[Graphic News] Medicine exports hit record high in 2018

　Exports of medicine and medical supplies reached a record high in 2018, government data showed.　Outbound shipments of locally manufactured medicines and medical supplies stood at $4.67 billion last year, up 14.8 percent from the previous year, according to the data by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety. 　Medicine exports have been increasing at an annual rate of 17.9 percent since 2014, the data showed. (Yonhap)

BusinessJuly 30, 2019

[Graphic News] North Korean economy contracts 4.1% last year

　North Korea’s fragile economy is estimated to have contracted for a second consecutive year in 2018, South Korea’s central bank said last week, an apparent outcome of what many have called unprecedentedly strong international sanctions against the communist state.　The country’s real gross domestic product  is believed to have shrunk 4.1 percent last year from the year before, according to the Bank of Korea. (Yonhap) 

North KoreaJuly 29, 2019

[Graphic News] Worsening world hunger affects 821 million

　More than 821 million people suffered from hunger worldwide last year, the United Nations reported - the third year in a row that the number has risen.　After decades of decline, malnutrition began to increase in 2015, mainly because of climate change and war. Reversing the trend is one of the 2030 targets of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals that aim to improve the planet and its people.　But getting to a world where no one is suffering from hunger by then remains an “immense ch

World NewsJuly 28, 2019

[Graphic News] S. Korea world’s No. 2 heated tobacco market in 2018

　South Korea was the world’s No. 2 heated tobacco market last year, and its growth will gather pace down the road, an industry tracker said.　The size of South Korea’s heat-not-burn electronic cigarette market reached $1.67 billion last year, rising sharply from $453 million tallied in 2017, according to data compiled by Euromonitor International. The country’s overall tobacco market reached $15.6 billion last year.　While South Korea’s tobacco market is anticipated to post

WorldJuly 25, 2019

[Graphic News] Newly registered pet dogs up 40% in 2018

　The number of newly registered pet dogs in South Korea rose nearly 40 percent in 2018 from a year earlier, the country’s animal quarantine agency said.　Around 147,000 new dogs were registered with the state-run Animal Protection Management System last year, compared with the newly registered 105,000 pet dogs a year earlier, according to the Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency. 　Since 2014, all pet owners are obligated to register their dogs with the system. As of 2018, the accumulated numb

Social AffairsJuly 24, 2019

[Graphic News] Eco-friendly car exports soar in part 7 years

 South Korea’s shipments of environment friendly vehicles jumped an average of 33 percent annually in the past seven years on growing overseas demand, an auto business lobby group said.Local carmakers exported 196,000 eco-friendly vehicles in 2018, up from 35,000 units in 2012. Eco-friendly cars accounted for 8 percent of the country’s overall vehicle exports last year, up from 1.1 percent six years earlier, according to data from the Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association.

MobilityJuly 23, 2019

[Graphic News] Face value of damaged currency rises in H1

　The face value of damaged banknotes and coins in South Korea rose in the first half of the year, data from the central bank showed. 　A total of 2.27 trillion won ($1.92 billion) worth of damaged bills and coins were discarded by the Bank of Korea in the first half, up 42.5 billion won from six months ago. 　The central bank spent 48.3 billion won replacing the damaged banknotes over the six-month period. (Yonhap)

NationalJuly 22, 2019

[Graphic News] Lotte Duty Free, Shilla Duty Free among global top 5 travel retailers

　Two South Korean duty-free operators were among the world’s top five travel retailers in 2018, an industry report showed.　Lotte Duty Free maintained the second spot with 6.09 billion euros ($6.84 billion) in sales last year, due mainly to Chinese resellers who buy products in large quantities and sell them back home, according to the Moodie Davitt report. 　Shilla Duty Free, the operator of duty-free shops owned by Hotel Shilla, leaped to third place from fifth after recording 5.47 billion

WorldJuly 21, 2019

[Graphic News] Taylor Swift named world’s top-earning celebrity, BTS at No. 43

　Singer Taylor Swift was named the world’s highest-paid entertainer but was closely followed by two members of the wider Kardashian clan - reality star turned cosmetics queen Kylie Jenner and rapper Kanye West. 　The annual Forbes Celebrity 100 list also saw soccer stars Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar among the top 10, along with British singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran and 1970s soft rock band The Eagles, which embarked on a new tour in 2018. 　South Korean boy band BTS was at No. 4

WorldJuly 18, 2019

[Graphic News] Lunar eclipse marks Moon landing‘s 50th anniversary

　Fifty years to the day since mankind launched the first mission to set foot on the moon, partial lunar eclipses were observed in Asia, Europe and South America on Wednesday. Apollo 11 was the NASA spaceflight that landed the first two humans on the moon. The crew consisted of Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, Michael Collins all Americans. 　So far, the United States, Russia and China are the only countries to have landed spacecraft on the lunar surface.

WorldJuly 17, 2019

[Graphic News] UN: 464,000 people killed in homicides in 2017

　A UN report says some 464,000 homicides were recorded around the world in 2017, far more than the number killed in armed conflicts and terrorist attacks.　The Global Study on Homicide 2919, published Monday by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, also had good news. 　While the total number of people who suffered violent deaths has increased over 25 years, the global population has grown faster, so the risk of being killed in a homicide has declined.　The report says there were 7.2 homicides per 100,

World NewsJuly 16, 2019

[Graphic News] No. of Koreans with positive view of Japan falls to record low: poll

　Japan’s restrictions on exports to South Korea seem to be having a significant impact on Koreans’ feelings toward Japan, a recent poll by Gallup Korea suggests.　In the nationwide survey of 1,005 Korean adults, only 12 percent said they had favorable views of Japan, the lowest figure since polling on the topic began in 1991.　Seventy-seven percent said they did not feel friendly toward the neighboring country, while another 10 percent refused to answer. (Yonhap)

Social AffairsJuly 15, 2019

[Graphic News] Number of chaebol family members with over W1tr worth of shares hit 24

　The number of South Korean chaebol family members with more than 1 trillion won ($865 million) worth of listed shares reached 24 as of the previous trading session, data showed.　The combined value of listed shares held by the 24 shareholders came to 64.3 trillion won as of end-June, according to data compiled by industry tracker Chaebul.com. Of the number, nine shareholders saw their share value exceed 2 trillion won.　Lee Kun-hee, the head of South Korea’s top conglomerate Samsung who has

BusinessJuly 14, 2019

[Graphic News] Online shopping hits record high

　The total value of online shopping in South Korea hit a record high in May, government data showed, in the latest sign that a growing number of people are using computers and mobile devices to buy more things, from clothes to electronic goods.　Total online transactions reached 11.26 trillion won ($9.6 billion) in May, up 19.8 percent from a year earlier, according to preliminary data compiled by Statistics Korea.　The reading was the highest since January 2001, when the statistics office started

BusinessJuly 11, 2019

[Graphic News] Games led sharp growth in Korea‘s cultural exports in 2017

　South Korea’s exports of cultural goods jumped about 47 percent year-on-year in 2017, led by games, K-pop and publishing, an official survey showed.　The combined overseas sales in nine culture and entertainment sectors reached about $8.81 billion, up 46.7 percent from the previous year, according to the annual content industry statistics published by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. The figure compares with the country‘s overall export growth that year of 15.8 percent.　T

CultureJuly 10, 2019

[Graphic News] Cocaine production hit new record in 2017: UN

　Global cocaine production reached an all-time high in 2017, breaking the previous year’s record by 25 percent, the UN drugs and crime agency said in its annual report, as production soars in post-conflict Colombia.　The report said the jump in production “was mainly driven by increases in cocaine manufacture in Colombia, which produced an estimated 70 percent of the world’s cocaine.”　In the decade to 2017, there was a 50 percent increase in manufacture, reaching a record

World NewsJuly 9, 2019

[Graphic News] France has lowest levels of trust in vaccines globally

　France has the lowest levels of trust in vaccines globally, according to the world’s biggest survey on public attitudes toward health and science.　A third (33 percent) of French people do not agree that immunization is safe, and it is also the only country where a majority (55 percent) believe science and technology will reduce the total number of jobs available, according to the poll of more than 140,000 people across 144 countries. 　The survey of people aged 15 and older was devised by

WorldJuly 8, 2019

[Graphic News] Japan resumes commercial whale hunting

　Japan began its first commercial whale hunts in more than three decades on July 1, brushing aside outrage over its resumption of a practice that conservationists say is cruel and outdated.　The hunts come after Japan decided to withdraw from the International Whaling Commission, a move slammed by activists and anti-whaling countries but welcomed by Japanese whaling communities.　The country’s Fisheries Agency said it had set a cap for a total catch of 227 whales through the season until lat

World NewsJuly 7, 2019

[Graphic News] Number of museums to rise to 1,310 by 2023

　The number of museums, including art galleries, in South Korea will increase by 16 percent over the next five years under a government proposal to make representative cultural infrastructure more accessible to the public, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said.　The ministry unveiled a medium and long-term museum expansion plan to raise the number of museums nationwide by 186 from the current 1,124 to 1,310 in 2023.　By the target year, the nation will have 1,013 museums, up from 873, a

CultureJuly 4, 2019

[Graphic News] France’s Mirazur crowned world’s best restaurant

　France’s Mirazur restaurant - whose Argentine chef Mauro Colagreco draws inspiration from the sea, the mountains and his own garden - was crowned the world’s best by an influential trade list.　The accolade came just months after Colagreco was handed a third Michelin star, and was the first time a French establishment has triumphed in the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list.　In the second spot in the awards - which took place in Singapore, their first time in Asia - was Noma in Co

WorldJuly 3, 2019