[Graphic News] Global tourist arrivals tripled in first quarter

　International tourist arrivals tripled in the first quarter compared with the same period in 2021, with Europe leading the rebound as COVID-19 restrictions were eased, the United Nations’ tourism agency said. 　In the first three months of 2022, there were 117 million global tourist arrivals, up from 41 million in the same period a year earlier, with the figures showing an increase of 182 percent, the Madrid-based UN World Tourism Organization said.  　Although the figure remained 6

WorldJune 17, 2022

[Graphic News] Crypto scam victims lose more than $1b since 2021

　More than 46,000 people reported losing a total of over $1 billion in cryptocurrency scams since the start of 2021, the US Federal Trade Commission said in a report. 　Nearly half the people who reported losing digital currencies in a scam said it started with an ad, post or a message on a social media platform, according to the FTC. 　The craze for cryptocurrencies was at a fever pitch last year, with bitcoin hitting a record high of $69,000 in November. 　Reports point to social media and cr

WorldJune 16, 2022

[Graphic News] Trade of computers, peripherals hits new high

　South Korea’s trade of computers and related goods soared nearly 40 percent to reach a new all-time high in the first four months of the year amid the coronavirus pandemic, data showed. 　The country’s exports and imports of computers and peripherals stood at $13.3 billion in the January-April period, up 40.2 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service. 　Computers and peripherals include desktops, notebooks, tablets, solid state drives, memory

BusinessJune 15, 2022

[Graphic News] Population mobility hits 48-year low

　The number of South Koreans who moved to different residences in the country sank to a 48-year low in April due to an aging population and fewer housing transactions, data showed. 　The number of people who changed their residences came to 483,000 last month, down 18.7 percent from a year earlier, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. 　The tally marked the lowest for any April since 1974, when the figure marked 480,000. It was also the first time that the number had fallen below

NationalJune 13, 2022

[Graphic News] Movie theater attendance nears pre-pandemic level in May: data

　South Korean film attendance numbers nearly shot back up to the pre-pandemic level in May, data showed, with a couple of big hits leading the charge. 　According to the Korean Film Council, movies screened in the country amassed a combined 14.55 million admissions in May, the highest monthly figure since 16.84 million from January 2020 - the last full month before the COVID-19 pandemic hit. 　The May figure was also a massive jump from just 3.21 million admissions in April. 　During the pandem

NationalJune 10, 2022

[Graphic News] Number of executives at major firms rises 4.5% in Q1

　The number of executives at South Korea’s major firms expanded 4.5 percent on-year in the first quarter of the year despite the coronavirus pandemic, a corporate tracker said. 　A total of 353 leading companies in Asia’s fourth-largest economy had a combined 14,418 executives as of end-March this year, up from 13,803 a year earlier, according to the Leaders Index. 　The figure covers companies out of the country’s top 500 corporations by sales that have disclosed their first-

NationalJune 9, 2022

[Graphic News] US births rise for the first time in seven years in 2021

　The number of births in the United States grew 1 percent in 2021 from a pandemic-related low in 2020, marking the first increase since 2014, according to a report by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 　The report said that 3,659,289 babies were born last year, with the increase driven by women between 25 and 49 years. Women aged 35 to 39 accounted for the biggest rise, while the birth rate among teenagers hit a record low. 　Americans had the lowest number of babies in more th

WorldJune 8, 2022

[Graphic News] 8 out of 10 workplace sexual harassment victims face retaliation

　More than 8 out of 10 people who reported sexual harassment at the workplace said they suffered from some form of retaliation, a civic group reported.  　Gapjil 119, which campaigns against workplace abuses, announced its analysis of the 205 reports it received from abuse victims between January 2021 and March 2022. 　About 100 of the reports were from those who had filed complaints about sexual harassment to either their employer or other institutions. 　About 90 percent of them said the

NationalJune 7, 2022

[Graphic News] Number of new child adoptees in S. Korea drops in 2021

　The number of newly adopted South Korean children fell for the third consecutive year in 2021 amid the pandemic, government data showed. 　According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the number of new child adoptees reached 415 last year, down from 704 in 2019 and 492 in 2020. Officials attributed the decrease in adoption to the effects of COVID-19. 　Among the new adoptees, 189, or 45.5 percent, were adopted by overseas families. Of those, 66.7 percent were sent to the United States. Oth

NationalJune 3, 2022

[Graphic News] Global smoking rates fall for first time: report

　Smoking rates have declined globally for the first time on record, according to a new report on tobacco use from a public health campaign group and US academics. 　However, the figures from the Tobacco Atlas report - described as a potential tipping point by the authors - also mask growing numbers of smokers in parts of the world, as well as increased tobacco use among young teenagers in almost half of the countries surveyed. 　Globally, there are 1.1 billion smokers and 200 million more peopl

WorldJune 1, 2022

[Graphic News] Chinese nationals purchase nearly 7,000 buildings in S. Korea in 2021

　Chinese people purchased nearly 7,000 buildings in South Korea last year, with more than half of the properties being in the Greater Seoul area, a ruling party lawmaker said. 　A total of 6,640 buildings, including apartments, were purchased by Chinese nationals last year, and 2,659 of them are located in Gyeonggi Province, which surrounds the capital city of Seoul, Chung Woo-taik, a lawmaker of the ruling People Power Party, said in a report, citing the National Assembly Research Service. 　C

BusinessMay 31, 2022

[Graphic News] Over half of 20-somethings don’t plan to have children after marriage: poll

　More than half of single 20-somethings in South Korea do not want to have babies after marriage apparently due to concerns over high child-rearing costs in the country, a poll showed.  　According to a survey reported in a monthly economic journal by the state-run Korea Development Institute, 52.4 percent of unmarried Koreans in their 20s think it is OK not to have children after tying the knot.  　The percentage is sharply up from 23.3 percent in the same survey conducted five years

NationalMay 30, 2022

[Graphic News] Confiscated narcotics hit record high in 2021: data

　The amount of illegal narcotics confiscated in South Korea reached an all-time high last year, with an increase of foreign and juvenile drug offenders, government data showed. 　According to the data compiled by the Supreme Prosecutors Office, a total of 1,295.7 kilograms of illegal drugs were confiscated in 2021, more than a threefold jump from a year earlier. 　Noticeably, the amount of major illegal drugs - including methamphetamine, cocaine and marijuana - soared more than five times on-ye

NationalMay 26, 2022

[Graphic News] Nearly 43,000 people died on US roads last year

　Nearly 43,000 people were killed on US roads last year, the highest number in 16 years as Americans returned to the roads after the coronavirus pandemic forced many to stay at home. 　The 10.5 percent jump over 2020 numbers was the largest percentage increase since the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration began its fatality data collection system in 1975. Exacerbating the problem was a persistence of risky driving behaviors during the pandemic, such as speeding and less frequent use

WorldMay 25, 2022

[Graphic News] Investments in small shares of artworks increase in recent 3 years

　Total art investments into small shares of blue-chip paintings in South Korea amounted to nearly 100 billion won ($78.5 million) over the past 3 1/2 years, industry data showed. 　Four local online art investment platforms, including industry leader ArtnGuide, allow consumers to invest in iconic artworks by buying small ownership stakes, attracting small-sum investors interested in diversifying their investment portfolios to the field that had been previously only available to the wealthy. 　A

NationalMay 24, 2022

[Graphic News] Half of older adults in Seoul have no experience using kiosks

　Half of older adults in Seoul have no experience using digital kiosks, a survey showed, despite a rising number of businesses adopting such self-service electronic machines amid the pandemic. 　The poll released by the Seoul Digital Foundation, a digital arm of the city government, showed 45.8 percent of people aged 55 or older living in Seoul said they have used kiosk machines, compared with 94.1 percent of those aged less than 55. 　Noticeably, 29.4 percent of those aged between 65 and 74 ha

NationalMay 23, 2022

[Graphic News] Imports of home furnishings hit record high last year amid pandemic

　South Korea’s imports of home furnishing products hit an all-time high last year on the back of demand by consumers staying home amid the COVID-19 pandemic, data showed. 　The imports of eight kinds of home furnishing goods, including sofas and lamps, came to $3.5 billion last year, up 15.6 percent from a year earlier, according to data from the Korea Customs Service. 　It rose 26.1 percent from the pre-pandemic year of 2019. 　By country, inbound shipments from China were the largest wi

BusinessMay 20, 2022

[Graphic News] Seoul's daily subway ridership hits pandemic-era high on eased restrictions

　The daily number of riders on the Seoul subway system breached the 7 million mark for the first time in 1 1/2 years, data showed, partly on the back of rollbacks of COVID-19 restrictions. 　According to the data from Seoul subway operator Seoul Metro, 7,210,000 people rode subway trains in the capital city on April 29, marking the most single-day riders since Oct. 30, 2020. 　An average of 7,320,000 riders used the Seoul subway system in a 24-hour period in 2019, the data showed. The average t

NationalMay 19, 2022

[Graphic News] US gun deaths soared in 2020 amid pandemic

　The number of gun deaths in the United States underwent a “historic” increase in 2020, possibly due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and poverty, according to a report by health authorities published.  　The US racked up 19,350 firearm homicides in 2020, up nearly 35 percent as compared to 2019, and 24,245 gun suicides (up 1.5 percent), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in its report.  　The CDC deemed both the murders and suicides by firearm &ldq

WorldMay 18, 2022

[Graphic News] Nearly 1 in 5 children in S. Korea ‘unhappy’: survey

　Nearly 1 in 5 children in South Korea said they are unhappy, citing pressure to do well at school as the biggest reason, a survey showed. 　According to the poll conducted by the Health Ministry and the National Center for the Rights of the Child, 81.4 percent of those surveyed said they are either “somewhat happy” or “very happy,” while 18.6 percent said they are “not very happy” or “not at all happy.” 　Of the children who said they are unhappy

NationalMay 17, 2022