Four out of every 10 South Koreans think their country’s influence in the world stage grew stronger in recent years, a survey showed. In an annual survey conducted by the Pew Research Center, a nonpartisan think tank based in Washington, 40 percent of those surveyed answered South Korea’s global influence was getting stronger. The reading marks the third highest among 19 countries surveyed after Israel and Singapore. The research said people satisfied with the current state of their

World News Jan. 3, 2023

The life expectancy of South Korean babies born last year reached 83.6 years, data showed, hovering above the average of major advanced countries. The average life expectancy at birth in 2021 marked a slight rise from the 83.5 years tallied a year earlier, according to the data from Statistics Korea. Compared with 1970 and 2000, the average life expectancy became 21.3 years and 7.6 years longer, respectively. Boys and girls born in 2021 are expected to live 80.6 years and 86.6 years, respectivel

Social Affairs Dec. 28, 2022

　Nearly half of recently married couples in South Korea had no children in 2021, data showed, amid the country’s chronic low birthrate and changing social norms. 　Some 45.8 percent of the country’s 871,428 couples who were legally married in the five years up to November 2021 did not have children, rising from the 44.5 percent tallied in 2020, the data from Statistics Korea showed. 　The statistics cover couples who tied the knot for the first time from November 2016 to October 202

Social Affairs Dec. 27, 2022

The proportion of one-person households in South Korea hit a fresh record last year, data showed, as more young people delayed marriages. Single-member households accounted for 33.4 percent of the total last year, up from 31.7 percent the previous year, according to the data from Statistics Korea. It marked a sharp rise from just 20 percent tallied in 2005. The agency said the portion of single-member households is expected to hit 39.6 percent in 2050. Households consisting of a single member to

Social Affairs Dec. 23, 2022

South Korean banknotes saw their lifetimes increase on-year in 2022 as people use less cash and depend more on credit cards and internet banking for transactions, a central bank report showed. According to the report from the Bank of Korea, the country’s smallest denomination bills, 1,000 won notes, had an average estimated lifetime of 70 months, with 5,000 won and 10,000 won bills lasting for 63 months and 135 months, respectively. The largest face-value bill, 50,000 won notes, had a life

Social Affairs Dec. 22, 2022

The first attempt to survey the extent of violence and harassment at work around the globe has found that workplace abuse is widespread, and particularly pronounced among young people, migrants, and wage earners, especially women. More than 22.8 percent of the nearly 75,000 workers in 121 countries surveyed last year reported having experienced at least one type of violence or harassment, according to the report released by the UN International Labor Organization, the Lloyds Register Foundation

World News Dec. 21, 2022

New York and Singapore are jointly the world’s most expensive cities after inflation soared this year, an annual survey showed. The pair displaced last year’s number one Tel Aviv, which fell to third place this time round in the Worldwide Cost of Living index from London-based Economist Intelligence Unit. New York hit the top spot for the first time, while Damascus and Tripoli remained the cheapest cities. In addition to New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco moved into the top ten.

World News Dec. 20, 2022

　The workforce of major South Korean travel agencies has nearly halved over the past three years due to the coronavirus pandemic, with the number of tour firms also plummeting, industry data showed. 　The headcount of industry leader Hana Tour came to 1,204 as of the end of September this year, down 52.3 percent from three years earlier, according to the data from the Financial Supervisory Service. 　Smaller industry players were also forced to furlough their employees or cut jobs in the wake o

Travel Dec. 16, 2022

Nearly three-quarters of people over the age of 10 now own a mobile phone, potentially opening the way to broader internet use, the United Nations said. The UN’s International Telecommunication Union has provided its first estimate of regional and global ownership, revealing that 73 percent of the world’s population over 10 years of age owned a cellphone in 2022. But it cautioned that mobile phone ownership remains higher than internet use — especially in lower-income countries

World News Dec. 14, 2022

Foreign ownership of South Korean land rose 1.2 percent in the first half of 2022 from the end of 2021, the Land Ministry said. Foreigners owned 260.75 square kilometers - slightly more than four times the size of Manhattan - at the end of June. That represents 0.26 percent of South Korea’s total land area, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said in a statement. The value of land in foreign hands also increased 1.2 percent to 32.46 trillion won ($24.7 billion) over the cite

Social Affairs Dec. 13, 2022

South Korea’s imports of camping and hiking equipment rose 2.5 percent on-year through October this year, data showed Wednesday, as more people enjoyed activities avoiding crowds amid the pandemic. The combined imports of leisure equipment, including camping and hiking gear, came to $304 million in the January-October period, rising from $297 million posted a year earlier, data compiled by the Korea Customs Service showed. It also marked a sharp rise from just $148 million posted for all o

Consumer Dec. 12, 2022

South Koreans’ overseas card spending continued to grow in the third quarter as outbound travel spiked bolstered by eased pandemic curbs, central bank data showed. The amount of money spent overseas by South Koreans with cards, including credit and debit cards, came to $3.81 billion in the July-September period, up 4.1 percent from the previous quarter, according to the data from the Bank of Korea. Compared with a year earlier, consumption jumped 32.6 percent. The latest data marked the se

Economy Dec. 9, 2022

Around 17 percent of South Korean women experienced a career break following their marriage this year, with child-rearing among the top reasons, official government data showed. The number of women aged 15-54 who had stopped working after marriage had come to 1.39 million as of April, slightly down from 1.44 million tallied a year earlier, according to data from Statistics Korea. The decrease came in line with a fall in marriages in South Korea. The number of married women in the age group came

Social Affairs Dec. 7, 2022

US colleges and universities are seeing more international students enroll following a sharp decline during the COVID-19 pandemic. A new survey, released from the Institute of International Education and the State Department's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, found first-time international student enrollment was up by 80 percent last year compared to the year before. During the last academic year, 948,519 international students from more than 200 countries studied at a US college

World News Dec. 6, 2022

A South Korean ancient history book, traditional women’s poetry and records of a massive oil spill have been added to the regional list of the UNESCO Memory of the World program. The Cultural Heritage Administration said “Samguk-yusa” (Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms) and two other candidates from the country were granted the status during a general meeting of the UNESCO Memory of the World Committee for Asia and the Pacific. “Naebang-gasa” (Songs of the Inner Cha

Social Affairs Dec. 5, 2022