Articles by Nam Kyung-don
Nam Kyung-don
don@heraldcorp.com-
[Graphic News] 53.7% oppose Yoon's plan to relocate presidential office
More than half of South Koreans are against President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol’s plan to move the presidential office out of Cheong Wa Dae, while some 44 percent support the idea, a poll showed Wednesday. According to the poll of 500 adults, conducted by pollster Realmeter on Tuesday, 53.7 percent said the presidential office should remain at Cheong Wa Dae, and 44.6 percent said they back the relocation plan. On Sunday, Yoon announced his decision to move the presidential offi
National March 25, 2022
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[Graphic News] Grain import prices soar 47% over 2 years
South Korea’s import prices of grain has jumped nearly 50 percent over the past two years to a near nine-year high amid the prolonged coronavirus pandemic, data showed. Prices of imported grains came to $386 per ton in February, up 26 percent from a year earlier and 47.4 percent from two years earlier, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service and industry sources. The February per-ton import price represented the highest level since it reached $388 in May 2013. Last mon
Business March 24, 2022
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[Graphic News] 7 in 10 S. Koreans suffered income reduction amid pandemic: survey
Nearly 7 in 10 South Koreans saw their income fall in the wake of COVID-19, a survey showed. In an online survey of 2,016 people aged 18 or above by the Korea Institute of Public Administration from Nov. 15-22, 68 percent said their average monthly income was lower in 2021 than in 2019 before the pandemic struck. Only 30 percent said their income rose, while the remaining 2 percent said it remains unchanged. Those who earned less lost 1.25 million won ($1,038) per month
Business March 23, 2022
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[Graphic News] 6 in 10 firms pick job creation as top policy priority for new government: poll
Six out of 10 South Korean companies want the incoming government of President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol to focus on creating jobs to support the economic recovery, a survey showed. Of 157 local companies, 95, or 60.5 percent, picked job creation as the top policy priority for the new government, according to the Mono Research poll commissioned by the Federation of Korean Industries, the country's top business lobby. The Feb. 18-March 1 survey also showed resolving social conflicts ranked second
National March 22, 2022
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[Graphic News] California home to 6 of top 10 ‘happiest cities’ in US: survey
Fremont, California, is the happiest city in the United States, according to a new survey from WalletHub based on some 30 key indicators for happiness, ranging from depression rates to income growth and average use of leisure time each day. WalletHub said the coronavirus pandemic has left one-third of US residents so stressed that it‘s difficult to make basic decisions. WalletHub said it depended on positive-psychology research to determine the happiest among 182 of the largest US ci
World March 18, 2022
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[Graphic News] Number of S. Korean survivors of wartime forced labor in Japan down 585 over past year
The number of registered surviving South Korean victims of wartime forced labor in Japan decreased by 585 in the past year, data showed. A civic group unveiled government statistics on medical assistance provided to people who were conscripted to work in Japan during World War II. The data showed the number of recipients stood at 1,815 in January, down from last year’s 2,400. Of them, 116 are women. The number has steadily dropped - 8,075 in 2016, 6,570 in 2017, 5,245 i
National March 17, 2022
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[Graphic News] S. Korea maintains 5th spot in global vehicle output: report
South Korea ranked fifth in terms of global vehicle production last year, retaining the spot for the second consecutive year, amid efforts to minimize the fallout from the pandemic-caused global chip shortage, a report showed. The combined vehicle output by South Korean carmakers, including Hyundai Motor and Kia, reached 3.46 million units as of end-2021, down 1.3 percent from the previous year, according to the report from the Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association. China
World Business March 16, 2022
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[Graphic News] Monthly salary of wage workers up 3.6%
The average monthly salary of wage earners rose 3.6 percent on-year in 2020 from a year earlier despite the COVID-19 pandemic, a government report showed. South Korean wage workers earned a monthly average of 3.2 million won ($2,669) in December 2020, up from 3.09 million won a year earlier, according to the report from Statistics Korea. The figure for workers with large companies stood at 5.29 million won, with those in smaller firms earning 2.59 million won. The monthly pay for m
Business March 15, 2022
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[Graphic News] Korea’s total fertility rate hits record low last year
South Korea’s total fertility rate hit a record low last year as the number of childbirths continued to fall, data showed, underlining the country’s bleak demographic situation. The country’s total fertility rate - the average number of children a woman bears in her lifetime - came to 0.81 last year, down from 0.84 the previous year, according to Statistics Korea. It marked the lowest since 1970 when the statistics agency began compiling related data. Last year marked the
National March 14, 2022
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[Graphic News] Final voter turnout at 77.1%
Final voter turnout for the 20th presidential election is estimated to be at 77.1 percent. Of the nearly 44.2 million eligible voters, more than 34 million had cast their ballots. The figure is 0.1 percentage point lower than the previous election in 2017, which had the highest turnout since 1997, being held after former President Park Geun-hye’s impeachment. By region, Gwangju had the highest turnout, with 81.5 percent, while Jeju had the lowest at 72.6 percent. Seoul’s turn
National March 11, 2022
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[Graphic News] What voters look for in a presidential candidate
More than 1 in 3 people in South Korea said competence and personality are what they look for in a presidential candidate, according to a survey from local pollster Realmeter, which asked people about the qualities they look for in a presidential candidate. The survey, which was conducted on Friday and Saturday last week, also showed that around 25.1 percent of people vote based on the candidate’s policy position and election pledges. Those people who answered that they look fo
National March 10, 2022
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[Graphic News] Political donations to lawmakers down 24% in 2021: data
Political donations to lawmakers last year declined 24.3 percent from a year earlier, data from the state’s election watchdog showed. Financial contributions to lawmakers reached 40.7 billion won ($33.8 million) last year, down from 53.8 billion won in 2020, when the April 15 parliamentary elections were held, according to the National Election Commission. Lawmakers on average received 135.2 million won in donations last year, down from 179.4 million won in 2020. By par
Politics March 9, 2022
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[Graphic News] Instant noodles rank 1st in food output in 2020
Instant noodles captured the top spot in production among food products in South Korea in 2020 on a surge in exports amid the coronavirus pandemic, data showed. The output of instant noodles, or “ramyeon” in Korean, stood at 1.93 million metric tons in 2020, up a whopping 231 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety. Ramyeon’s ranking in terms of production was up 12 notches from the previous year. Carbonated drinks ra
Business March 8, 2022
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[Interactive] Apartment purchases by young people hit record high last year: data
The proportion of apartments bought by people in their 30s or younger reached an all-time high last year amid “panic buying” over soaring housing prices, data showed. The buyers in this age group accounted for 31 percent of the country’s total apartment sales in 2021, up from 29.2 percent in 2020, according to the data compiled by the Korea Real Estate Board. The agency began compiling the related data in 2019, and the figure for that year came to 28.3 percent. In Seo
Latest News March 4, 2022
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[Interactive] S. Korean performing arts scene sees revenue jump nearly 80% in 2021
The local performing arts scene saw its revenue soar nearly 80 percent in 2021 from a year earlier, thanks to eased social distancing rules and a rising vaccination rate, data showed. The combined revenue of 12,000 theatrical plays, musicals, classical concerts and other performances reached 307.1 billion won ($258.1 million) last year, according to the data by the Korea Performing Arts Box Office Information System. The 2021 amount marked a 78.4 percent on-year surge from 172.1 billion
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