[Graphic News] Female Chinese tourists become strong buying force

Around 574,000 Chinese tourists visited Korea in June this year, making up 45 percent of the total foreign visitors that month, according to data by Tourism Knowledge and Information System and banking investment firms. The ratio of Chinese women came to 59.6 percent in January and up to 63.2 percent in June, accounting for 305,886 among the 483,934 total Chinese tourists. It is approximately double the number of Japanese visitors, 173,000, in the same time period.Chinese women were seen mainly

Aug. 4, 2014

[Graphic News] Ebola moving faster than control efforts

An Ebola outbreak that has killed more than 700 people in West Africa is moving faster than efforts to control the disease, the head of the World Health Organization warned as presidents from the affected countries met Friday in Guinea’s capital.Dr. Margaret Chan, the WHO’s director-general, said the meeting in Conakry “must be a turning point” in the battle against Ebola, which is now sickening people in three African capitals for the first time in history.At least 729 people have died since ca

World NewsAug. 3, 2014

[Graphic News] Samsung Electronics’ net profit falls 19.5%

Samsung Electronics Co., the world’s top maker of smartphones, said Thursday its second-quarter net profit fell 19.5 percent from a year earlier after its mainstay handset business suffered a decline amid rising global competition. Net income came to 6.25 trillion won ($6.1 billion) in the April-June period, compared with 7.77 trillion won a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing. Sales fell 8.89 percent on-year to 52.35 trillion won in the second quarter. Its operating profit cam

IndustryJuly 31, 2014

[Graphic News] Average corporate CEO serves 2.6 years

A South Korean CEO serves for an average of 2.6 years, which is shorter than the minimum of three years endorsed by the country’s commercial law, according to data from corporate tracker CEO Score on Wednesday. The data showed that 367 chief executives, who accounted for 63.7 percent of the 576 executives surveyed, stepped down after less than three years. Another 102, or 17.7 percent, stayed on for less than a year. At an average of 3.94 years, the CEOs at LG Group affiliates were found to stay

IndustryJuly 30, 2014

[Graphic News] Korea’s Big Mac index rises 15.3%

The Big Mac index for South Korea rose to 4.0, up from 3.47 early this year, according to data released by The Economist on Tuesday. The index for South Korea was the 28th highest among 57 countries, based on the July 23 exchange rate of 1,023 won against the U.S. greenback. The Big Mac index, introduced by The Economist in 1986, evaluates exchange rates by comparing the prices of Big Macs in different countries. The higher the index for a country, the less undervalued its currency is against th

July 29, 2014

[Graphic News] Younger people pay more, receive fewer benefits from public services

Members of South Korea’s younger generation are likely to receive less than what they paid into public benefits, a report showed Monday, highlighting the government’s demographic dilemma of having to balance its fiscal policy amid a rapidly aging society that is spurring welfare spending.People in their 20s and 30s during their lifetime will spend 100 million won ($97,561) more than the value of government benefits they will actually receive, according to a working paper coauthored by Bank of Ko

July 28, 2014

[Graphic News] Korea seen as technology winner

A fast-rising technology pioneer and the home ground of Samsung ― these are what come to mind when citizens of 17 major countries think of South Korea, according to a recent survey by Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.Respondents in India, Vietnam and Turkey were the most favorable toward Asia’s fourth-largest economy, while those in Poland, Germany and Egypt had relatively negative impressions.The corresponding survey was conducted last October with an aim to devise customized regional diplom

TechnologyJuly 27, 2014

[Graphic News] Korean firms less eager to spend on shareholders

South Korean listed firms’ rewards for shareholders are extremely low compared to rivals in the United States, Canada and Japan, according to data compiled by Samsung Securities released on Thursday. U.S. companies in the S&P 500 index spent an average of 55 percent of their net profit on stock buybacks from 2008-2013, and their dividend payout ratio - the percentage of earnings a company gives to shareholders in the form of dividends - stood at an average of 40 percent.The data indicate that th

PoliticsJuly 24, 2014

[Graphic News] Korean workforce aging faster

South Korea’s working population aged 60 and older grew larger than that of people in their 20s for the first time since 1963, when Statistics Korea began to compile the data.The number of workers aged 60 and older stood at 3.64 million people in the second quarter, up 5.6 percent from the same period last year. The number of workers in their 20s, meanwhile, inched up 0.5 percent to 36.1 million, the data showed.The figure indicates a population shift in age groups and poor market conditions for

Social AffairsJuly 23, 2014

[Graphic News] Korea’s venture firms with sales above $100m on the rise

South Korea’s venture firms appeared to be increasingly emerging as the new growth engine of the economy, according to figures from the Small and Medium Business Administration released Monday. Of the 69,801 venture firms in the country, 454 reported over 100 billion won ($97.6 million) in sales last year, up 9.1 percent from 2012. The number has steadily increased from 78 in 2005 to 202 in 2008 and 381 in 2011, the SMBA said. The combined sales of the venture firms were tallied at 101.2 trillio

IndustryJuly 22, 2014

[Graphic News] Korea’s productive population on the decline

South Korea’s working-age population is likely to decline in the future, putting more pressure on the young to support senior citizens who are not in the labor force.According to a report released by the OECD, the number of individuals in the workforce per senior citizen in Korea is predicted to decline to 1.96 by the year 2036, from this year’s 5.26.This means less than two working Koreans will have to support a single dependent, elderly individual. South Korea currently ranks third after Mexic

Social AffairsJuly 21, 2014

[Graphic News] 298 on board doomed Malaysian flight, 189 Dutch

Malaysia Airlines on Friday revised upward the number of Dutch nationals killed in the MH17 disaster to 189 as it confirmed the identities of dozens more passengers.The airline has said 298 people ― 283 passengers, including three infants of various nationalities, and 15 Malaysian crew ― were killed when the plane went down Thursday in strife-torn eastern Ukraine.The Boeing 777 came down in cornfields in the separatist-held region, with the United States claiming it was shot down in a missile at

World NewsJuly 20, 2014

[Graphic News] In-house reserves surge

The in-house reserves accumulated at South Korea’s top 10 business groups reached 515.9 trillion won ($499.66 billion) as of the end of the first quarter this year, according to a report released by corporate tracker CEO Score on Wednesday. The figure reflected a 90.3 percent increase from the 271 trillion won recorded five years ago, CEO Score said. In-house reserves refer to a company’s capital surplus excluding tax payments and dividends, which are reserved for future investment. Samsung Grou

IndustryJuly 17, 2014

[Graphic News] ‘BRICS’ nations create ‘mini-IMF’

The leaders of five emerging market powers said at a summit Tuesday that they gave final agreement to creating their own development bank worth $100 billion that will have its headquarters in China.The first president of the New Development Bank will be from India and the position will rotate every five years among Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa ― the so-called BRICS nations ― a joint statement from the leaders said.The capital for the bank will be split equally among the five par

World BusinessJuly 16, 2014

[Graphic News] More than half of new temp workers are women aged 55 or above

Nearly 6 out of 10 new temporary workers in South Korea are women aged 55 and older, according to a report released by Statistics Korea on Tuesday. The report also showed that the number of South Korean female temporary workers above the age of 55 has increased by 14.4 percent from last year. This seems to be mainly due to the growing need to accumulate retirement savings, and also because more parents are supporting children who are struggling to find a job amid the sluggish job market conditio

July 15, 2014

[Graphic News] World Cup winners

SoccerJuly 14, 2014

[Graphic News] Seoul’s population to fall in global ranking

Seoul’s population, which currently ranks 29th in the world, will drop by 14 notches by 2030, according to the United Nations’ Department of Economics and Social Affairs.The U.N. body predicts that Seoul’s population, which is 9.77 million this year, will edge up to 9.96 million by 2030. Despite the increase in population, Seoul is projected to drop to 43rd place in 2030. The drop in ranking would be the biggest among the top 30 cities on the list. Tokyo remains the world’s most populous city wi

Social AffairsJuly 13, 2014

[Graphic News] China’s trade with Seoul dwarfs that with Pyongyang

Seoul-Beijing trade volume came in at $209.6 billion in 2012, making South Korea a far more important partner for China than North Korea, the Chinese online portal Wang Yi claimed Monday.Citing U.N. trade data, Wang Yi argued that the huge disparity in trade with the two Koreas shows that improving relations with Seoul would be more beneficial for Beijing. The data showed that South Korea-China trade underwent a 33-fold increase from 1992 to stand at $209.6 billion in 2012. In comparison the fig

PoliticsJuly 9, 2014

[Graphic News] Incomes catching up with house prices

Korea’s ratio of house prices to income last year was 23.4 percent of the ratio in 1986, indicating that it has become easier for people to buy homes.But the figure for Seoul’s affluent Gangnam area did not fall by as much, reflecting the polarization in the city’s real estate market. According to the Bank of Korea and KB Kookmin Bank on Tuesday, the general price-to-income ratio last year was 23.4, with the baseline figure of 100 based on the equivalent ratio in 1986. Also, Korea’s long-term PI

July 8, 2014