On the occasion of the Lunar New Year holiday, or Seollal in Korean, many people travel across the nation to reunite with family in their hometowns or pay respects to their ancestors. According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, an average of 5.3 million people nationwide are expected to travel per day during the upcoming holiday. Between Friday and Tuesday, the ministry will implement special measures to ensure safe and convenient holiday travel, such as expressway toll exem

Social Affairs Jan. 20, 2023

South Korea’s imports of coffee soared nearly 45.1 percent in the first 11 months of 2022 from a year earlier. The value of the country’s coffee imports came to $1.19 billion in the January-November period, up 45.1 percent from the previous year, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service. It marks the first time that South Korea’s yearly coffee imports have exceeded $1 billion. Last year’s amount was up 16.7-fold from 20 years earlier. With coffee consumption s

Industry Jan. 19, 2023

Last year was the 9th warmest year on record in South Korea, data showed. The Korea Meteorological Administration said the average temperature throughout 2022 was 12.9 degrees Celsius, 0.4 C higher than the average of 12.5 C during the baseline period from 1991 to 2020. It was also the ninth-highest temperature since the country began nationwide weather monitoring in 1973. Adding to evidence that the planet is heating up, all but two of the country’s 10 warmest years have occurred this cen

Social Affairs Jan. 18, 2023

Canada’s Western Hudson Bay polar bear population has fallen 27 percent in just five years, according to a government report, suggesting climate change is impacting the animals. Every fall, bears living along the western edge of Hudson Bay pass through the sub-Arctic tourist town of Churchill, Manitoba, as they return to the sea ice. This has made the population not only the best studied group in the world, but also the most famous, with the local bear-viewing economy valued at $5.3 millio

World News Jan. 17, 2023

South Korea’s exports of cultural content hit an all-time high of $12.4 billion in 2021, boosted by the global boom of Korean pop culture, a government report showed. According to a 2021 research study on the cultural content industry released by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the industry’s exports increased 4.4 percent to $12.45 billion in 2021 from $11.92 billion in 2020. The content industry is an umbrella term for organizations that produce copyrighted works availa

Performance Jan. 16, 2023

The traditional Korean mask dance, or “talchum” in Korean, was inscribed onto a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage list on Nov. 30. UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage decided to put “Talchum, Mask Dance Drama in the Republic of Korea” on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity during its 17th session in Rabat, Morocco. Talchum is a performing art that encompasses dance, music

Culture Jan. 13, 2023

Seoul has more than 310 English-language kindergartens known for their high cost, about twice as much as annual college tuition, a civic group said. The number of English-language kindergartens in the capital totaled 311 as of the end of last year, an increase of 17 from the previous year, according to the group named World Without Private Education Worries. Two southern Seoul wards of Gangnam and Seocho accounted for 86 of the total, with 54 located in adjacent Gangdong and Songpa wards. The av

Social Affairs Jan. 12, 2023

Iran’s protest crackdown has helped push the number of journalists imprisoned worldwide to a record high of 533 in 2022, according to a report by Reporters Without Borders. The figure is up from 488 in 2021, already a record, according to the France-based NGO. More than half are detained in just five countries: China, which remains “the world’s biggest jailer of journalists” with 110, followed by Myanmar (62), Iran (47), Vietnam (39) and Belarus (31). Iran is the only cou

World News Jan. 11, 2023

The South Korean art market surpassed 1 trillion won ($782 million) in total sales for the first time in 2022 on strong sales of artworks through galleries and art fairs, the Culture Ministry said. The trade volume of artworks increased 37.2 percent from 756.3 billion won in 2021 to 1.037 trillion won in 2022 despite the global economic woes caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said. By sector, art fairs experienced the largest growth of 59.8 percent from

Culture Jan. 10, 2023

More than 70 percent of South Koreans use online streaming services last year amid the protracted pandemic, a government survey showed. According to the annual poll conducted by the Korea Communications Commission, 72 percent of 6,708 respondents said they are using at least one over-the-top media service in 2022, up slightly from 69.5 percent last year. Among them, 95.7 percent said they use the service once or more per week, while 60.7 percent said they watch content five days a week on the pl

Social Affairs Jan. 9, 2023

South Korea’s imports of party supplies, such as decorations and balloons, hit a record-high through November this year, customs data showed, as the country has lifted social-distancing rules. The combined imports of party supplies over the January-November period came to $64 million, up 31.7 percent from a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the Korea Customs Service. The amount far exceeds $56 million tallied for all of 2021. The growth came as people hosted various parties,

Consumer Jan. 6, 2023

Nearly eight out of 10 South Koreans believe social media leads to more political division, with nearly as many people saying social media makes it easier for people to manipulate others, a survey showed. However, more than 60 percent of those surveyed said social media is still a good thing for the country’s democracy, according to the survey conducted by Pew Research Center, a nonpartisan think tank based in Washington. In South Korea, 77 percent of those surveyed said social media leads

World News Jan. 5, 2023

Over 3,300 people died “lonely deaths” in South Korea last year, a report has found. Lonely death refers to a phenomenon of people with no relatives dying alone and remaining undiscovered for a long period of time. It’s also called solitary or unattended death. According to the report released by the Welfare Ministry, there were 3,378 lonely deaths nationwide in 2021, up from 3,279 in 2020, 2,949 in 2019. The number of lonely deaths has grown at an average annual rate of 8.8 pe

Social Affairs Jan. 4, 2023

Four out of every 10 South Koreans think their country’s influence in the world stage grew stronger in recent years, a survey showed. In an annual survey conducted by the Pew Research Center, a nonpartisan think tank based in Washington, 40 percent of those surveyed answered South Korea’s global influence was getting stronger. The reading marks the third highest among 19 countries surveyed after Israel and Singapore. The research said people satisfied with the current state of their

World News Jan. 3, 2023

The life expectancy of South Korean babies born last year reached 83.6 years, data showed, hovering above the average of major advanced countries. The average life expectancy at birth in 2021 marked a slight rise from the 83.5 years tallied a year earlier, according to the data from Statistics Korea. Compared with 1970 and 2000, the average life expectancy became 21.3 years and 7.6 years longer, respectively. Boys and girls born in 2021 are expected to live 80.6 years and 86.6 years, respectivel

Social Affairs Dec. 28, 2022