[Graphic News] 4 rivers project

The South Korean government has injected almost 22 trillion won ($19.6 billion) into a massive rivers development project since its launch in 2008, data showed Wednesday.According to government data, 11.85 trillion won, about half of the cost poured into the project, was spent on works on the Nakdong River, the longest river in Korea. About 3.67 trillion won was used on the Han River, while 3.4 trillion won was spent on the Geum River and 3.36 trillion won on the Youngsan River. The money was sp

Social AffairsMay 24, 2017

[Graphic News] S. Koreans among world’s skinniest

South Koreans are the second thinnest people among those from other developed countries, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.The OECD’s annual Obesity Update 2017 report looked at the obesity rate of people aged 15 years and over. Korea ranked 34th out of 35 member countries, with an obesity rate of 5.3 percent, followed by Japan (3.7 percent). The United States has the highest obesity rate at 38.2 percent.In South Korea, there are more obese men than women. Th

World NewsMay 23, 2017

[Graphic News] Which countries have the best health care?

Neither Canada nor Japan cracked the top 10 and the United States finished a dismal 35th, according to a much anticipated ranking of health care quality in 195 countries, released Friday.Among nations with more than a million people, top honors for 2015 went to Switzerland, followed by Sweden and Norway, though the health care gold standard remains tiny Andorra, a postage stamp of a country nestled between Spain (No. 8) and France (No. 15).Iceland (No. 2), Australia (No. 6), Finland (No. 7), the

World NewsMay 22, 2017

[Graphic News] Cigarette sales rise for 2nd month in April

According to Ministry of Strategy and Finance, sales of cigarettes in South Korea rose despite the government‘s push to print graphic health warnings on the outside of packages.About 305 million 20-pack cigarettes were sold in April. Monthly sales had been on a decline in the beginning of the year, with 280 million packs sold in January and 238 million packs in February, as the South Korean government intensified its anti-smoking campaign in late 2016.

World NewsMay 21, 2017

[Graphic News] Number of foreigners in S. Korea growing quickly

The number of foreigners residing in South Korea has been rising at a fast clip over the past decade, with their tax payments increasing more than fourfold, government data showed Tuesday.Foreign residents in the country numbered 1.89 million in 2015, 2.5 times the 747,000 recorded 10 years earlier, according to the data from the Justice Ministry. Income tax payments by foreign residents more than quadrupled to 694.7 billion won ($616.9 million) during the period, according to data from the Nati

World NewsMay 18, 2017

[Graphic News] Bitcoin used in global cyberattacks

Digital currency bitcoin is worth more than an ounce of gold right now. It’s completely digital and it’s the currency of choice for the cyberattackers who crippled computer networks around the world in recent days.When the attackers’ “ransomware” sprang into action, it held victims hostage by encrypting their data and demanding they send payments in bitcoins to regain access to their computers. One bitcoin recently traded for $1,734.65, according to Coinbase, a company that helps users exchange

World NewsMay 17, 2017

[Graphic News] Outdated power plants to halt operations in June

South Korea will shut down eight of 10 coal-fired power plants aged 30 years or more for the month of June, as part of the new Moon Jae-in administration’s efforts to tackle the nation’s worsening air pollution. President Moon ordered the temporary halt of the outdated plants as a step to reduce fine dust.During his campaign, Moon pledged to lower fine dust concentration levels by 30 percent by reducing the nation’s dependence on fossil fuels and moving to cleaner energy alternatives.

Social AffairsMay 16, 2017

[Graphic News] Saudi Arabia announces world’s tallest tower to be completed in 2019

The completion date for the world‘s tallest tower has been pushed back to 2019, a Saudi Arabian billionaire said, almost six years after launching the record-breaking project.Saudi‘s Jeddah Tower is to rise more than a kilometer, placing it above Dubai’s Burj Khalifa.The world‘s tallest artificial structure is the 828-meter-tall Burj Khalifa in Dubai. The second-tallest self-supporting structure and the tallest tower is the Tokyo Skytree.　

World NewsMay 15, 2017

[Graphic News] Changes of conscription term

The Defense Ministry has embarked on its review on the military reform plan from President Moon Jae-in, who pledged during the election campaign to shorten the period of conscription from the current 21 months to 18 months.After peaking at 36 months during the Park Chung-hee regime, the military service term -- based on the army -- has continued to reduce over the past few decades. It was 26 months between 1993 and 2003 and 24 months between 2003 and 2010.

DefenseMay 14, 2017

[Graphic News] Moon spent about W50b on campaign

President Moon Jae-in spent about 50 billion won ($44.1 million) for Tuesday’s election victory, while two runner-ups – Hong Joon-pyo and Ahn Cheol-soo --spent 42 billion won and 46 billion won each in campaign expenses, their respective parties said Wednesday. The legal limit set by the National Election Commission was 50.9 billion won. All three parties -- Moon’s Democratic Party of Korea, Hong’s Liberty Korea Party and Ahn’s People’s Party -- are likely to get much of the money recovered. The

PoliticsMay 11, 2017

[Graphic News] Margins of victory

South Korea reintroduced direct presidential elections in 1987, after decades under the rule of military dictators. Since then there have been six elections held every five years. Tuesday’s vote is the first presidential by-election since democratization, resulted from the nation’s first presidential impeachment which removed former President Park Geun-hye from office in March. The winner will take office immediately after the conformation of his or her election and will get a full five-year ter

PoliticsMay 10, 2017

[Graphic News] Tablet market extends slide as consumer habits shift

IDC reported an 8.5 percent drop in global tablet shipments to 36.2 million. This was the 10th straight quarterly decline for tablets.Apple led the market with a 24.6 percent share in the first quarter, despite a 13 percent sales drop. Samsung sales fell 1.1 percent but retained the number two spot at 16.5 percent, data showed. China’s Huawei was the only major vendor to show growth -- reporting a 31.7 percent jump, garnering a 7.4 percent share, after introducing new “detachable” tablets powere

World BusinessMay 8, 2017

[Graphic News] Could weather affect voter turnout?

Many factors come into play determining voter turnout and conventional wisdom is a bad weather could dampen electoral participation. Yet, a look at past elections in South Korea does not show a clear correlation between weather conditions and voter participation rates. In the previous 2012 poll in which Park Geun-hye was elected as president, the morning low in Seoul recorded 10 degrees below zero. But the voter turnout was 12.8 percent points higher than in elections held in warmer times. For T

Social AffairsMay 4, 2017

[Graphic News] Election in numbers

  

PoliticsMay 3, 2017

[Graphic News] Korea likely to suffer $17b loss if FTA with US is revised

South Korea’s exports to the United States are expected to suffer losses of as much as $17 billion over five years if the two nations renegotiate their bilateral free trade deal, according to a report. The Korea Economic Research Institute, a private think tank in Seoul, said in the report that South Korea’s auto, machine and steel sectors would suffer the most if tariff rates are revised upon renegotiation.In another possible scenario, if the two agree to delay the tariff eliminatio

EconomyMay 2, 2017

[Graphic News] S. Korea paid W932b to USFK last year

South Korea paid 932 billion won ($828 million) to host American soldiers here last year, according to government data. The amount that Seoul paid was in accordance with the allies’ defense cost-sharing agreement. It has increased by nearly nine times compared to 107 billion won in 1991, the first year when the contribution was paid officially.Seoul’s share of the cost of stationing nearly 28,000 US soldiers here is set out in the Special Measurement Agreement under the Status Forces Agreement b

DefenseMay 1, 2017

[Graphic News] Samsung, Apple keep top spots in smartphone market

Samsung and Apple maintained their leadership in the smartphone market in early 2017 while Chinese-based Huawei’s strong growth cemented its No. 3 position, a market tracker said Thursday.According to a survey, Samsung led the market in the first quarter with a 22.8 percent share against Apple’s 14.9 percent share. There was little growth for the top two companies. On the other hand, Huawei’s sales jumped 21.7 percent, giving it a 9.8 percent share. Fellow Chinese smartphone makers Oppo and Vivo

World NewsApril 30, 2017

[Graphic News] HP is company that sell most PCs worldwide

Research firm IDC put out its latest quarterly report on the state of the PC market, and as the chart here shows, HP is the worldwide leader in terms of market share.The California-based company retook the No. 1 spot for the first time since 2013, according to IDC, pulling ahead of No. 2 Lenovo. Third-place Dell grew decently over the past year. Same goes for fourth-place Apple, which recently said its Mac business is now worth $25 billion, a testament to its exclusively high-end lineup. Acer is

World NewsApril 26, 2017

[Graphic News] US dominates world military spending

The US remained the top military spender last year, with its expenditure growing by 1.7 percent to reach $611 billion between 2015 and 2016, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.China increased its expenditure by 5.4 percent to $215 billion, a lower rate than in previous years, Russia’s military spending was $69.2 billion, making it the world’s third-largest military spender in 2016.Saudi Arabia was the third-largest spender in 2015, but dropped to fourth place in 20

World NewsApril 25, 2017

[Graphic News] Jobless college graduates surpass 500,000

The number of unemployed people with a bachelor‘s degree in South Korea surpassed 500,000 in the first quarter for the first time, Statistics Korea‘s data showed.The number of unemployed college graduates is 543,000, unemployed high school graduates were tallied at 451,000 and middle and primary school graduates at 174,000.The number of people who are jobless reached 1.17 million in the January-March period, up 1.2 percent from a year earlier, according to the government data.

World NewsApril 24, 2017