SEJONG -- The novel coronavirus has undermined the job security of foreign nationals living here, government data has shown. According to the Justice Ministry and Statistics Korea, the unemployment rate for the expatriate population hit a record-high of 7.6 percent in 2020 since the government started compiling the data. Of the economically active expatriate population of 917,000, 69,500 were out of work last year. This contrasts with 5.5 percent in the jobless rate among foreigners in 2019,

Economy Jan. 12, 2021

SEJONG -- South Korea has pushed forward signing free trade agreements with major economies around the globe over the past two decades. After the nation’s first free trade agreement with Chile took effect in April 2004, 17 such deals -- with 56 partner countries engaging -- have been implemented. Among them were the pacts with the European Union (effective since July 2011) and the US (effective since March 2012). Four agreements (which include 16 partner countries) with Korea are poised

Economy Jan. 10, 2021

SEJONG -- South Korea still fell short of major economies in the employment index as of the third quarter of last year, which was the latest available data. According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, Korea posted 65.7 percent in the employment rate for people aged between 15-64, deemed the working age population, in September 2020. While the OECD compared 32 members, Korea ranked 26th in the index. Of the total 37 members, the French-based organization had yet to

Economy Jan. 7, 2021

SEJONG -- South Korea is home to about 35,000 defectors from North Korea. Recent government agency data revealed sharp gender disparities in their spouses’ countries of origin. The analysis concerns country of origin only, regardless of whether the defectors’ spouses have acquired South Korean citizenship. According to Statistics Korea and the Korea Hana Foundation, at least 3 out of every 7 female married defectors -- 43.3 percent -- had South Korean-born spouses as of 2019. The

Social Affairs Jan. 5, 2021

SEJONG -- South Korea has seen a 167.3 percent increase in the number of novel coronavirus infections over the past three months, higher than in major economies in South and Central America as well as in many other Asian nations. The cumulative tally of COVID-19 cases to date in Korea came to 61,769 as of Jan. 1, compared with 23,106 on Sept. 21, 2020, according to epidemiological data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University. Over the correspondi

Social Affairs Jan. 3, 2021

SEJONG -- In a recent comparison of 35 members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, South Korea’s corporate tax rate grew second-fastest over the five years ending in 2019. During the same time frame, Korea ranked seventh in personal income tax growth. Of the total 37 OECD members, Australia and Greece were excluded from the comparison. According to the Paris-based organization, Korea’s tax on corporate profit was equivalent to 4.3 percent of the nation&rs

Economy Dec. 29, 2020

SEJONG -- A growing number of South Koreans have abandoned looking for jobs as the pandemic worsens a hiring market that was already tightening for several years. According to a survey on the working age population -- those aged 15 or over -- by Statistics Korea, the number of discouraged workers stood at 534,000 in December 2019, the month before the novel coronavirus first arrived in Korea. The tally counts people who had looked unsuccessfully for a job in the previous year but not in the m

Economy Dec. 24, 2020

SEJONG -- South Korea’s elderly population has increased by more than 1 million in only three years, with the growth pace accelerating and their portion of the entire population expanding, government data showed. According to the Ministry of Interior and Safety, the number of seniors, or people aged 65 or over, came to 8.46 million as of November. This posted a growth of 1.13 million (or 15.4 percent) from 7.33 million in November 2017. The pace is speeding up recently, given that the ta

Social Affairs Dec. 22, 2020

SEJONG -- South Korea saw the cost of housing climb across the nation during the second half of the year, with prices in six of the eight major cities posting growth of more than 8 percent since July. Sejong topped the list among the eight major cities and nine provinces in the nation as the average price of housing in the administrative city surged 28.4 percent in less than six months. According to KB Kookmin Bank and Naver.com, Sejong’s average trading price, which posted 15.54 millio

Economy Dec. 17, 2020

SEJONG -- South Korea topped the list among members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in the growth of tax revenue -- the state’s income from taxation -- between 2017 and 2019. According to the France-based organization, Korea’s tax revenue was equivalent to 27.38 percent of its gross domestic product in 2019. This represents a 2.02 percentage point climb from 2017, when the Moon Jae-in administration took office and tax revenue was 25.36 percent of GDP.

Economy Dec. 15, 2020

South Korea has taken the initiative in pushing forward protecting the maritime ecosystem and biodiversity of the Yellow Sea -- also called the West Sea here -- as part of its efforts to achieve regional sustainable development for oceans via carbon neutrality. During the 70th session of the United Nations General Assembly in Paris on Dec. 12, 2015, 192 UN members unanimously adopted 17 Sustainable Development Goals as common goals for the international community to attain together by 2030. T

Social Affairs Dec. 13, 2020

SEJONG -- The number of single-person households in South Korea has surpassed the 9 million mark for the first time since the nation started compiling the data. According to the Ministry of Interior and Safety, the tally for single-person households came to 9.009 million as of November, which made up 39.1 percent of the total 23.03 million households nationwide. The figure contrasts with 34.4 percent (7.23 million), posted five years earlier in November 2015 and 33.3 percent (6.61 million) a d

Social Affairs Dec. 13, 2020

SEJONG -- South Korea’s labor force participation rate was the 34th-highest among the 37 members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development as of 2019. In the Paris-based organization’s comparison of labor participation rates for those aged 25-64, Korea posted 76.6 percent. This means about 1 in 4 Koreans in that age bracket were not engaging in economic activities last year. This contrasts with an 85.5 percent labor force participation rate in neighboring Japan,

Economy Dec. 8, 2020

SEJONG -- The number of births in South Korea renewed its all-time low last month at 21,043, with the gap with the number of deaths widening after the latter overtook births last year. According to the Ministry of Interior and Safety, there were 25,997 deaths in November. Since the tally for deaths overtook births in November 2019, the gap has widened, with the previous biggest gap of 4,778 posted in October. The births tally in November 2020 contrasts with 34,847, posted five years earlier in

Social Affairs Dec. 6, 2020

SEJONG -- It is almost certain that South Korea’s yearly population will mark its first decline in 2020 since the nation started compiling such data, given the unprecedented downhill phase for the first 11 months of the year. According to the Ministry of Interior and Safety, Korea saw its population fall by 3,714 (3,052 for men and 662 for women) in November on-month to post 51.838 million. Of the past 11 months, the nation recorded negative growth in demographics data for eight months

Social Affairs Dec. 3, 2020