Articles by Nam Kyung-don
Nam Kyung-don
don@heraldcorp.com-
[Graphic News] Duty-free sales up for 4th month in Aug. but still below pre-pandemic level
Duty-free sales in South Korea rose for the fourth straight month in August on increased purchases by Chinese vendors, but revenues remained below the pre-pandemic level, industry data showed. Combined sales at duty-free shops here reached 1.44 trillion won ($1.23 billion) last month, up 15.3 percent from the previous month, according to the Korea Duty Free Shops Association. It marked the fourth straight month of gains since April, when sales fell below the 1 trillion-won threshold for
Business Oct. 8, 2020
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[Graphic News] Cancer still leading cause of death in S. Korea
Cancer has been the No. 1 cause of death in South Korea since 1983. The statistics agency said 574.8 deaths were reported per 100,000 people here last year. It also said 158.2 per 100,000 had died of cancer. Heart disease is the second-largest cause of death here, with 60.4 deaths per 100,000 people, followed by pneumonia with 45.1 deaths per 100,000 people. The leading causes of death included cerebrovascular disease, suicide, diabetes and Alzheimer‘s disease. (Yonhap)
Technology Oct. 7, 2020
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[Graphic News] Decline in housing transactions means fewer new real estate agencies in August
The number of new real estate agencies in South Korea fell more than 11 percent in August amid a nationwide tumble in housing transactions, data showed. A total of 1,302 new real estate agencies opened across the nation last month, down 11.3 percent from the previous month, according to the data from the Korea Association of Realtors. August marked the second consecutive month of on-month decline. The numbers were 1,468 for July and 1,488 for June. (Yonhap)
Business Oct. 6, 2020
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[Graphic News] Koreans drink 8.5 days per month on average: poll
South Koreans on average consumed alcoholic beverages 8.5 days per month in 2019, a poll showed, with a growing number of people drinking at home this year due to the virus pandemic. It marked a slight drop from 8.8 days posted in 2017 and 2018, according to the report released by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. Around 43 percent of South Koreans picked beer as their preferred alcoholic beverage, followed by soju, a distilled liquor made with grain, with 25 percent.
National Oct. 5, 2020
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[Graphic News] Lottery sales in H1 hit 15-year high amid virus fallout
Lottery sales in South Korea hit a 15-year high in the first half of the year amid the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, government data showed. Sales of lottery tickets were tallied at 2.6 trillion won ($2.2 billion) in the January-June period, up 11.1 percent from a year earlier, according to data from the Finance Ministry and the Korea Lottery Commission. The figure is the largest for the first half since the ministry started releasing data on lottery sales for the firs
Social Affairs Sept. 30, 2020
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[Graphic News] Some 1,000 travel agencies in Korea shutter on virus impact
Nearly 1,000 travel agencies in South Korea have gone out of business in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak that started to hit the country in late January, data showed. The number of tour agencies came to 21,671 as of the end of June this year, down 938, or 2.7 percent, from the end of December, according to data from the Korea Tourism Association. Compared to the end of September last year, the figure is down 4.1 percent. (Yonhap)
Business Sept. 29, 2020
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[Graphic News] Half of virus relief money paid in card form used for dining out, grocery shopping
Almost all of the state coronavirus relief funds that were given out in card form have been spent, and about half of the money was spent mostly on dining out and grocery shopping, the Interior Ministry said. The government handed out the relief funds totaling 14.3 trillion won ($12.2 billion) to all households from May 4 to Aug. 24 to help people cope with the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic. The money was available in the forms of credit or debit card points, prepaid cards
Social Affairs Sept. 28, 2020
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[Graphic News] K-pop buzz on Twitter grows substantially despite COVID-19
Despite COVID-19 having bogged down the global entertainment industry, the conversation and buzz surrounding K-pop on the social media platform Twitter have increased substantially in the past year. The number of K-pop-related tweets on the global social media platform from July 2019 to June 2020 reached 6.1 billion, up 15 percent from the 5.3 billion tally from a year prior, according to data compiled by Twitter Korea together with music startup Space Oddity’s fandom analytics dash
K-pop Sept. 25, 2020
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[Graphic News] Climate change, infectious disease seen as major threats: survey
Climate change and the spread of infectious diseases are seen as the top threats by the majority of people in 14 economically advanced nations surveyed by the Pew Research Center. In similar surveys conducted by the Washington-based center in 2013, 2016, 2017 and 2018, the chief threats were seen as climate change and terrorism. For the latest survey, Pew questioned 14,276 adults living in Australia, Belgium, Britain, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Spai
World News Sept. 24, 2020
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[Graphic News] Percentage of Koreans visiting hometowns this Chuseok at record low: poll
Record-low numbers of South Koreans are expected to visit their hometowns or travel during the upcoming Chuseok holiday amid lingering coronavirus fears, a poll showed. In the survey of 1,000 adults nationwide conducted by Gallup Korea early last week, 81 percent said they had no plans to leave their homes for more than one night during the Chuseok holiday, the Korean version of Thanksgiving, which runs from Sept. 30 to Oct. 2 this year. According to Gallup Korea, only 16 percent of th
Social Affairs Sept. 23, 2020
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[Graphic News] Minorities made up 78% of US COVID-19 pediatric deaths: study
Racial minorities accounted for 78 percent of COVID-19 deaths under the age of 21 in the United States between February and July, a government report said. Out of 121 deaths among under-21s, 45 percent were among Hispanics, 29 percent among blacks and 4 percent among American Indians or Alaskan Natives, according to the study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Together, these groups represent 41 percent of the US population under 21. Overall, mortality among children a
World News Sept. 22, 2020
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[Graphic News] More Korean women live alone
More than 3.09 million Korean women live alone, with growing numbers engaged in economic activities, government statistics showed. According to Statistics Korea, one-woman households accounted for 50.3 percent of the total 6.14 million single-person households this year. The statistics agency expects the number to continue to rise to reach 3.23 million by 2025 and 3.65 million by 2035. Overall, the total number of women in South Korea stood at 25.83 million this year, making up 49.9
Social Affairs Sept. 21, 2020
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[Graphic News] Amazon’s Bezos tops Forbes richest list
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos topped Forbes’ list of richest Americans for the third year in a row, while US President Donald Trump’s ranking dropped as the coronavirus pandemic slammed his office buildings, hotels and resorts, the magazine said. The aggregate wealth of the Forbes 400 list rose to a record $3.2 trillion, as the richest Americans continued to do well even though the pandemic has devastated the economy, which is short about 11 million jobs compared to where it was in
World Sept. 18, 2020
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[Graphic News] Sales of food delivery app hit fresh high amid virus pandemic
South Korean food delivery applications saw their sales hit a fresh high in August as more people refrained from dining out and stayed home amid the stricter social distancing scheme, data showed. The combined transactions made through the country‘s four major food delivery applications came to 1.2 trillion won ($1 billion) in August, up 28 percent from a month earlier, according to the industry tracker WiseApp. Sales from the four applications reached a whopping 7.6 trillion won
Business Sept. 17, 2020
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[Graphic News] Korea‘s ice cream exports rise 11% this year
South Korean exports of ice cream swelled more than 11 percent in the first eight months of the year despite a slump in the country’s overall overseas shipments, official data showed. Overseas shipments of Korean ice cream products came to $47 million in the January-August period, up 11.1 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service. The United States was the largest export destination for Korean ice cream, followed by China, Canada, Vi
Business Sept. 16, 2020
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