As of last Friday, Korea saw its stock price index fall 0.7 percent this year, coming in 30th among 34 OECD members in terms of stock index performance, according to data compiled by Yonhap News. Market analysts said the weak Japanese yen might have caused the bearish run by the Korea Composite Stock Price Index.

Korea’s total greenhouse gas emissions increased 3.3 percent on average annually from 2005 to 2010, according to Statistics Korea. The nation emitted a total of 568.8 million tons of CO2 in 2005 and 668.8 tons in 2010. The nation’s per capita gas emissions amounted to 11.4 tons, higher than the OECD average of 10.1 tons.

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.

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 ...

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 ye...

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 internationa...

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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. Fina...

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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.

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.