Gangnam-gu and Seocho-go, the two major wealthy districts of the 25 administrative wards in Seoul, saw the price rise by 8.4 percent and 11.3 percent, respectively, over the corresponding period to 66.29 million won and 64.81 million won per 3.3 square meters. That would put an 84-square-meter unit in Gangnam-gu at around 1.68 billion won and 1.64 billion won in Seocho-gu. Same-sized units in ap...

The research showed that the US and major European countries outstripped Korea in this area. The US ranked No. 6, with its economy having expanded 1.6 percent. Mexico stood at No. 7 with 1.5 percent. Spain and Italy ranked fourth and fifth with 2.8 percent and 2.7 percent GDP growth, while Germany and France also ranked above Korea at 1.5 percent and 0.9 percent. Portugal topped the list with ...

Last year, Germany posted the shortest work hours with 1,332 hours per annum, followed by Denmark -- where many employees get off work around 4 p.m. -- with 1,346 hours. The UK ranked third-lowest with 1,367, followed by Norway with 1,369, the Netherlands with 1,399, Austria with 1,400, France with 1,402, and Sweden with 1,424. The next on the list were Luxembourg, Iceland, Belgium, Switzerland,...

For Chinese nationals, an increase of inbound travelers from China was seen when the novel coronavirus initially hit Wuhan in late 2019 and early 2020. But they started to stay at home after the number of infections in Korea grew faster than in China, starting from March 2020. A similar trend, in which US nationals outstrip Chinese in inbound visitors, continued to be seen this year. Over the f...

According to the OECD’s definition, average wages are obtained by dividing the national accounts-based total wage bill by the average number of employees in the total economy. It is then multiplied by the ratio of the average usual weekly hours per full-time employee to the average usually weekly hours for all employees. On a monthly base, the nation’s minimum salary climbed 32.5 percent in just...

Further, the average age of residents in Hwaseong’s Dongtan district (from Dongtan 1-dong to Dongtan 8-dong) ranged between only 32.5 and 35.5 as of last month. The city’s fiscal balance also showed a noteworthy increase to 3.54 trillion won ($3 billion) this year, compared to 2.79 trillion won in 2018, when Mayor Seo Cheol-mo took office. Hwaseong topped the list for the fourth consecutive yea...

The mayor has also resolved conflict among local governments of Hwaseong, Ansan, Anyang, Bucheon, Gwangmyeong and Siheung -- by allowing facilities in Hwaseong that NIMBYism prevented in neighboring areas. For example, Mount Hambaek Memorial Park, which is a funeral parlor and crematorium, opened this year. It was created by pooling about 170 billion won ($148 million) of funding from the six ci...

SEJONG -- The Pre-Summit of the United Nations Food Systems Summit was held in Rome from July 26-28, in preparation for the UN Food Systems Summit 2021, slated for this September in New York. The pre-summit was held to coordinate and elaborate on ideas discussed and raised over the past two years to transform food systems, said the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs of Korea. Heads...

The capital’s population is estimated to have peaked at 10.969 million in 1992, which means that Seoul has lost about 1.4 million residents (or 12.8 percent) in three decades. The city population fell below the 10 million mark in May 2016. A growing number of Seoul citizens have moved to Gyeonggi Province in the wake of spiraling apartment prices. Gyeonggi Province is still absorbing residents f...

SEJONG -- South Korea’s employment rate has remained behind most members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, regardless of the pandemic situation. The percentage of people aged 15-64 who are in work has continued to stay under the OECD average since before COVID-19 hit the globe. And its lackluster ranking continued throughout 2020. While the average of 34 OECD members...

Given that the statutory retirement age is 60 for most jobs in Korea, a dominant portion of the female recipients, aged 60-69, are estimated to have been contract employees or self-employed businesspeople before they lost their jobs. These three age groups far outstripped the average growth, 65 percent, posted among all recipients in the Dec. 2019-June 2021 period. Men in their 60s also outpace...

Of the 20 months from November 2019-June 2021, the number of deaths outstripped that of births for 19 months, except for only once in September 2020. The cumulative deaths tally was higher by about 11.7 percent (53,999) than that of births for the 20-month period by 513,381 vs. 459,382. Last month, the gap widened as the number of deaths was higher by 13.9 percent than that of births by 25,089 ...

SEJONG -- South Korean men in their 20s have the highest unemployment rate of all age and gender groups, government data shows. According to Statistics Korea, the nation’s unemployment rate was 3.8 percent as of June with the number of jobless posting 1.09 million. This is compared to 3.4 percent and 940,000 unemployed people in December 2019, or a month before COVID-19 initially hit Korea. Tho...

West Texas Intermediate crude recorded a 51 percent surge from $44.62 on Jan. 4 to $67.42 on July 21. “Korea’s major industries, including oil refiners and overseas plant builders, generally gain profitability when crude prices go up,” a research analyst said. “However, stable profitability and favorable effects on the nation’s overall economy are possible when crude prices are stabilized at aro...

Some people in Korea, including government officials, might argue that the climbing percentage is attributed to increased economic activity among young people in their late teens or early 20s and those aged over-60. But it could also suggest that more Koreans had to endure relatively weak job security as nonregular workers. Only 12 of the 34 countries saw the percentage of part-time workers inc...