Prices for hamburgers rose 10.3 percent in March and 17.1 percent in April, according to Statistics Korea. The increase marked the highest growth in 19 years. Such inflation in hamburgers came after major franchise companies raised their prices 4 to 5 percent in February and August of last year, and again in February this year. Pizza prices also set a record high in nearly 15 years with a near-12 percent increase in April. Chicken prices increased by 6.8 percent in the given period, which is low

Consumer June 2, 2023

More than 1.5 million South Korean people are at risk of “lonely death,” or unattended death, accounting for 3 percent of the country’s population, a government survey showed. The Ministry of Health and Welfare said it had conducted the poll on a sample of 9,471 single-member households from November to December last year to check their circumstances that could possibly lead to a lonely death in the future. The 10-step checklist includes questions about whether the respondent h

Social Affairs June 1, 2023

According to the 2023 Global Slavery Index, modern slavery is present in every country, regardless of its wealth status. The index, published by the human rights charity Walk Free, has indicated that in 2021, around 50 million people were living in situations of modern slavery, with approximately 27.6 million of those people being in forced labor and 22 million in forced marriages. The index indicated that the countries estimated to have the highest modern slavery rates tend to be “conflic

World News May 31, 2023

Recorded executions worldwide reached 883 last year, the highest since 2017, according to an Amnesty International report that decried the Middle East and North Africa in particular. The 2022 figure for 20 countries known to have executed people is a 53 percent increase on the previous 12 months, the global rights monitor said. It excludes the “thousands” of prisoners put to death secretively in China, but does count the “staggering” 81 people executed in a single day in

World News May 30, 2023

The swift growth of artificial intelligence technology could put the future of humanity at risk, according to most Americans surveyed in a Reuters/Ipsos poll. More than two-thirds of Americans are concerned about the negative effects of AI and 61 percent believe it could threaten civilization. Since OpenAI's ChatGPT chatbot became the fastest growing application of all time, the widespread integration of AI into everyday life has catapulted AI to the forefront of public discourse. ChatGPT h

World News May 25, 2023

Debt among those in their 20s and 30s jumped more than 27 percent over the past three years since the COVID-19 pandemic hit, indicating they suffered financial difficulties due to rising home prices and an economic slowdown, central bank data showed. In the fourth quarter of 2022, overall loans extended to those in the age bracket soared 27.4 percent to 514.5 trillion won ($384 billion) from 404 trillion won in the fourth quarter of 2019, according to a report submitted by the Bank of Korea to t

Social Affairs May 24, 2023

South Korea ranked 47th in the 2023 World Press Freedom Index, the Paris-based Reporters Without Borders (RSF) announced, falling by four places from last year. The index, based on an evaluation of the journalism environment in 180 countries and territories, is divided into four categories; “good,” “satisfactory,” “very serious,” “difficult,” and “problematic.” Korea was remarked as “satisfactory.” South Korea appreciates me

World News May 23, 2023

South Korea’s crime rate fell to the lowest level in a decade in 2021, data showed, although offenses in the cyber domain shot up amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Asia’s No. 4 economy reported 1,774 cases of criminal violations per 100,000 people in 2021, down 12 percent from a year earlier, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. The number of murders reached 1.3 per 100,000 people in 2021, down 18 percent on-year. The figures for acts of violence and theft fell 16 percent an

Social Affairs May 22, 2023

Global sugar prices have risen every month this year, the highest level in 11 1/2 years since October 2011. The global Sugar Price Index soared 27.9 percent from January, according to the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization. The index rose every month from 116.8 in January to 125.2 in February, 127 in March, and 149.4 last month due to concerns about reduced global sugar production in India, China and other countries. For instance, increased rainfall in Brazil has trimmed the

World News May 19, 2023

Almost half of US adults say they’re worried about the safety of their deposits in banks and other financial institutions — levels of concern that are as high or higher than they were during the 2008 financial crisis. A Gallup poll shows 48 percent of Americans are very or moderately worried about their money following the worst spate of bank failures in 15 years. Only 20 percent say they’re not worried at all. Levels of concern break somewhat among party lines, with 55 percent

World Business May 18, 2023

Seven in 10 South Koreans support the Yoon Suk Yeol government’s efforts to shed light on North Korea’s dire human rights situation, a poll showed. In a survey on 1,000 adults conducted by the Peaceful Unification Advisory Council from March 24-26, 70.5 percent of the respondents said they support the government’s policy initiative to raise awareness on North Korean human rights. The PUAC, a presidential consultative body set up to draw up policies on democratic and peaceful un

North Korea May 16, 2023

The number of rail passengers in South Korea shot up 44 percent on-year in the first quarter as the country returned to pre-pandemic normalcy, government data showed. Around 39.2 million people traveled on railways in the January-March period, rising sharply from 27.2 million tallied a year earlier, according to data compiled by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. The figure excludes subway passengers. The figure represents a 0.7 percent rise from the first quarter of 2019, befor

Social Affairs May 15, 2023

South Korea’s whisky imports shot up nearly 80 percent in the first quarter of this year on the liquor’s surging popularity among young Koreans amid the coronavirus pandemic, data showed. The volume of imported whisky came to 8,443 metric tons in the January-March period, up 78.2 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service. It marks the highest first-quarter tally since 2000, when data tracking began. It is also the largest quarterly figure after

Mobility May 12, 2023

A gunman shot and killed eight people and injured several others at a busy mall north of Dallas on Saturday. A Korean American couple and their 3-year-old son were among those killed in Texas mall massacre. Another 6-year-old boy was wounded and hospitalized. The massacre is among the latest in at least 202 mass shootings recorded in the United States this year, according to the nonprofit group Gun Violence Archive. The group defines a mass shooting as any incident in which four or more people a

World News May 11, 2023

President Joe Biden’s approval rating slid to a career low in the latest opinion poll for ABC News and the Washington Post that also showed the US leader lagging predecessor Donald Trump in early voter preferences for the 2024 election. The percentage of those approving of Biden’s performance fell to 36 percent, six points lower than in February and a point off his previous low in early 2022, according to the survey conducted for the news organizations by Langer Research Associates.

World News May 10, 2023