By some counts, President Joe Biden can lay claim to a banner first year in office. But the numbers also reveal plenty of setbacks.  　Most Americans got their COVID-19 vaccines, but other countries fared better. Economic growth surged; so did inflation. America exited Afghanistan, but the war ended with a chaotic evacuation and a suicide bombing that killed 13 US troops. Pandemic aid and infrastructure bills passed. Pricey legislation to advance Biden’s social and climate proposal

World Jan. 20, 2022

　People in Seoul picked infectious diseases, such as COVID-19, as the most dangerous health hazard they face, followed by fine dust and climate change, a survey showed. 　Infectious diseases topped the list of dangerous health and environmental factors with 4.21 points on a 5-point scale in an online survey of 1,000 Seoul residents and 321 experts on public health and the environment, according to the Seoul Research Institute of Public Health and Environment. 　Fine dust came in second at 4.02

National Jan. 19, 2022

　South Korean artists released an average 3.8 artistic works to the public in 2021, a sharp drop from 7.8 pieces in 2018, attributable to the COVID-19 pandemic, a government survey showed. 　According to the Culture Ministry’s triennial survey on 5,000 people in the art industry, the classical music scene was the busiest in 2021 out of 14 art sectors, with 6.4 public works released on average, followed by 5.8 pieces by Korean traditional musicians and 4.7 shows from the entertainment indu

National Jan. 18, 2022

　Shopping on social media such as Facebook, TikTok and WeChat is going to grow three times faster than sales from traditional channels over the next three years, according to a study released by Accenture. 　Social commerce, defined as transactions that take place entirely within the context of a social-media platform, will reach $1.2 trillion by 2025, up from $492 billion in 2021, the consulting company said in the report. The trend is being driven primarily by Gen Z and millennial consumers,

World Business Jan. 17, 2022

　The South Korean webtoon industry saw its combined sales top 1 trillion won ($843.6 million) for the first time in 2020, government data showed. 　The total sales of the local web-based comic market amounted to 1.05 trillion won in 2020, up 64.6 percent from a year earlier, according to the data by the Culture Ministry and the Korea Creative Content Agency. 　It is the first time that the annual industrywide sales surpassed the 1 trillion-won threshold since 2017, when the ministry started to

Business Jan. 14, 2022

　Seven out of 10 South Koreans chose China as the biggest security threat to their country among the neighbors, excluding North Korea, a survey showed.  　According to a survey by the state-run Korea Institute of National Unification on 1,006 adults, 71.8 percent of the respondents picked China as the biggest threat to the nation, followed by Japan with 21.1 percent and the United States with 6.3 percent. 　The institute said China‘s “coercive and disrespectful attitude”

National Jan. 13, 2022

Isolation. Anxiety. Uncertainty. The stresses of the coronavirus pandemic have taken a toll on Americans of all ages, but a new poll finds that teens and young adults have faced some of the heaviest struggles as they come of age during a time of extreme turmoil. Overall, more than a third of Americans ages 13 to 56 cite the pandemic as a major source of stress, and many say it has made certain parts of their lives harder. But when it comes to education, friendships and dating, the disruption ha

World News Jan. 12, 2022

Paul Rudd, 52, the affable actor best known for playing “Ant-Man,” was named People magazine’s sexiest man alive, joining the likes of Idris Elba, George Clooney and Bradley Cooper. Rudd played the kind boyfriend of Lisa Kudrow’s wacky Phoebe on TV comedy “Friends” and later took larger roles in comedies like “Knocked Up” before playing Ant-Man in the Marvel superhero movie, followed by a sequel and appearances as the character in “Captain A

World News Jan. 12, 2022

　The number of South Korean workers who took time off to take care of their children rose 3.7 percent in 2020 from a year earlier amid more government support for parental leave, government data showed. 　A total of 169,345 workers took parental leave to take care of their children in 2020, up 6,089 from the previous year, according to the preliminary data from Statistics Korea. 　The figure was approximately 2.3 times the number 10 years earlier.  　Women accounted for 77.3 percent of the

National Jan. 12, 2022

　South Korea’s imports via e-commerce reached a new all-time high in 2021 as more people purchased foreign goods online, government data showed. 　The country’s e-commerce imports stood at $4.15 billion in the first 11 months of last year, up 25.7 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service. 　The amount for the 11-month period surpasses the full-year figure for 2020. 　The number of e-commerce transactions came to 79 million during the period,

Business Jan. 11, 2022

　The percentage of Americans who identify as Christian dropped 15 percentage points over the past 14 years, while those who consider themselves religiously unaffiliated increased by 14 percentage points, a Pew study released indicates. 　Pew‘s National Public Opinion Reference Survey found that the majority of Americans - 63 percent - consider themselves Christian, down from 78 percent in 2007. Meanwhile, 29 percent of adults list their religion as “none,” meaning they conside

World Jan. 10, 2022

　The number of marriages in Seoul has dropped by almost half in the past 20 years, while births of newborns also dropped by 64 percent, the city government said. 　Marriages in the capital stood at 44,746 in 2020, down 43.2 percent compared with 78,745 in 2000, according to the city’s latest report on population trends. 　The average age of first nuptials for men and women last year were 33.61 and 31.6, respectively, 3.96 and 4.35 years older compared with those 20 years ago. 　Babies bor

National Jan. 7, 2022

　Enrollment of foreign students in US colleges and universities plunged 15 percent in the 2020-21 school year even though American institutions remain in high esteem, research showed. 　Fewer than 1 million foreign students enrolled for either online or in-person classes at US universities in the 2020-21 school year, marking a 15 percent year-over-year decrease from the previous school year, according to data from the Institute of International Education analyzed by the Pew Research Center

World Jan. 6, 2022

　Output and exports of South Korea’s bio industry expanded at the fastest clip ever in 2020 amid the coronavirus pandemic, data showed. 　Output of the local bio industry was estimated at 17.5 trillion won ($14.7 billion) in 2020, up 38.2 percent from the previous year, according to the data from the Korea Biotechnology Industry Organization and the Trade Ministry. 　It was the highest on-year growth rate to date. The bio industry’s production had been growing at a double-digit rate

Business Jan. 5, 2022

　Three out of 10 workers believe that workplace bullying is still serious, even though an anti-workplace harassment law has been in place for more than two years, a survey showed.  　According to the survey conducted on 1,000 office workers, 28.9 percent of respondents said they experienced workplace harassment as of September, down 16.5 percentage points from the corresponding rate of 45.4 percent tallied in June.  　But 32.5 percent of respondents said bullying is a serious problem

National Jan. 4, 2022