The International Monetary Fund announced Tuesday that it had downgraded this year’s outlook for global economic growth, citing continued risks. In its most recent report on the global economic outlook, the IMF lowered this year’s global economic growth projection to 3.3 percent, 0.2 percentage point down from three months ago. The IMF also lowered Korea’s expected growth rate to 2.8 percent, 0...

Concerns over the impact of the weakening yen on the nation’s exports are proving well founded. About 40 percent of Korean-made products that compete against Japanese goods in the global market posted reduced export figures for the first two months in 2013 compared with the same period a year ago, the Korea International Trade Association said in a press release. In a KITA survey of the nation’...

The number of Korean medical institutions expanding overseas has nearly doubled in the last three years, a report showed Monday. According to the report released by the state-run Korea Health Industry Development Institute, 91 Korean hospitals had made inroads into foreign countries as of December, up 85 percent from 49 in 2009. The hospitals were operating in 16 countries in Asia and North Ame...

Repair costs for import cars produced by companies such as BMW and Mercedes-Benz average 2.6 million won ($2,300), far exceeding the average of 840,000 won for the five Korean-made brands. Over the weekend, the Korea Insurance Development Institute released the import car repair costs paid by nonlife insurance companies in 2011. The institute’s report showed that import car repair charges were ...

North Korea has completed preparations for launching multiple missiles with various ranges that can put South Korea, Japan and U.S. bases in Guam within striking range, Seoul officials said. The communist state has positioned two Musudan missiles with ranges beyond 3,000 kilometers at a launch site on its east coast. The intermediate-range missiles can, in theory, reach Guam, a key strategic U.S...

Purchasing luxury goods was nothing unusual for more than 45 percent of Korean customers, a survey showed on Wednesday. According to the poll conducted by the Korea Consumer Agency, spending on premium designer brands ― such as Hermes, Cartier and Bvlgari ― accounted for 5 percent of household income on average, compared to 4 percent in Japan. Amid the recent surge in consumption of French and ...

The economic participation rate of the 50-59 age group soared to 73.8 percent in 2012, the highest rate since 2000, data showed Tuesday. The rate was 73.1 percent in 2011 and 72.7 percent in 2010. According reports from the Korea Exchange and Statistics Korea, however, the economic participation rate of the so-called “baby boomer generation” of those born between 1955 and 1963 is expected to abr...

China reported three more cases of human infection of a new strain of bird flu on Sunday, raising the total number of cases to 21. Six of those who contracted the H7N9 virus have died. All 21 cases have been reported in the eastern part of the country. Health officials believe people are contracting the virus through direct contact with infected fowl and say there’s no evidence the virus is spr...

The global economic slump appears to be taking a toll on local internet shoppers, with online sales posting a record-low monthly growth since the government first started to compile the data, Statistics Korea said. Internet shopping sales declined by 2 percent in February from the same period last year to record the lowest monthly growth figure since 2009, the agency said. In January that year,...

Korea was ranked the world’s No. 3 source of spam email in February, data showed. According to a report released by Russian firm Kaspersky Lab, Korean sources sent 13.7 percent of spam emails worldwide last month, following the U.S. and China, recording 16.9 percent and 14.4 percent, respectively. Spam emails are among the most frequently used methods to spread malicious codes for cyber attacke...

A new survey revealed that citizens of Sejong City, Gangwon Province and Jeju Island drink, smoke and weigh more than people in other regions. Sejong City recorded the highest male smoking rate at 51.3 percent, followed by Gangwon at 49.9 percent and Jeju with 49.4 percent. These areas also recorded the highest rate of high-risk drinking, with Sejong at 20.4 percent, Gangwon 19.5 percent and Jej...

The music industry reported global sales growth last year for the first time since 1999 on rising online sales, prompting analysts to paint a rosy picture for the K-pop industry. The increase, 0.3 percent, was minimal, and the total revenue of $16.5 billion was nothing comparable to its peak of $38 billion over a decade ago, figures reported by the International Federation of the Phonographic In...

Seoulites may spend more than half the year sweating in the summer heat during the last decade of this century, according to a forecast by the Korea Meteorological Administration, the nation’s weather agency. A recent KMA report forecast that the summer would last 174.9 days a year from 2091-2100 in the absence of action to reduce greenhouse gases. Summer is predicted to be two months longer th...

Samsung Electronics’ Galaxy smartphone line was ranked first in a survey of Korea’s top 100 brands in the first quarter, a local brand equity evaluator said Sunday. According to the survey by Brand Stock, the nation’s most popular smartphone brand retained the top spot for the second consecutive year with the highest score of 938. E-mart, the nation’s largest discount franchise, came in second. ...

A recent study found that connections used in cyber attacks more frequently came from Internet Protocol addresses based in India, according to the Korea Internet and Security Agency. The agency on Thursday said that India had the highest number of IP addresses that were used for distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks against Korean websites in the second half of last year. With India acco...