[Graphic News] Cancer remains top cause of Korean deaths

Cancer remained the most common cause of death in 2012 while cerebrovascular diseases replaced heart diseases as the second leading cause, according to the Ministry of Health and Welfare.

Social AffairsDec. 22, 2013

[Graphic News] Impact of court‘s ordinary wage ruling on companies

The Supreme Court’s decision to include regular bonuses in calculations of the “ordinary wage” for workers will result in additional employment costs for companies. The Korea Employers’ Federation expected the financial burden on companies to reach 38.5 trillion won, while the Korea Labor Institute predicted 21.9 trillion won in increased costs as a result of the ruling.The Korea Federation of SMEs, or K-Biz, estimates SMEs will have to foot an additional bill of 11.6 trillion won and the Korea

Dec. 19, 2013

[Graphic News] 200 million go to the movies

More than 200 million people were expected to have watched films in theaters this year as of Wednesday, setting a record in Korean cinema history. Last year, a total of 194,890,587 people hit theaters to watch films in Korea. Korean films alone attracted 118,160,000 viewers this year, exceeding last year’s record of 114,613,190. The market share of Korean movies also reached 59.1 percent this year, surpassing that of foreign films, which stood at 40.9 percent. This year saw releases of English-l

FilmDec. 18, 2013

[Graphic News] Park in the polls

More than half of the public considers the Park Geun-hye administration to have done a good job this year, a poll showed. According to the poll conducted by Gallup Korea ahead of the first anniversary of her election on Dec. 19, 54 percent of the 1,204 people surveyed positively assessed Park’s administration, while 35 percent said the opposite. The survey showed that diplomacy and international relations were the most commonly chosen factor for the positive assessments, while lack of communicat

PoliticsDec. 17, 2013

[Graphic News] Trade balance in ICT and non-ICT industries

Korea’s industries are estimated to have posted trade deficits ― except in ICT-related sectors ― for the last 14 years, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. But it said the nation’s annual trade surplus in the ICT sector has already set a new record high of $81.9 billion in the first 11 months of the year.

Dec. 16, 2013

[Graphic News] Prices of smartphones in global markets

The results are based on the surveys conducted at mobile shops in 15 countries from June 20-30, and from Oct. 1-10.

TechnologyDec. 15, 2013

[Graphic News] Average salaries of heads of public firms by sector

Major public organizations are under fire for the excessive wages and benefits received by their top executives despite their snowballing debts. According to a report from the Korea Institute of Public Finance, the chiefs of finance-related public organizations came out on top in terms of annual salary.

Dec. 12, 2013

[Graphic News] Korea’s free trade territory

Korea and its free trade partners make up 57.7 percent of the world’s GDP, giving Korea the third-largest FTA territory behind that of Chile and Mexico, according to officials. If South Korea concludes free trade pacts with China, Australia and Canada, the total GDP of Seoul’s free trade territory may become the largest.

Dec. 11, 2013

[Graphic News] New KTX routes

A new corporation to be established under KORAIL will operate the new high-speed KTX routes expected to open in 2015. The line, which will connect to the nation’s southern region, will start in Suseo, southeastern Seoul. The existing KTX service starts in Yongsan, central Seoul. The new section is are expected to make access easier for people in eastern Seoul and Gyeonggi Province.

Dec. 10, 2013

[Graphic News] Overseas spending hits record in Q3

Korea’s overseas spending reached a record high in the third quarter of this year at some 6.5 trillion won ($6.2 billion), a 4.7 percent increase from the previous quarter, according to the Bank of Korea. The increase rate outpaced that of domestic spending. From January to September, domestic spending rose 2.6 percent while overseas spending rose 4.3 percent from the same period last year.Financial analysts said the rise in overseas spending mainly came from the increase in overseas card paymen

Dec. 9, 2013

[Graphic News] 2014 FIFA World Cup draw

Group A　Brazil　Croatia　Mexico　Cameroon　　Group B　Spain　Netherlands　Chile　Australia　　Group C　Colombia　Greece　Ivory Coast　Japan　　Group D　Uruguay　Costa Rica　England　Italy Group E　Switzerland　Ecuador　France　Honduras　　Group F　Argentia　Bosnia-Herzegovina　Iran　Nigeria　　Group G　Germany　Portugal　Ghana　USA　　Group H　Belgium　Algeria　Russia　Republic of Korea

SoccerDec. 8, 2013

[Graphic News] Major results of survey on social affairs for 2013

According to a survey released by Statistics Korea on Wednesday, most elderly people do not want to live together with their children and most Koreans read online or offline newspapers. The agency polled 38,000 people aged 13 years and older from 17,664 households throughout the month of May to research more about people’s livelihoods and lifestyles.

Social AffairsDec. 5, 2013

[Graphic News] Export outlook by industry

Semiconductor chips, petrochemical products, automobiles and IT-related products including mobile phones and displays, will continue to lead Korea’s exports in 2014, according to a forecast by the Korea International Trade Association. KITA expects the export of semiconductor chips to reach $60.8 billion.

Dec. 4, 2013

[Graphic News] Korea’s ranking in transparency index continues to fall

Denmark and New Zealand are seen as the world’s least corrupt countries, according to graft watchdog Transparency International’s annual survey. South Korea’s ranking fell to 46 from last year’s 45. The index score relates to perceptions of the degree of corruption as seen by country analysts and business people. The range goes from zero, which is highly corrupt, to 100, which is very clean.

Social AffairsDec. 3, 2013

[Graphic News] Starting pay by industry

Entry-level workers in the financial and insurance industry saw the highest average starting salaries in Korea at 3.1 million won per month, according a survey released by the Korea Employers Federation. The poll also showed that average starting salaries at conglomerates with more than 1,000 employees topped 3 million won for the first time.

Dec. 2, 2013

[Graphic News] Economic scale of the TPP

The Trans-Pacific Partnership currently involves 38 percent of the world’s total gross domestic product and 27.8 percent of total trade, though it only covers 11.2 percent of the world’s population. The Korean government on Friday said it would carefully review its participation in the U.S.-led multilateral trade bloc.

Dec. 1, 2013

[Graphic News] Unemployed married women

Nearly one out of five married women was found to have discontinued her career due to marriage, childbirth or the education of her children, according to Statistics Korea. It said the number of married women between the ages of 15 and 54 is 9.71 million this year. Among them, 4.06 million women are unemployed and 1.95 million women have left their careers.

Nov. 28, 2013

[Graphic News] Korea’s underground economy

The size of Korea’s underground economy reached an estimated 314.3 trillion won in 2012, about 24.6 percent of its nominal gross domestic product, according to a report by LG Economic Research Institute released Tuesday.It is an increase of 8.4 percent from the 289.8 trillion won recorded in 2010. The Park Geun-hye government seeks to bring the shadow economy to light to raise tax revenue.

Nov. 27, 2013

[Graphic News] R&D investment by Korean firms

Korean firms’ investment in research and development leans toward the electronics sector, reaching 46.6 percent of total R&D spending in 2011, according to a report by the Korea Institute of Science and Technology Evaluation and Planning. But the levels of investment in the high-tech industries of aerospace technology, pharmaceuticals and machinery stalled at 0.2 percent, 2.3 percent and 2.4 percent, respectively.

Nov. 26, 2013

[Graphic News] Disputes over China’s air defense zones

China’s announcement of its Air Defense Identification Zone in the East China Sea has stoked a new controversy with South Korea, Japan and the U.S.

DefenseNov. 25, 2013