South Korean carmakers’ sales fell 22 percent last month from a year earlier as an extended global chip shortage and the COVID-19 pandemic continued to weigh on vehicle production and sales, industry data showed. The country’s five carmakers - Hyundai Motor, Kia, GM Korea, Renault Samsung Motors and SsangYong Motor - sold a combined 548,192 vehicles in October, down from 705,047 units a year ago, according to data from the companies. Their domestic sales declined 21 percent

Business Nov. 23, 2021

Manchester United forward Cristiano Ronaldo has reclaimed the top spot in the list of the world’s highest-paid soccer players from Lionel Messi, according to Forbes. Forbes said Ronaldo, among the world’s most popular athletes with over 500 million followers across Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, is set to make $125 million before taxes in the 2021-22 season, with $70 million coming from salary and bonuses at United. The rest will come from endorsements and partnerships with brand

World News Nov. 22, 2021

　South Korea saw its foreign population shrink by 3.2 percent in November last year from the previous year, the first such decline since 2006 amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the Interior Ministry said. 　According to a report by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, the number of foreign residents, defined as foreign nationals residing in the country for more than 90 days or naturalized Koreans and their children, stood at 2.15 million in November in 2020, compared with 2.22 million the same mo

National Nov. 22, 2021

　More than 4 out of 10 North Koreans are suffering from undernourishment, a recent UN report showed, as the impoverished country struggles from chronic food shortages. 　According to the report from the Food and Agriculture Organization, 10.9 million people, or 42.4 percent of North Korea’s total population, were estimated to have been undernourished between 2018 and 2020. 　The figure is up from 33.8 percent reported from 2004 to 2006. 　North Korea has suffered chronic food shortages t

North Korea Nov. 19, 2021

　South Korea’s exports of fishery products grew 20.5 percent on-year in the first 10 months of this year, data showed. 　Outbound shipments of fishery products reached $2.24 billion during the January-October period, compared to $1.86 billion tallied a year earlier, according to the data from the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries. 　Exports to China rose 48.1 percent to $540 million, and those to the United States and the European Union surged 24.2 percent and 39.4 percent, respectively.

Business Nov. 18, 2021

　More than 80,000 cases of dating violence were reported in the past five years nationwide, including more than 200 murder cases, police data showed. 　According to the data from the National Police Agency, obtained by Rep. Yang Ki-dae of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, 81,056 cases of dating abuse were reported to police between 2016 and last year. 　The annual total rose steadily from 9,364 in 2016 to 18,945 last year, the data showed. 　Of the total, 61,133 cases involved serious vi

National Nov. 17, 2021

　The number of travel agencies in South Korea has declined nearly 6 percent over the past two years in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, industry data showed. 　There were 21,231 travel agencies in Asia’s fourth-largest economy as of end-September, down 6.1 percent from two years earlier, according to the data from the Korea Tourism Association. 　The number fell to 21,540 a year earlier from 22,609 in September 2019 and continued to go south this year. 　The decrease came as pandemic

Business Nov. 16, 2021

　South Korea ranks fourth in relative poverty among major economies in the world, data showed, in a sign of its high income inequality. 　The country‘s relative poverty rate, referring to the percentage of people with an income below 50 percent of the median income, came to 16.7 percent in 2018-19, according to the data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. 　It is the fourth-highest rate among 37 member countries of the Paris-based club of rich nations. South K

World Nov. 15, 2021

　Online shopping in South Korea hit a record high in September, led by solid demand for food delivery services and electronic goods amid the resurgence in COVID-19 cases, data showed. 　The value of online shopping transactions stood at 16.2 trillion won ($13.7 billion) in September, up 17 percent from the previous year, according to the data from Statistics Korea. 　The September reading marked an all-time high since the agency began to compile related data in 2001. 　The value of online shopp

Business Nov. 12, 2021

　South Korea’s exports of kimchi climbed nearly 14 percent in the first eight months of 2021 on growing overseas demand for healthier food amid the new coronavirus pandemic, data showed. 　Outbound shipments of kimchi reached $111.5 million in the January-August period, up 13.8 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service and the food industry. 　In contrast, imports of kimchi shrank 9.7 percent on-year to $86.1 million over the cited period, resulting

Business Nov. 11, 2021

　Cargo processed at South Korean seaports advanced 8.1 percent in the third quarter of this year as trade gained traction amid the global economic recovery from the pandemic, the Oceans Ministry said. 　Cargo handled at the country’s ports came to 393.03 million tons during the July-September period, up from 363.53 million tons a year earlier, according to the data by the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries. 　Handling of export-import cargo surged 8.6 percent on-year to 338.85 million tons

Business Nov. 10, 2021

　Nearly 94 percent of South Koreans consider the climate crisis “serious,” but only half believe the issue is connected to human rights, a survey showed. 　According to the survey of 1,500 people commissioned by the National Human Rights Commission, 80.4 percent responded that they are interested in the climate crisis issue. 　Asked how serious the crisis is, 93.7 percent said “serious,” while 79.8 percent said climate change seriously affects people’s lives, acco

National Nov. 9, 2021

　Online drug trafficking spiked last year, data showed, likely due to the continued spread of the internet and COVID-19. 　The data from the National Police Agency said 2,608 people were detained last year for trading drugs online. The corresponding figures stood at 1,120 in 2016, 1,100 in 2017, 1,516 in 2018 and 2,109 in 2019. In all, the number of drug offenders detained by police soared 133 percent in the four years between 2016 and 2019. 　The total number of drug offenders also increased b

National Nov. 8, 2021

　More than 22 million Afghans will suffer “acute food insecurity” this winter, UN agencies said, warning the already unstable country faces one of the world‘s worst humanitarian crises. 　The crisis is already bigger in scale than that facing Yemen or Syria, and worse than any food insecurity emergency apart from the Democratic Republic of Congo, officials said. 　According to the statement issued by the World Food Program and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, one in t

World News Nov. 5, 2021

　The proportion of temporary workers in South Korea rose to over 38 percent of all salaried workers in August in the wake of the fallout from the pandemic, data showed. 　The number of non-regular workers, including part-timers and outsourced laborers, came to 8.07 million as of August, up 640,000, or 8.6 percent, from the previous year, according to the data by Statistics Korea. 　They accounted for 38.4 percent of the country‘s 20.99 million salaried workers. The percentage was up from

National Nov. 4, 2021