As the FIFA World Cup started in Russia last week, here is how Asia- Pacific countries are ranked by the global football body.　On the global ranking, Australia is the only country from the Asia-Pacific that ranks in the top 50.　South Korea is ranked 57 and is the only Asian country that has qualified nine times for the world cup. It is also the only Asian country to win the most entertaining team award at 2002 FIFA world Cup. Two players from the team were also voted members of the MasterCard A

Soccer June 17, 2018

　Brazil has been the most successful at the FIFA World Cup over the years, with five wins, followed by Germany and Italy with four wins each. Brazil has also made it to the list of final 32 teams 21 times and advanced to the finals eight times. 

Soccer June 14, 2018

 US and North Korea: Trump-Kim (2018)　　US President Donald Trump’s handshake with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Singapore on Tuesday marked a historic moment -- the first meeting ever between a sitting US president and the leader of North Korea.　The extraordinary encounter saw the leader of the world’s most powerful democracy shake hands with the third-generation scion of a dynastic dictatorship, standing as equals in front of their nations’ flags.　South and North Korea: Moon-Kim (2018) 　　O

World News June 13, 2018

　The first session of the summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was joined by only the two leaders’ respective translators, but they were joined by their aides at the expanded bilateral meeting. 　 Trump was flanked by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, chief of staff John Kelly and national security adviser John Bolton, as previously announced by the White House. 　Sitting across the table from the US team were North Korean leader Kim, Kim Yong-chol, first v

North Korea June 12, 2018

　Seoul has been identified as the world’s No. 1 city in terms of carbon emissions, or carbon footprint, but the world’s 200th measured per capita, a Norwegian study said. 　According to the survey conducted by a research team from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, led by Daniel Moran, Seoul had the greatest carbon emissions among 13,000 cities across 187 nations, generating an estimated 276.1 million tons of carbon, followed by China’s Guangzhou (272 million tons) and New York C

World News June 11, 2018

　Qatar Airways was named the best airline globally in 2018, followed by German carrier Lufthansa and United Arab Emirates’ national carrier Etihad Airways, according to AirHelp.　Overall rankings are based on three factors: on-time performance, quality of service and a claims-processing score, which reflects how a company handles customer complaints.　Korean Air ranked 66th and Asiana Airlines came in at No. 59.

World Business June 10, 2018

　India is expected to be the fastest growing economy in Asia at 7.3 percent growth in 2018, according to the World Bank.　Boasting one of the world’s youngest workforce, India is projected to be the fastest growing economy in Asia in 2018. The country’s growth rate this year is estimated to beat other Asian economies, including that of rival China.　Bhutan, one of the world’s smallest countries with limited access to global markets, is projected to have the second fastest economy in Asia. The coun

World Business June 7, 2018

　After Guatemala's Fuego volcano erupted on Monday killing at least 65 people, here is a list of the most deadly volcanic eruptions over the last quarter century.

World News June 6, 2018

　Koreans gave an average score of 6.4 on a scale of zero to 10 for the level of satisfaction with their quality of life, a government survey showed.　The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism commissioned Hankook Research to conduct the inaugural survey on 1,500 adults from May 15-21. Respondents were asked how satisfied they were with their lives. 　According to the survey, the level of life satisfaction was inversely proportional to age. People aged 19-29 were most contented with their lives,

Social Affairs June 5, 2018

　A South Korean provincial government put the official land value of Dokdo, a pair of rocky islets in the East Sea, at 5.93 billion won ($5.49 million) as of Jan. 1, 2018, up 9.17 percent from a year ago.　The land price of Dokdo, which was 5.43 billion won last year, has steadily risen over the past decade, according to the government of North Gyeongsang Province, which annually updates land values of all public and private properties in its vicinity. 　In South Korea, the actual market prices of

Business June 4, 2018

　Around 39 percent of children aged between 2 and 5 watch TV daily and 12 percent use smartphones every day, according to Ajou University Hospital, which surveyed the parents of 350 young children. 　Forty-eight percent of the children watch TV for an hour a day on average, and 66.5 percent had watched TV before they reached the age of 2. The survey also revealed that 36.5 percent use smartphones more than four days a week, and 12.2 percent had been exposed to mobile phones before they were 12 mo

Social Affairs June 3, 2018

　North Korea is at the bottom of the rankings on freedom of media, hunger situation and corruption. 　This graphic shows North Korea's general figures. 

North Korea May 31, 2018

　Conflict forced nearly 12 million people to flee within their own country last year, the highest level of such internal displacement in 10 years, international monitors said.　A total of 11.8 million people were uprooted from their homes and displaced internally in 2017 -- nearly double the 6.9 million who suffered the same fate a year earlier, according to a report by the Internal Displacement Monitoring Center and the Norwegian Refugee Council.　The newly displaced bring the total number of peo

World News May 30, 2018

　Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos is the most powerful CEO in the world, according to a list by Forbes. 　Larry Page, CEO of Google's parent company Alphabet, ranked second, followed by Facebook's Mark Zuckerburg and Warren Buffett.　Jack Ma, chairman and founder of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, was named the most powerful Asian chief executive this year, taking sixth place. 

World Business May 29, 2018

　According to a World Justice Project report, people in Singapore feel the safest, while people in Pakistan feel the least secure.　The report measured the prevalence of common crimes in 113 countries, including homicides, kidnappings, burglaries, thefts, armed robberies and extortions, as well as people’s perceptions of safety. 　Japan was the second safest in Asia and eighth in the world, while South Korea ranked third in the region and 22nd in the world. Despite the tension with North Korea, pe

World News May 28, 2018