[Graphic News] Temporary holiday causes surge in spending

The government’s decision to designate May 6 as a temporary holiday, which allowed people four days off in a row last week, led to boosts in spending on shopping, traveling and leisure. Sales in department stores increased 16 percent during May 5-8 this year compared to last year’s holiday from May 2-5. Meanwhile, the number of visitors to baseball parks also surged 43.9 percent over the same period.As part of efforts to spur domestic consumption, the government had waived highway tolls across t

May 10, 2016

[Graphic News] Primary sector workers show highest fatalities among cancer insurance policyholders

Primary sector workers such as farmers, fisherman and miners have the highest annual death rate among cancer insurance policyholders in Korea, industry data showed Monday. Among 12 occupational groupings, male workers in the agriculture, fishing, mining, livestock and fishing industries had the highest death rate among cancer insurance policyholders at 0.6 percent in 2014, according to the Korea Insurance Development Institute. Male fatalities in the sector came to 628 during the year among a to

May 9, 2016

[Graphic News] Koreans prefer adopting girls

A total of 1,057 South Korean children were adopted last year, with domestic adoption continuing to show the tendency of preferring girls over boys.The Ministry of Health and Welfare said that the number of adopted children declined slightly from 1,172 in 2014. Last year, Korean parents adopted 683 children, up from the 637 in 2014. Fewer South Korean children, however, were adopted overseas in 2015 -- 374 compared to 535 the previous year. Of those adopted in Korea, 67.5 percent were girls whil

Social AffairsMay 8, 2016

[Graphic News] Shipbuilders’ performance improves in Q1

Korea’s top three shipbuilders — Hyundai Heavy Industries, Samsung Heavy Industries, and Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering — recorded improved performances during the first quarter of this year, according to industry insiders on Wednesday. The world’s No. 1 shipbuilder Hyundai Heavy Industries reaped its first profit in 10 quarters with a net profit of 244.5 billion won ($210 million), although most of the profits were from non-shipbuilding activities. Moreover, the troubled DMSE recorded

IndustryMay 5, 2016

[Graphic News] South Korean children feel least happy

A recent study showed that South Korean children were the least happy with their lives among the OECD member states. One out of five children and teenagers said they felt the urge to commit suicide at least once.In the report released by Yonsei University’s social development research institute this week, the “subjective happiness level” among South Korean children came at 82 points, the lowest among the 22 researched OECD members. The score was calculated based on the OECD average of 100 by ask

Social AffairsMay 4, 2016

[Graphic News] Number of illegal residents surges in Jeju

With the rising number of foreign visitors to Jejudo Island, the number of illegal residents in the southern resort is also surging, statistics showed Tuesday.In recent years, nearly 3 million foreigners have visited the island each year, with 85.3 percent of them being Chinese who can enter without a visa, as of 2015.The number of illegal immigrants in Jejudo has rapidly increased from 282 in 2011 to 371 in 2012, 731 in 2013, 1,450 in 2014 and 4,353 in 2015, according to the Justice Ministry.Wi

Social AffairsMay 3, 2016

[Graphic News] Korea Securities Depository pays highest salary among public institutions

The Korea Securities Depository pays the highest salary among public institutions, according to a report by Alio, an online information provider on public agencies, on Monday. Out of the 321 domestic public institutions, employees of KSD, an affiliate with the Financial Services Commission, received an average of 104.9 million won ($91,950) last year, a 4.2 percent increase from 100.7 million won in 2014.Second place went to those who work for the Korea Investment Corp. where they receive an ave

May 2, 2016

[Graphic News] New duty-free shops to create jobs and investments

The Korea Customs Service expects that new duty-free businesses in Seoul and elsewhere will create 5,000 new jobs and 1 trillion won in investments.The KCS announced last Friday that it would issue four additional licenses to operate duty-free shops in Seoul in a bid to meet rising demand from Chinese tourists for non-taxable goods.Duty-free stores, mostly run by retail giants such as Lotte Group, posted a combined 9.2 trillion won ($8 billion) in sales last year, with an average growth of 15.1

IndustryMay 1, 2016

[Graphic News] Half of salaried workers earn less than W2m a month

Nearly half of salaried workers in Korea take home less than 2 million won ($1,754) a month, with the proportion rising to over 80 percent in restaurant and hospitality businesses, data showed. According to Statistics Korea, the ratio of workers with monthly pay under 2 million won came in at 47.4 percent at the end of last year, continuing its steady decline from 50.7 percent in 2013 and 49.5 percent in 2014. Those earning less than 1 million won account for 12.4 percent, while 35 percent belon

April 28, 2016

[Graphic News] Korea moves to tackle drug offenses

The South Korean government is moving to clamp down on the illegal trade of drugs particularly through the Internet and social networking services.The government released on Tuesday a set of measures to root out narcotics offenses, such as by analyzing X-ray results of express cargo items in real time. A comprehensive portal system will be established for customs officials to share information simultaneously. An agent and a detection dog will be stationed at international airports and harbors. A

Social AffairsApril 27, 2016

[Graphic News] More Koreans suffer from depression

More South Koreans of all ages are suffering from depression, with the rise most significant among men in their 20s.The National Health Insurance Service said Tuesday that a total of 599,200 patients visited hospitals for depression in 2015, a 16 percent surge from 516,600 in 2010.The treatment cost for depression also jumped by 20.8 percent to 268.4 billion won ($233.8 million) from 222.2 billion won during the same period.The largest percentage of the patients were women in their 50s, followed

Social AffairsApril 26, 2016

[Graphic News] Cigarette consumption rebounds

Cigarette sales rebounded in the first quarter of this year, after a sharp decline early last year due to an increase in prices, according to a Yonhap news report. The report, which compiled data from several financial investment firms, said about 17.7 billion sticks of cigarettes were sold in the first three months of this year, a 40.4 percent increase from the 12.6 billion sticks sold in the same period last year. The government’s increase of the tax on cigarettes by 2,000 won per pack in Janu

IndustryApril 25, 2016

[Graphic News] Manufacturing sector has most indebted companies

More than half of heavily indebted companies that fail to generate enough earnings to make interest payments come from manufacturing industries, which have led job creation in Korea.According to a report by the Korea Employment Information Service, 52.2 percent of 17,841 companies with an interest-coverage ratio failing to reach 1 for a third consecutive year during the period of 2005-2014 were manufacturers.An ICR below 1 means the firm‘s earnings are insufficient to make interest payments.With

IndustryApril 24, 2016

[Graphic News] Slow progress of peak wage system

Four out of 10 Korean companies, which are supposed to adopt the peak wage system this year, have implemented the new wage scheme, the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry said Thursday.Starting this year, companies that have more than 300 employees are required to introduce the peak wage system to share jobs with younger generations. According to the survey result released by the KCCI , 42.7 percent of 300 respondents adopted the system. In the peak wage system, employees get less pay from th

IndustryApril 21, 2016

[Graphic News] Record number of companies suffered credit rating downgrade

A total of 159 South Korean companies suffered downgrades in their credit ratings in 2015, according to government data. The number was the largest since the 1997-1998 Asian financial crisis when 171 firms had their ratings slashed, said the Financial Supervisory Service on Wednesday. During the same period, 26 companies saw their credit ratings rise. The financial regulator said this marked the smallest increase since 1998. The FSS data also showed that credit downgrades were most witnessed in

April 20, 2016

[Graphic News] Koreans in 50s spend more time on social media

Koreans in their 50s spent an average of 57.7 minutes a day on social networking services through smartphones or computers last year, according to the Korea Information Society Development Institute on Monday. This is a 24.6 percent increase in time spent on SNS, compared to the 46.3 minutes in 2014, surpassing the average time of those in their 30s and 40s.As expected, among age groups Koreans in their 20s spent the most time on SNS with an average of 80.7 minutes per day. They spent 63.1 minut

IndustryApril 19, 2016

[Graphic News] Top 10 conglomerates‘ sales fall further than corporate average

Korea’s top 10 conglomerates saw their companies‘ sales decline at a sharper rate than the nation’s corporate average last year, according to data released Sunday.Market information provider FnGuide said in its report that combined sales at 68 of the top 10 business groups’ listed affiliates stood at 1,010.7 trillion won ($877.1 billion), a 3.31 percent drop from the previous year.Companies listed on the Korea Stock Composite Price Index fell by an average of 3.01 percent.By conglomerate, seven

IndustryApril 18, 2016

[Graphic News] Koreans consume less meat than OECD average

The average Korean consumed 51.4 kilograms of meat in 2014, less than the average 63.5 kilograms of meat intake in member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, according to a report by the Food Ministry last week. Koreans consumed an average of 24.4 kilograms of pork, 15.4 kilograms of chicken and 11.6 kilograms of beef in 2014, the report showed.Of the 34 OECD member countries, the U.S. ranked first in meat consumption with an average of 89.7 kilograms, while B

IndustryApril 17, 2016

[Graphic News] 20th National Assembly election results map

 

World NewsApril 14, 2016

[Graphic News] S. Korean military ranks No.11

South Korea ranks 11th in the world in terms of military strength, according to the website Global Firepower which provides annual assessments of countries’ war capacities.The ranking took into account the number and diversity of weapons, geographical factors, logistics, natural resources, industry and manpower. Current political or military leadership was not considered. Seoul dropped from seventh place in 2015 and ninth place in 2014. Japan moved up two spots to No. 7. It had ranked No. 9 in 2

DefenseApril 13, 2016