Most Popular
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Yoon apologizes for first lady Dior bag scandal, calls push for special probe ‘political’
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Korea forecast to overtake Taiwan in chip production by 2032: report
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Girl hanging on bridge, police trying to rescue her both fall off; rescued immediately
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[K-pop’s dilemma] Can K-pop break free from ‘fandom’ model?
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YouTuber fatally stabbed on livestream by another YouTuber in Busan
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Yoon rebuffs opposition's call for special probe into wife
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Stray Kids hit with racism in Met Gala photo line
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No plan to let doctors with foreign licenses practice here anytime soon: PM
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[News Analysis] Yoon's first 2 years marked by intense confrontations, lack of leadership
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Yoon apologizes for wife's 'unwise conduct'
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[Graphic News] Social cost of health care rises
The social cost of treating medical illnesses and injuries totaled 120.65 trillion won ($110.12 billion) in South Korea in 2012, a report showed Tuesday.At 8.8 percent of the GDP in the same year, it showed an increase of 24.2 percent from 2008.Injuries and addictions, including alcoholism, cost the most ― 19.54 trillion won ― among all medical conditions. They made up 16.2 percent of the total cost in 2012. Suicides and attempted suicides, on the other hand, were the most common cases in the ca
Social AffairsFeb. 10, 2015
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[Graphic News] Korea ranks lowest in OECD for welfare spending
South Korea ranked lowest among OECD member countries in social welfare spending in 2014, according to data compiled from the Korean government and OECD reports.Of the 28 OECD members (six were excluded for lack of data), South Korea took last place, with a social welfare expenditure to GDP ratio of 10.4 percent.This is less than half the OECD average (21.6 percent), and not even a third of the countries at the top of the list such as France (31.9 percent) and Finland (31 percent).This indicates
Social AffairsFeb. 5, 2015
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[Graphic News] Chaebol execs serve 5 years, retire by 55
Executives in the nation’s top 10 conglomerates serve their position for about five years and usually retire before they hit 55, a report said Wednesday.According to the report released by CEO Score, the average retirement age of executives in the big firms was 54.5, and average tenure in the top office was 5.2 years. The business news site specializing in chaebol surveyed 271 executives in the big firms who retired and sold their treasury stocks in 2015.The conglomerate with the youngest retire
Feb. 4, 2015
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[Graphic News] High school graduates with jobs exceed 10m mark in 2014
The number of high school graduates who were employed surpassed the 10 million mark for the first time last year.According to a government report, 10.1 million high school graduates were found to have jobs in 2014, a 2.7 percent increase from 2013.High school graduates also made up 39.5 percent of total number of people hired in 2014, a 0.3 percent increase compared to 2013. The number of high school graduates has increased since 2009, while the number of college entrants has been dropping since
Feb. 2, 2015
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[Graphic News] Korea sees nonpaying health care beneficiaries rise
The number of people receiving benefits from the national health insurance program without paying premiums has increased by 28 percent over the past decade, heralding severe problems in the nation’s health care budget in the coming years.Some 20.5 million people were registered as non-paying beneficiaries, according to National Health Insurance Service, which went up from 16 million in 2003. During the same period, the total number of people insured increased by just 6.5 percent.Korean law allow
Social AffairsFeb. 1, 2015
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[Graphic News] Coffee imports hit all-time high
Imports of coffee hit an all-time high last year despite the nation’s economic slowdown.In 2014, Korea imported 139,764 tons of coffee beans and powder-based materials, a 14 percent increase from 2013. The total value of imports was $595 million.The import rate staggered a bit after the price of coffee beans rose in 2011, but has increased again since 2012.The increase is due to the ever-growing demand for coffee in Korea with an increase in coffee shops, as well as a drop in coffee prices after
Jan. 29, 2015
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[Graphic News] S. Korea sees illegal migrants increase
The number of illegal foreign residents in the nation again exceeded the 200,000 mark in 2014, the highest level in seven years.According to the Ministry of Justice, there were 208,778 illegal immigrants at the end of last year, up 14 percent from 183,106 in 2013.After peaking at 223,464 in 2007, the figure slid from 200,489 in 2008 to dip below 200,000 from 2009 to 2013.
Social AffairsJan. 28, 2015
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[Graphic News] World’s richest 1%
The majority of the world’s rich ― the top 1 percent ― reside in the United States, Japan and France, reports said.About 18 million out of the 47 million wealthy people with more than $798,000 each in assets are living in the United States, according to the BBC and the Credit Suisse 2014 Annual Report. The U.S. was followed by Japan (4.04 million rich people), France (3.52 million), Britain (2.9 million) and Germany (2.75 million).Meanwhile, South Korea had 448,000 people who were in the world’s
Jan. 27, 2015
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[Graphic News] Korea’s sharp increase in per capita income tax
The average per capita income tax in Korea increased 25 percent in five years, the fourth-highest increase rate among OECD member countries. The amount increased from $5,051 in 2008 to $6,314 in 2013.However, the nation’s income tax per person and rate of tax revenue to gross domestic product were comparatively low.According to the OECD report on Monday, Korea’s per capita income tax in 2013 ($6,314) was the sixth-lowest among the 29 OECD members. The OECD average was $15,634, about 2.5 times hi
World NewsJan. 26, 2015
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[Graphic News] Apple gains an edge on Samsung
Apple is rapidly catching up with Samsung Electronics in South Korea’s smartphone market, following the launch of the U.S. tech company’s iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus in the country in November last year.Samsung’s Galaxy smartphone series had been dominating with a market share of about 60 percent in the local smartphone market, with its close rival Apple at only 15 percent.The launch of the new products pulled up Apple’s Korean market share to 33 percent, knocking Samsung’s share below 50 percent
TechnologyJan. 25, 2015
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[Graphic News] Korean firms’ profitability drops sharply
South Korean companies have dropped in profitability from last three years, according to industry data released on Monday.The ratio of net income to sales at South Korean businesses from 2012-2014 fell 2.9 percentage points. It stood at 5.5 percent on average in 2014, far lower than the world’s average (7.9 percent) and emerging countries (average 5.9 percent). Meanwhile, the global average ratio from 2012 to 2014 rose by around 0.24 percentage point.Japan marked the highest rise of 1.3 percenta
Jan. 22, 2015
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[Graphic News] Smartphones outnumber PCs
The global supply of smartphones has outnumbered that of PCs for the first time.According to the “2015 Mobile Trend Prospects” report published by KT Economic Research Institute, the global supply of smartphones stood at 24.5 percent of the population, surpassing that of the PCs (20 percent) and conquering the 40-year-old market within just four years of its release.While the supply of smartphones has been rising ― from 5.2 percent in 2012 to 19.8 percent in 2013 ― PCs’ penetration rate has stal
TechnologyJan. 21, 2015
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[Graphic News] Ratio of oil consumption to GDP to hit 45-year low
The ratio of domestic oil consumption to gross domestic product is expected to fall to its lowest rate this year since 1970, data showed Tuesday. Analysts said the expected drop in the ratio would boost corporate earnings and domestic consumption.The report, compiled by Yonhap using data from the IMF, Korea Energy Economics Institute, and KB Investments and Securities, said that, excluding reexports, the ratio of oil consumption to the nation’s GDP was expected to be around 1.71 percent.The rati
Jan. 20, 2015
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[Graphic News] Fewer families have meals together
Fewer Koreans are having meals with their families, according to government data.Less than 50 percent of 7,000 Koreans surveyed last year said they had breakfast with their family members. The number has been declining since 2005, from 62.9 percent to 53.7 percent in 2010, and to 46.1 percent last year.Meanwhile, only 64.1 percent of the surveyed Koreans said they had dinner with their families. In 2005, 76 percent of Koreans were reported to be eating dinner with their families.The growing numb
Social AffairsJan. 19, 2015
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[Graphic News] Child abuse by care workers rises
Child abuse committed by workers at nursery-related institutes has recently been rampant, the state-run child rights organization said.According to the National Child Protection Agency, the number of such cases more than doubled from 260 in 2012 to 644 in 2013. It accounted for 9.5 percent of the 6,796 child abuse cases in 2013.Public anger erupted this month when a worker at a day care center in Incheon was found to have beaten a 4-year-old girl for not finishing her food. A local court issued
Social AffairsJan. 18, 2015
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[Graphic News] Foot-and-mouth spreads across Korea
The recent outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease has spread nationwide despite efforts by South Korea’s quarantine authorities to contain it, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.As of Thursday, 50 cases of the disease occurred in 13 cities and districts, mostly in the central region of the peninsula. North Chungcheong Province ― the epicenter of the outbreak ― was the hardest hit with 25 regions being affected.Authorities have even confirmed a case of the disease at the
Social AffairsJan. 15, 2015
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[Graphic News] 1 in 5 young adults begins as short-term contract worker
About 20 percent of young adults begin employment as contract workers with positions that last less than a year, an indication that the nation’s youth labor market is worsening, according to data released by the National Statistics Office.The government agency conducted an economic activity census and found that about 761,000, or 19.5 percent of young adult workers, began working under such conditions.This indicates that since the financial crisis, regular positions are being replaced with short
Jan. 14, 2015