The number of elementary, middle and high school teachers who have taken their own lives over the past decade amounts to 144, a ruling party lawmaker said, citing data from the Ministry of Education. 　The suicides occurred between 2014 and August this year, Rep. Lee Tae-kyu of the People Power Party said, noting the annual number spiked from six in 2014 to 20 in 2018 and 25 in 2021. 　The number dropped to 20 last year but as many as 14 teachers died by suicide in the first eight months of t

Social Affairs Nov. 9, 2023

In the US, Democratic President Joe Biden is behind Republican frontrunner Donald Trump in five of the six most important battleground states exactly a year before the presidential election as Americans express doubts about Biden’s age, dissatisfaction toward his handling of the economy and other issues, polls showed. The polls were conducted by The New York Times and Siena College. Trump, first in the field for his party’s 2024 nomination as he seeks to regain the presidency, leads

World News Nov. 8, 2023

The number of individuals of foreign nationality convicted of drug crimes in South Korea nearly tripled in the past four years, data showed. From 2018 to 2022, the number of foreign nationals convicted of drug-related offenses here reached 6,423 after registering a steady rise each year, according to National Police Agency data released by Rep. Lee Sang-min of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea. Since reaching 596 in 2018, the figure rose to 1,072 in 2019, 1,428 in 2020 and 1,606 in 2

Social Affairs Nov. 7, 2023

The number of delivery workers has fallen this year, following sharp growth in recent years amid the COVID-19 pandemic, while the number of cooks rose to an all-time high with people returning to pre-pandemic normalcy, data showed. The number of delivery workers fell by 24,000 during the January-June period to 426,000, marking the first on-year fall since 2019, according to Statistics Korea. The couriers and messengers industry had a total of 343,000 jobs in 2019, and the figure jumped to 371,00

Social Affairs Nov. 6, 2023

　Just over half of US teens said in a Gallup Poll that they spend at least 4 hours a day on social media sites such as TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and X, formerly known as Twitter. 　Gallup found 51 percent of teens averaged 4.8 hours a day. 　Across age groups, the average time spent on social media ranges from as low as 4.1 hours per day for 13-year-olds to as high as 5.8 hours per day for 17-year-olds. 　The data is from Gallup’s Familial and Adolescent Health Survey conducted

World News Nov. 3, 2023

A total of 4,481 people have fallen victim to home rental scams this year, with their combined financial damage reaching 510.5 billion won ($377.3 million), police data showed. Police apprehended 2,582 suspects of so-called “jeonse” scams but were only able to retrieve 22.6 percent, or 115.3 billion won, of the damage incurred before the suspects were convicted, according to the data submitted to Rep. Jeon Bong-min of the ruling People Power Party. Under South Korea’s decades-o

Social Affairs Nov. 2, 2023

The latest Israel-Hamas war has quickly become the deadliest and most destructive of the five wars fought between the sides since Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip in 2007 from the Palestinian Authority. Fighting erupted Oct. 7 when Hamas carried out a bloody attack in southern Israel. Since then, Israel has relentlessly pounded the Gaza Strip with airstrikes that have wrought unprecedented destruction, flattening entire neighborhoods. Here’s a look in numbers at the toll of the Israe

World News Nov. 1, 2023

The number of malaria cases has been rising sharply in South Korea this year, reaching the highest level in 12 years, health authorities said. A total of 719 cases of the mosquito-borne disease were confirmed from January to the second week of October, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency. It is the first time that the annual malaria cases have topped the 700 level in a single year since 2011, when the country reported 826 patients. Out of the total cases for this year, 6

Social Affairs Oct. 31, 2023

North Korea’s imports of luxury goods from China reached $28.5 million last year, despite pandemic border control and international sanctions, data from China’s customs office showed. Except for a temporary dip during the pandemic in 2021, the aggregate value of luxury goods imported from China to North Korea showed an upward trend, having risen from $22.8 million in 2020 to $40.6 million as of July 2023, according to the data from the General Administration of Customs of the People&

North Korea Oct. 31, 2023

　The World Health Organization has repeated its warnings of the dire situation in the Gaza Strip, pointing to a particularly precarious water shortage, as the densely populated Palestinian territory has been under siege. 　The WHO estimates that there are only 3 liters of water per person per day left, whereas the minimum requirement per person is 15 liters, for drinking, cooking and personal hygiene. 　Hardly anyone has taken a proper shower or bath there in recent weeks, he said. With about 1

World News Oct. 27, 2023

People aged 65 and older took up 18.4 percent of South Korea’s population this year, reflecting the rapidly aging demographic of Asia’s No. 4 economy, data showed. The number of older adults stood at 9.5 million out of the country’s 51.5 million population this year, according to the data from Statistics Korea. South Korea is set to become a “superaged society” in 2025, in which the age group takes up 20 percent of the population. The number is expected to continue

Social Affairs Oct. 26, 2023

Cancer and heart diseases were among the major causes of death for South Koreans in 2022, data showed, with the total number of deaths hitting a new record. Last year, the total number of deaths reported in the country came to 372,939, up 17.4 percent from a year earlier, according to Statistics Korea. It was the highest figure since the agency began compiling such data in 1983. The agency said 727.6 deaths were reported per 100,000 South Koreans last year. Cancer was the major cause of death, t

Social Affairs Oct. 25, 2023

More than 2,200 South Koreans died in the first eight months of this year without having a chance to reunite with their family members in North Korea after being separated by the 1950-53 Korean War, government data showed. A total of 2,226 people passed away in the January-August period among around 133,700 applicants who had registered with the government for family reunion events, according to the data from the Unification Ministry. The number of surviving people came to 40,408 as of end-Augus

North Korea Oct. 24, 2023

Daily card spending in South Korea rose 8.4 percent in the first half from a year earlier on the back of the post-pandemic economic recovery, central bank data showed. Card holders spent an average 3.3 trillion won ($2.47 billion) per day in the January-June period, compared with 3 trillion won the previous year, according to data from the Bank of Korea. Credit card spending rose 8.8 percent on-year to a daily average of 2.56 trillion won, led by use on e-commerce platforms. Credit card use for

Consumer Oct. 23, 2023

South Korea’s exports of the dried seaweed gim grew 16 percent on-year during the first eight months of 2023 on solid overseas demand in line with the popularity of Korean food and culture, the Oceans Ministry said. Outbound shipments of gim came to $540.68 million in the January-August period, up from $466.1 million from a year earlier, according to data from the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries. In terms of volume, the country sold 24,862 tons of gim products during the cited period, up

Market Oct. 20, 2023