[Graphic News] Seoul ranks third globally for international meetings

Seoul strengthened its position as a leading global MICE destination by hosting 216 international meetings last year, ranking first in Asia and third worldwide. MICE is an acronym that stands for the meeting, incentive travel, convention, exhibition and event sectors. According to the Union of International Associations, South Korea hosted 491 international meetings in 2025, accounting for 5.29 percent of the global total of 9,281. The country climbed four spots from sixth place in 2024, when it

2026-07-08 08:00:00:00

[Graphic News] Vietnam tops list of international students in Korea

Vietnam has become the largest source of international students at South Korean universities, narrowly surpassing China. The Ministry of Education and the Korean Educational Development Institute said in the seventh edition of the report Reading Our Education Through Data that Vietnam accounted for 75,198 international students enrolled at Korean universities as of April 2025, compared with 74,820 from China, a difference of just 378 students. The report said South Korea had 403 universities and

2026-07-07 08:00:00:00

[Graphic News] Samsung Wallet remains Korea’s top payments app

Samsung Wallet retained its position as South Korea’s most-used mobile payments app in May, attracting more than 19 million monthly active users, while major rivals such as Kakao Pay, KB Pay and Naver Pay posted record user numbers, intensifying competition in the fast-growing digital payments market. According to market tracker Wiseapp Retail Goods, Samsung Wallet recorded 19.04 million monthly active users in May, maintaining a wide lead over competitors. Kakao Pay ranked second with 11.87 mil

2026-07-06 08:00:00:00

[Graphic News] Seoul ranks 12th among world’s wealthiest cities

Seoul ranked as the world’s 12th-richest city by ultra-high-net-worth population last year, posting the fastest growth among major cities amid the AI investment boom and a rally in technology stocks. According to Altrata’s World Ultra Wealth Report 2026, the global UHNW population, those with a net worth of at least $30 million, rose 14.4 percent from a year earlier to 556,850 in 2025, marking the fastest annual increase since 2017. The report attributed much of the growth to technology entrepre

2026-07-02 08:00:00:00

[Graphic News] Major earthquakes around world in 2026

According to the US Geological Survey, two earthquakes that struck Venezuela in quick succession on June 24 ranked as the second- and seventh-strongest earthquakes worldwide this year. Rescue efforts remain underway in Venezuela following the earthquakes. The strongest earthquake recorded in 2026 was a magnitude 7.8 quake that struck the Philippines on June 7, followed by a magnitude 7.5 earthquake in Venezuela on June 24 and another magnitude 7.5 quake in Tonga on March 24.

2026-07-01 08:00:00:00

[Graphic News] Workers aged 70 and older surpass 2m

The number of employed South Koreans aged 70 and older surpassed 2 million for the first time in 2025, according to government data. Statistics Korea said over 2.16 million people in the age group were employed last year, up 9.2 percent from 1.98 million in 2024. The figure has increased steadily from just under 1.22 million in 2018, rising by nearly 80 percent over the seven-year period. Workers aged 70 and older accounted for 7.5 percent of all employed people in 2025, up 3 percentage points f

2026-06-30 08:00:00:00

[Graphic News] Deployed nuclear warheads rise as NK expands arsenal

The world’s nine known nuclear-armed states possessed an estimated 12,187 nuclear warheads as of January 2026, while the number of deployed warheads rose to 4,012 from 3,912 a year earlier, according to a report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. North Korea’s nuclear arsenal grew from 50 to 60 warheads during the period, and SIPRI estimated that Pyongyang has enough fissile material to produce at least 30 additional warheads. While the global stockpile declined slightly fr

2026-06-29 08:00:05:00

[Graphic News] Europe dominates happiest cities; Seoul 26th

European cities overwhelmingly dominated the latest ranking of the world’s happiest cities, while Seoul and Incheon were the only South Korean cities to place in the global top 50. According to market intelligence firm Visual Capitalist, the London-based quality-of-life research organization Happy City Hub released its Happy City Index 2026. The ranking evaluated cities with populations above 100,000 across 64 indicators, including quality of life, economy, governance and mobility. Copenhagen to

2026-06-26 08:00:00:00

[Graphic News] Korea’s alcohol consumption sees record decline

South Koreans’ spending on alcoholic beverages posted its steepest decline on record in the first quarter, extending a prolonged downturn in alcohol consumption. Average monthly household spending on alcoholic beverages, adjusted for inflation, fell 9 percent on-year to 13,000 won ($8.60) in the January-March period, according to data from the Korean Statistical Information Service. The decline was the largest since comparable quarterly data became available in 2019. Real spending on alcohol has

2026-06-25 08:00:00:00

[Graphic News] Hong Kong tops offshore wealth rankings

Hong Kong has overtaken Switzerland to become the world’s largest offshore wealth hub, according to Boston Consulting Group. The city’s cross-border wealth reached $2.9 trillion last year, up 10.7 percent from a year earlier, narrowly surpassing Switzerland, the offshore wealth of which grew 7.6 percent. The growth was driven largely by capital inflows from mainland China, which accounted for about 60 percent of Hong Kong’s offshore assets. BCG expects the gap between Hong Kong and Switzerland t

2026-06-24 08:00:04:00