[Graphic News] Pension plan revised amid budget woes

New draft for basic pension programThe new basic state pension plan, proposed by the government on Wednesday, covers only seniors making up the poorest 70 percent, in terms of income and assets, starting July next year.

Sept. 26, 2013

[Graphic News] Countries with high GDP

According to data from the World Bank, Korea’s 2012 global ranking of nominal gross domestic product remained at 15th for the fifth straight year. The U.S. economy topped the list with $15.7 trillion in GDP, followed by China with $8.36 trillion and Japan with $5.96 trillion.

Sept. 25, 2013

[Graphic News] Korea’s spending on child welfare among lowest in OECD

Korea spent only 0.8 percent of its gross domestic product on family benefits in 2009, placing the country at 32nd among 34 OECD member states in child welfare spending, according to a report by the Korea Institute of Health and Social Affairs.OECD countries spent on average 2.3 percent of their GDP on child and family benefits in the same year.

Social AffairsSept. 24, 2013

[Graphic News] Loans by age

According to data from Statistics Korea, financial loans to household heads in their 20s and 30s sharply increased between 2010 and 2012. Financial analysts attributed the surge to the drastic increase in housing rental fees.

Sept. 23, 2013

[Graphic News] Declining marriage rate

As the annual marriage rate in Seoul has declined by over 30 percent in the past 20 years, the average age of men and women walking down the aisle for the first time has also markedly risen, a survey by Seoul Metropolitan City showed.

Social AffairsSept. 22, 2013

[Graphic News] Fall foliage peak dates

Hikers and picnickers are likely to enjoy the changing foliage this fall starting around Sept. 30, according to the National Weather Service. The foliage season will reach its peak starting around Oct. 12, a few days later than last year, weather officials said.

Social AffairsSept. 17, 2013

[Graphic News] Nonimmigrant entries to U.S. increase

More than 1.5 million South Koreans entered the U.S. as visitors for the first time while Mexicans topped the list of nonimmigant entries into the U.S. California (19 percent), Florida (13 percent), Texas (13 percent) and New York (13 percent) were the most frequented destinations by visitors.

Foreign AffairsSept. 16, 2013

[Graphic News] Twitter Inc. to go public

Twitter Inc. filed for an initial public offering last week, gearing up for the most high-profile debut in the tech sector since Facebook’s last year. Global attention is also being paid to whether Twitter shares will decline following its IPO as Facebook did.

TechnologySept. 15, 2013

[Graphic News] Arctic ice ice increases 60% in 2013

NASA satellite images showed about 6.9 million square kilometers of the Arctic Ocean covered in ice in 2013, a whopping 60 percent increase from 2012, stoking debate over whether it is a sign of global warming stopping or just a recovery from last year’s lowest level since 1979.

TechnologySept. 12, 2013

[Graphic News] Emerging markets’ currency fluctuation after ‘Bernanke shock’

After U.S. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke hinted at a possible tapering of its quantitative easing in May, the currency values of major emerging economies have sharply lost ground against the greenback. Unlike them, however, Korea’s won rose the most among major Asian currencies against the U.S. dollar as investors have relocated their investment to safer destinations.

Sept. 11, 2013

[Graphic News] Foreign residents growing

The number of Seoul districts and provincial cities with more than 10,000 foreign residents stood at 44 as of Jan. 1, the Ministry of Security and Public Administration data showed Tuesday. The data also showed that foreign residents accounted for more than 5 percent of the population in 22 regions, with the figure being highest in Seoul’s Yeongdeungpo-gu where 13.7 percent of the population was of non-Korean nationality.

Social AffairsSept. 10, 2013

[Graphic News] Pension lottery sales plunge

According to data from the Finance Ministry, total sales of lotteries reached 1.63 trillion won during the first half of this year, an increase of 0.45 percent from a year earlier. But sales of pension lottery products nearly halved in the same period, allegedly due to a decrease in public interest in the monthly payouts.

Sept. 9, 2013

[Graphic News] Satisfaction with married life

A report on the quality of family life compiled by the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs showed that 50.5 percent of surveyed married couples said they were “generally satisfied” with their lives. The report said household income, legal marital status and educational background played a significant role in the level of satisfaction.

Social AffairsSept. 8, 2013

[Graphic News] Billion won deposits decline

The number of bank accounts with more than 1 billion won deposited has been decreasing since the second half of last year, according to a Yonhap News report that compiled data from the Bank of Korea and major banks. Analysts attribute the decline to continued low interest rates and depositors’ concerns about the government moving to step up tax probes into the underground economy.

Sept. 5, 2013

[Graphic News] Korea’s FX reserves hit record high

According to the Bank of Korea, the nation’s foreign-exchange reserves hit a fresh record high in August due to gains in investment profits. The foreign reserves amounted to $331.09 billion as of end-August, up $1.38 billion from the previous month.

Sept. 4, 2013

[Graphic News] Major countries’ market cap

Bloomberg’s data indicates that Korea’s stock market has not been much swayed by the U.S.’ move to relax quantitative easing and financial woes in some emerging economies. The report said Korea’s market capitalization amounted to $1.09 trillion as of Sept. 1, running ahead of all BRICs except for China.

Sept. 3, 2013

[Graphic News] Fall delayed by climate change

A study by the Korean Meteorological Agency has found that the average start of autumn was Sept. 26 for Seoul in the 2000s, seven days later than in the 1970s. The KMA attributed the change to global warming and urbanization.

Sept. 2, 2013

[Graphic News] Japan eyes defense budget increase

Japan’s Defense Ministry is looking for its biggest budget hike in two decades, partly to create a Marines-like force, as neighbors fret about Tokyo’s rising assertiveness.

Sept. 1, 2013

[Graphic News] Major countries’ financial funds and net assets

The number of Korean funds managed by local financial firms reached 9,193 as of March to become the world’s second after Luxembourg. But Korea remained far behind in net assets, taking up only 1 percent of the world’s combined value of $27.8 trillion.

Aug. 29, 2013