[Graphic News] Korea ranked 25th most prosperous country

Korea was the 25th most prosperous country in the world this year, moving up one notch from last year, according to a global index.The annual prosperity index, compiled by the Legatum Institute, ranks nations on eight indicators, including wealth, health, education and personal freedom. Korea’s ranking of 25th overall made it the fifth most prosperous country in Asia following Singapore at 18th, Japan at 19th, Hong Kong at 20th and Taiwan at 22nd. Norway topped the list for the sixth consecutive

Social AffairsNov. 4, 2014

[Graphic News] Greenhouse gas levels reaches 800,000-year high

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warns that greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels must be eliminated almost entirely within the century to prevent irreparable environmental impact. According to the IPCC, the Earth’s average temperature has risen by 0.85 degrees Celsius over the past 133 years, while the sea level has risen 19 centimeters over the past 110 years. With greenhouse gases from fossil fuels seen as the key component in the changes, emissions must be cut by as much as

Social AffairsNov. 3, 2014

[Graphic News] Mobile subscribers drop

The number of South Korean subscribers to mobile communication services provided by three telecom companies stood at 50,700 on average per day last month, according to the ICT Ministry and the Korea Communications Commission.It dropped more than 24 percent from the previous month’s daily average of 66,900 following a new law governing the distribution of mobile devices and their subsidies, which took effect in October.The two agencies, however, said the mobile communication market was showing si

TechnologyNov. 2, 2014

[Graphic News] Korea logs record tourism profitsTourism

South Korea achieved record-high tourism income in September, due to an increase in the number of Chinese visitors, according to data by the Bank of Korea and the Korea Culture and Tourism Institute.The nation’s total tourist income reached $1.76 billion last month, exceeding $1.7 billion for the first time and marking a 35 percent leap from the same period in the previous year. Also, related businesses turned net profits for the first time in 28 months.The gain was mostly attributed to the grow

Oct. 30, 2014

[Graphic News] Temporary workers on the rise in Korea

The number of temporary workers in South Korea has exceeded 6 million this year for the first time, according to government figures Wednesday. As of August, there were a total of 6.07 million temporary workers here, Statistics Korea said. The figure was up by 131,000 people compared to a year earlier. Among the different types of temporary workers, the number of part-time employees working for designated periods of time grew the most, increasing by 148,000 to reach 2.03 million, the figures show

IndustryOct. 29, 2014

[Graphic News] Idle corporate money hits record high

Investors are increasingly facing difficulty in finding appropriate investment instruments to park their money for decent returns amid a bearish run on the local stock market and lingering economic uncertainties, data showed Tuesday.The country’s short-term funds, including currency in circulation, all financial products with a maturity of less than six months, and money parked for stock investment, amounted to a record 757.4 trillion won ($720 billion) as of the end of August, a sharp increase

Oct. 28, 2014

[Graphic News] Ranges of N.K.’s ballistic missiles

U.S. Forces Korea Commander Curtis Scaparrotti said Friday that North Korea was thought to have the capability to miniaturize a nuclear warhead. His remarks escalated concerns that Pyongyang is getting close to weaponizing its nuclear capability by placing it atop a missile, which could pose a threat not only to South Korea but also to the U.S. The North conducted nuclear tests in 2006, 2009 and last year, and experts say Pyongyang might have accumulated the technology to build nuclear warheads

North KoreaOct. 27, 2014

[Graphic News] Google executive Alan Eustace sets world skydiving record

Alan Eustace, a senior vice president of Google, has broken the world altitude record for a parachute jump that was set just two years ago. The 57-year-old jumped from near the edge of the stratosphere in a specially-designed spacesuit over the southern New Mexico desert. The American hit a top speed of 1,321 kph during a freefall that lasted four minutes and 27 seconds. He exceeded the speed of sound, setting off a small sonic boom.He set off from a runway in Roswell, New Mexico, connected to a

World NewsOct. 26, 2014

[Graphic News] Unhealthy teen habits getting worse

Roughly 1 in 7 male students in middle and high school smoke, a recent report by the state-run Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed.The study on 80,000 students across Korea showed that the 14 percent of teenage boys smoked at least once a month. However, the smoking rates for girls have fallen steadily, from 8.9 percent in 2005 to 4 percent in 2014.The report also showed that students are consuming more fast food, soft drinks and an increasing number are skipping breakfast, w

Social AffairsOct. 23, 2014

[Graphic News] Korea’s coffee imports to hit record

The amount of coffee imported to Korea is expected to reach a record high this year amid burgeoning demand, according to statistics from the Korea Customs Service.The agency said coffee ― including green beans and roasted beans ― imported during January to September this year weighed 99,372 tons. The figure was up 18.7 percent compared to the 83,693 tons in the same period last year. It surpasses the previous high of 92,040 tons recorded in 2011, the largest amount since 1990.The value of the im

Oct. 22, 2014

[Graphic News] Unified Korea’s per-capita GDP to $70,000 in 2050: study

The gross domestic product per capita of a unified Korea would reach $73,747 in 2050, the second-highest GDP figure among G20 countries, according to a projection made on Monday.Professor Kim Byung-yeon of Seoul National University said a unified Korea’s economy would grow at an annual rate of 4.51 percent, with more than 50,000 jobs created each year from 2015 to 2050.Kim said a unified Korea’s GDP per capita would rank 11th ($35,718) among OECD member nations in 2030, and make a big jump to th

PoliticsOct. 21, 2014

[Graphic News] Korean currency, stocks trail Asia rivals

South Korean currency and stocks have been the worst performers among emerging markets in Asia this month amid concerns of a slow economic recovery and a set of negative external factors, market data showed Sunday.According to the data, the South Korean won tumbled 2.06 percent against the greenback over the past 17 days, the largest drop among the currencies of seven emerging markets in Asia.Malaysia came next with a 0.4 percent drop in the value of its currency against the dollar, followed by

Oct. 20, 2014

[Graphic News] The Pangyo Techno Valley accident

Grates covering a ventilation shaft for an underground parking lot collapsed under the weight of people watching a K-pop event Oct. 17. So far, 16 people have died, and eight of the 11 people injured in the accident are said to be in critical condition.

Social AffairsOct. 19, 2014

[Graphic News] 1 in 10 Korean teenagers suffers depression

One in 10 teenagers in Korea suffers from depression, data showed Thursday.About 490,000 or 11.2 percent of teenagers aged 12 to 18 had experienced severe sadness or depression that lasted for about two weeks last year, according to Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data.The data showed that the number teenagers feeling depressed went up by 2.7 percent in the past four years, with more girls feeling depressed than boys.The rate of depression in girls rose each year to reach 16 per

Social AffairsOct. 16, 2014

[Graphic News] Africa urges quicker Ebola response

Leaders of the three West African nations hardest hit by Ebola sought support from the international financial community amid warnings that the widening epidemic is devastating the region’s fragile economies. The presidents of Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea discussed strategies to combat the deadly virus during a meeting in Washington of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. The World Bank, which provides loans and funding to developing nations, has pledged $400 million to help c

World NewsOct. 15, 2014

[Graphic News] Low earners gain least from Park’s health policy

Fewer low-income earners in South Korea have benefited from the national health insurance program’s increased coverage of expenses related to the “four major diseases” that require costly treatment, including cancer and heart disease, while high-income earners recouped far more benefits from the policy, according to Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo’s office.The four serious diseases are cancer, heart disease, cerebrovascular disease and a total of 138 incurable conditions such as Crohn’s disease.According to

PoliticsOct. 14, 2014

[Graphic News] Korea has highest mobile phone prices in OECD

Mobile phones in South Korea were the most expensive in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, according to government data released Sunday.The initial price upon release for handsets stood at $230.56 last year, followed by Japan with $200.72. The U.S. ranked 18th place with $107.55.Prices have been decreasing annually since 2011, but it still came higher than Japan, which had been considered generally expensive.In contrast, prices of premium phones has been on the rise annua

World NewsOct. 13, 2014

[Graphic News] 1 in 4 Korean boys suffers from obesity

One in four South Korean male children aged 5 to 17 are obese, a rate that is higher than the OECD average, according to the nation’s Health Ministry.According to the ministry, 25 percent of young male Koreans are obese, compared to the OECD average of 23 percent.The ministry announced the statistics using Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development data from no earlier than 2010. “Some 60 percent of obese children end up becoming obese as adults as well,” said the Health Ministry in a

TechnologyOct. 12, 2014

[Graphic News] Half of major firms’ board members come from SKY, overseas schools

Almost half of the executives at affiliates of the nation’s top 10 companies were found to be graduates of South Korea’s leading three universities or from schools abroad, according to Chaebul.com, a website devoted to conglomerate data. Up to 594 ― or 23.9 percent ― of the 2,483 surveyed executives were graduates of Seoul National University, Korea University and Yonsei University, while another 22.6 percent were from overseas universities as of last year. Among the executives, 10.2 percent wer

IndustryOct. 9, 2014

[Graphic News] More than 1,200 schools have sex offenders living nearby

The number of sex offenders who live near schools stood at 5,098 as of this year, with 1,273 schools affected, data showed Wednesday. According to the Ministry of Education, 4,270 sex offenders live near elementary schools while 635 and 191 sex offenders live near middle and high schools, respectively.An average of 7 in 10 schools in Korea are located in a neighborhood where at one sex offender lives. And 102 schools are within a 1 km radius of the residences of more than 10 sex offenders. Paren

Social AffairsOct. 8, 2014