As of last Friday, Korea saw its stock price index fall 0.7 percent this year, coming in 30th among 34 OECD members in terms of stock index performance, according to data compiled by Yonhap News.Market analysts said the weak Japanese yen might have caused the bearish run by the Korea Composite Stock Price Index.

Dec. 24, 2013

Korea’s total greenhouse gas emissions increased 3.3 percent on average annually from 2005 to 2010, according to Statistics Korea. The nation emitted a total of 568.8 million tons of CO2 in 2005 and 668.8 tons in 2010.The nation’s per capita gas emissions amounted to 11.4 tons, higher than the OECD average of 10.1 tons.

Dec. 23, 2013

Cancer remained the most common cause of death in 2012 while cerebrovascular diseases replaced heart diseases as the second leading cause, according to the Ministry of Health and Welfare.

Social AffairsDec. 22, 2013

The Supreme Court’s decision to include regular bonuses in calculations of the “ordinary wage” for workers will result in additional employment costs for companies. The Korea Employers’ Federation expected the financial burden on companies to reach 38.5 trillion won, while the Korea Labor Institute predicted 21.9 trillion won in increased costs as a result of the ruling.The Korea Federation of SMEs, or K-Biz, estimates SMEs will have to foot an additional bill of 11.6 trillion won and the Korea

Dec. 19, 2013

More than 200 million people were expected to have watched films in theaters this year as of Wednesday, setting a record in Korean cinema history. Last year, a total of 194,890,587 people hit theaters to watch films in Korea. Korean films alone attracted 118,160,000 viewers this year, exceeding last year’s record of 114,613,190. The market share of Korean movies also reached 59.1 percent this year, surpassing that of foreign films, which stood at 40.9 percent. This year saw releases of English-l

FilmDec. 18, 2013

More than half of the public considers the Park Geun-hye administration to have done a good job this year, a poll showed. According to the poll conducted by Gallup Korea ahead of the first anniversary of her election on Dec. 19, 54 percent of the 1,204 people surveyed positively assessed Park’s administration, while 35 percent said the opposite. The survey showed that diplomacy and international relations were the most commonly chosen factor for the positive assessments, while lack of communicat

PoliticsDec. 17, 2013

Korea’s industries are estimated to have posted trade deficits ― except in ICT-related sectors ― for the last 14 years, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. But it said the nation’s annual trade surplus in the ICT sector has already set a new record high of $81.9 billion in the first 11 months of the year.

Dec. 16, 2013

The results are based on the surveys conducted at mobile shops in 15 countries from June 20-30, and from Oct. 1-10.

TechnologyDec. 15, 2013

Major public organizations are under fire for the excessive wages and benefits received by their top executives despite their snowballing debts. According to a report from the Korea Institute of Public Finance, the chiefs of finance-related public organizations came out on top in terms of annual salary.

Dec. 12, 2013

Korea and its free trade partners make up 57.7 percent of the world’s GDP, giving Korea the third-largest FTA territory behind that of Chile and Mexico, according to officials. If South Korea concludes free trade pacts with China, Australia and Canada, the total GDP of Seoul’s free trade territory may become the largest.

Dec. 11, 2013

A new corporation to be established under KORAIL will operate the new high-speed KTX routes expected to open in 2015. The line, which will connect to the nation’s southern region, will start in Suseo, southeastern Seoul. The existing KTX service starts in Yongsan, central Seoul. The new section is are expected to make access easier for people in eastern Seoul and Gyeonggi Province.

Dec. 10, 2013

Korea’s overseas spending reached a record high in the third quarter of this year at some 6.5 trillion won ($6.2 billion), a 4.7 percent increase from the previous quarter, according to the Bank of Korea. The increase rate outpaced that of domestic spending. From January to September, domestic spending rose 2.6 percent while overseas spending rose 4.3 percent from the same period last year.Financial analysts said the rise in overseas spending mainly came from the increase in overseas card paymen

Dec. 9, 2013

Group A　Brazil　Croatia　Mexico　Cameroon　　Group B　Spain　Netherlands　Chile　Australia　　Group C　Colombia　Greece　Ivory Coast　Japan　　Group D　Uruguay　Costa Rica　England　Italy Group E　Switzerland　Ecuador　France　Honduras　　Group F　Argentia　Bosnia-Herzegovina　Iran　Nigeria　　Group G　Germany　Portugal　Ghana　USA　　Group H　Belgium　Algeria　Russia　Republic of Korea

SoccerDec. 8, 2013

According to a survey released by Statistics Korea on Wednesday, most elderly people do not want to live together with their children and most Koreans read online or offline newspapers. The agency polled 38,000 people aged 13 years and older from 17,664 households throughout the month of May to research more about people’s livelihoods and lifestyles.

Social AffairsDec. 5, 2013

Semiconductor chips, petrochemical products, automobiles and IT-related products including mobile phones and displays, will continue to lead Korea’s exports in 2014, according to a forecast by the Korea International Trade Association. KITA expects the export of semiconductor chips to reach $60.8 billion.

Dec. 4, 2013

Denmark and New Zealand are seen as the world’s least corrupt countries, according to graft watchdog Transparency International’s annual survey. South Korea’s ranking fell to 46 from last year’s 45. The index score relates to perceptions of the degree of corruption as seen by country analysts and business people. The range goes from zero, which is highly corrupt, to 100, which is very clean.

Social AffairsDec. 3, 2013

Entry-level workers in the financial and insurance industry saw the highest average starting salaries in Korea at 3.1 million won per month, according a survey released by the Korea Employers Federation. The poll also showed that average starting salaries at conglomerates with more than 1,000 employees topped 3 million won for the first time.

Dec. 2, 2013

The Trans-Pacific Partnership currently involves 38 percent of the world’s total gross domestic product and 27.8 percent of total trade, though it only covers 11.2 percent of the world’s population. The Korean government on Friday said it would carefully review its participation in the U.S.-led multilateral trade bloc.

Dec. 1, 2013

Nearly one out of five married women was found to have discontinued her career due to marriage, childbirth or the education of her children, according to Statistics Korea. It said the number of married women between the ages of 15 and 54 is 9.71 million this year. Among them, 4.06 million women are unemployed and 1.95 million women have left their careers.

Nov. 28, 2013