon No.1 Bridge. As of 5:50 a.m., the overall traffic speed in downtown Seoul was 20.9 km/h, and the overall traffic speed in Seoul was 23.0 km/h, indicating slow traffic. Due to snow and rain since the previous day, many places may have icy roads and black ice, so caution is advised for traffic safety.

Today, Friday, the nation will be mostly clear, but clouds will be frequent until the morning in the Chungnam and Jeolla regions and Jeju Island. Snow or rain will drift in Jeolla until the morning. Ulleungdo and Dokdo will receive 5–10㎝ of snow or 5–10mm of rain, and less than 0.1㎝ of snow or less than 0.1mm of rain is expected on the west and east coasts of North Jeolla, and in western Gwangju and western South Jeolla. Daytime temperatures are forecast at 1–9 degrees. Fine dust concentrations are expected to be at 'Good' levels across all regions.

◆ Parents who abandoned their children will not receive survivors' pension…'Anti-filial' pension law to take effect next year

An amendment to the 'National Pension Act' that restricts survivors' pension benefits for parents who violate their support obligations, known as the 'Goo Hara Act', recently passed the plenary session of the National Assembly and is scheduled to take effect on January 1 next year. Once the amendment is in force, parents who failed to fulfill their duty to support minor children will not be able to receive various survivors' benefits paid by the National Pension when the child dies. Until now, even if parents neglected their duty to raise their children, legal inheritance rights were maintained under the banner of filial ties (天倫), and there were many cases of parents collecting their children's insurance payouts or pensions, but this revision imposes a strong brake. The standard is 'inheritance rights': if a family court determines, "this parent is disqualified from inheritance due to abandoning or abusing the child," the National Pension Service will also refuse to pay pensions based on that determination. This applies to survivors' pensions, lump-sum refunds, lump-sum death benefits, and unpaid benefits, and is interpreted as the legislature's and the government's strong will not to allow parents who did not raise their children to profit financially from the child's death.

◆ Broadcasting, Media and Communications Commission launches urgent investigation into Coupang's 'complicated account deletion process'

In response to a mass leak of Coupang's personal information and a surge in account deletion requests, the Broadcasting, Media and Communications Commission has launched an urgent fact-finding investigation into Coupang's alleged deliberate complication of the account deletion procedure. The Commission initiated the investigation to determine whether the account deletion procedure set by Coupang constitutes a prohibited act under the Telecommunications Business Act—namely, 'acts that restrict a user's right to terminate service.' Currently, to delete an account via the PC screen, users must go through a complicated process: MyCoupang→Check/Edit Personal Information→Enter Password→Click 'Delete Account' at the bottom of the screen→Re-enter Password→Check Coupang usage history→Survey. The Commission said that if illegal acts are confirmed in this investigation, it will take strict measures such as imposing fines and corrective orders in accordance with applicable laws, and that it will continue to monitor acts by telecommunication services that cause harm to citizens' lives.

Kim Ye-rang, Hankyung.com reporter yesrang@hankyung.com