[Graphic News] Number of foreign students hits record high

The number of foreign students in Korea has hit a record high this year, data from the Justice Ministry showed Tuesday. As of February, the number of foreign students reached 92,076, up 8 percent on-year, the ministry said.The figure has gradually increased since 2008 but started to decline from 2012. The number dropped to 85,230 last year, the lowest figure since 2011, officials said. It picked up drastically last year, following various measures taken by the government and schools, including l

Social AffairsMarch 31, 2015

[Graphic News] Incheon International Airport sustains growth for 14 years

Incheon International Airport has continued striking growth since it opened 14 years ago, data showed Monday. The airport, which launched service on March 29, 2001, has grown 6.7 percent on average in terms of the number of passengers; 3.4 percent in cargo; and 7.2 percent in flights every year, according to data released by the airport authority.The number of transfer passengers also increased from 2.46 million in 2001 to 7.71 million in 2013.The airport, which had 47 operating airlines in 2001

IndustryMarch 30, 2015

[Graphic News] The Arab peacekeeping force

Arab League member states (11 countries ― Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Morocco, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Turkey, UAE) have agreed in principle to form a joint inter-Arab military peacekeeping force. While details of how such a force would actually operate remain thin, the agreement is a telling sign of a new determination among Saudi Arabia, Egypt and their allies to intervene aggressively in regional hotspots, whether against Islamic militants or spreading Iranian power. Senior

World NewsMarch 29, 2015

[Graphic News] Conglomerates acquire 203 firms in 5 years

Korea’s 30 largest conglomerates acquired 203 companies at a total price surpassing 29 trillion won ($26.3 billion) in the past five years, according to data compiled on mergers and acquisitions released Wednesday. CJ Group led the pack in the number of deals with 36 acquisitions while Hyundai Motor Group topped spending on M&As, tallying nearly 5.2 trillion won, the business performance analysis site CEO Score said.The most expensive acquisition by far was Hyundai Engineering and Construction,

IndustryMarch 25, 2015

[Graphic News] Top 3 retailers remain unchallenged

Lotte Department Store soared past the other big five local department stores in sales reported on Monday, while Galleria Department Store gave up its fourth-place slot to AK Plaza.Lotte reported sales of 14.2 trillion won ($12.8 billion) last year, followed by Hyundai Department Store with 6.98 trillion won ($6.3 billion) and Shinsegae Department Store with 6.3 trillion won ($5.7 billion).AK Plaza unseated Galleria Department Store for fourth place with 2.15 trillion won ($1.94 billion) in sale

IndustryMarch 24, 2015

[Graphic News] Koreans world’s heaviest noodle consumers

Koreans consumed the most noodles per person in 2014, according to a report released by Bloomberg Intelligence and market research firm Euromonitor on Sunday.The report showed that the average Korean consumed 9.73 kilograms of noodles in 2014, up 0.8 percent from 2013. Japan was a close second with 9.63 kg, followed by Indonesia (5.8 kg), China (5.0 kg) and Vietnam (4.7 kg).The top 10 countries with the highest noodle consumption were all in Asia.Eight of the 10 countries showed an increase in n

IndustryMarch 23, 2015

[Graphic News] China surges in arms export ranking

China is now the world’s third-largest exporter of arms, data compiled by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute showed Tuesday.According to the report, the U.S. remained the world’s largest arms exporter during the 2010 to 2014 period, accounting for 31 percent of global exports of conventional weapons.The U.S. was followed by Russia with a 27 percent share of global arms exports, followed by China with about 5 percent. China’s biggest clients were Pakistan, which bought 41 percen

DefenseMarch 17, 2015

[Graphic News] Korea’s growth lags behind G20 average

South Korea’s economic growth rate has fallen behind the G20 average for the fourth straight year, according to data released Sunday.Korea’s gross domestic product grew by 3.3 percent in 2014, lower than the G20 average of 3.4 percent, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Korea’s economic growth surpassed the G20 average from 1999 to 2010 ― even during the global financial crisis of 2006-2010 ― with the exception of 2003 and 2005.The nation’s unprecedented four

IndustryMarch 16, 2015

[Graphic News] Korea’s minimum wage levels at middle of OECD rankings

South Korea’s annual minimum wage levels in 2013 ranked 14th out of 25 OECD countries with $12,038, placing in the middle range, according to data released Wednesday.Australia had the highest minimum wage with $30,839. France (No. 7, $22,788), U.K. (No. 9, $20,226), Japan (No. 10, $16,043), and the U.S. (No. 11, $15,080) were ahead of Korea, and Spain (No. 15, $11,995), Turkey (No. 18, $60,304) and Mexico (No. 25, $1,285) were behind.Additionally, South Korea’s minimum wage in terms of purchasin

Social AffairsMarch 11, 2015

[Graphic News] Koreans in 50s and 60s reduce spending most

Families whose main earners are in their 50s or 60s were found to have slashed their spending most among age groups last year as they are planning to or have already retired, according to a government report.The average consumption propensity of households with heads in their 50s and 60s stood at 69.7 percent and 69.6 percent, respectively, the lowest among demographic groups, Statistics Korea said. The propensity average is the ratio of total consumption to disposable income.The drop is notewor

IndustryMarch 10, 2015

[Graphic News] Chaebol owners’ dividend income crosses W300b

The total dividend income of heads of the nation’s top 10 conglomerates surpassed 300 billion won last year, according to data released on Sunday.The corporate analysis website chaebul.com said in its report that the total amount of their dividend income was 329.9 billion won, a 35.3 percent increase from 2013.Samsung Electronics chairman Lee Kun-hee topped the list with 175.8 billion won, the only corporate leader with over 100 billion won. Lee’s dividends increased by 63 percent (67.9 billion

IndustryMarch 9, 2015