A quarter of young South Korean students were obese or overweght, the Ministry of Education said.　According to data compiled from a survey of 108,000 elementary, middle and high school students conducted nationwide last year, 10.6 percent of them were overweight and the remaining 14.4 percent were obese. Those with a body mass index of over 23 were counted as overweight and those with BMIs of 25 or more were considered obese.　The percentage of overweight and obese students has continued to rise

Social Affairs March 19, 2019

　The number of gas stations in South Korea dropped for the fourth straight year in 2018, amid worsening profitability facing the industry, data have showed.　As of end-December, 11,769 gasoline stations were operating across the country, down 196 from a year earlier, according to data from the Korea Petroleum Quality & Distribution Authority.　It marked the fourth consecutive year of annual decline. An annual average of 149 gas stations have been shuttered over the past four years.

Social Affairs March 18, 2019

　South Korea’s total spending on private tuition for children came to about 19.5 trillion won ($17.2 billion) in 2018, up 4.4 percent from a year earlier, government data showed.　The data compiled by Statistics Korea showed that 72.8 percent of 5.58 million students across the country received private tutoring and other extracurricular activities in 2018.

Social Affairs March 17, 2019

　Jeff Bezos remains the world’s richest person, ahead of Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, according to the latest Forbes list of the ultrarich, while far behind President Donald Trump jumped 51 spots in the ranking.　While things are largely stable up on top of the list, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg dropped three spots and former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg rose by two.　According to the list announced by Forbes, the riches of Bezos have swelled by $19 billion in one year and he is now wort

World Business March 14, 2019

　More than half of women murdered worldwide last year were killed by intimate partners or family members, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.　Data found that of 87,000 women intentionally killed worldwide in 2017, 58 percent -- 50,000 women -- were killed by intimate partners or family members. 　The numbers show a substantial increase from the UN’s 2012 Global Study on Homicide, which found 48,000 women were killed by their family members or intimate partners, accounting f

World News March 13, 2019

　A number of countries grounded Boeing’s 737 MAX 8 medium-haul workhorse jet on Monday in response to an Ethiopian Airlines crash that killed all 157 people on board.　The Nairobi-bound plane was the same type as the Indonesian Lion Air jet that crashed in October, killing 189 passengers and crew - with some detecting similarities between the two accidents.　There are some 350 of the 737 MAX 8 planes currently in service around the world and while some countries and airlines have opted to ground t

World News March 12, 2019

　Seven of the top 10 most polluted cities in the world are in India, according to a new study showing South Asia’s battle with deteriorating air quality and the economic toll it’s expected to take worldwide.　Gurugram, located southwest of India’s capital New Delhi, led all cities in pollution levels in 2018, even as its score improved from the previous year, according to data released by IQAir AirVisual and Greenpeace. Three other Indian cities joined Faisalabad, Pakistan, in the top five.　The i

World News March 11, 2019

　Foreigners visiting South Korea for medical treatment are largely satisfied with the services they receive, a poll showed.　Foreign patients gave an average rating of 90.5 out of 100 for the level of care they received in 2018, with numbers generally climbing over the years, according to the Ministry of Health and Welfare.　Patients from Russia gave the Korean health care industry the highest rating at 94.4, followed by those from the United States at 91.8 and those from China at 90.1, the latest

Technology March 10, 2019

　South Korea’s direct purchases from foreign countries rose 31 percent in 2018 from a year earlier on rising consumer demand for cheaper and higher quality products, customs data showed.　South Korean shoppers bought a total of $2.75 billion worth of foreign goods directly via overseas internet shopping malls in 2018, compared with $2.11 billion tallied a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the Korean Customs Service.　The number of overseas direct purchases jumped 37 percent on-year t

Business March 7, 2019

　Of the global surge in measles last year, just 10 countries accounted for three-quarters of all cases, the UN children’s agency said, including one of the world’s richest nations, France.　Ninety-eight countries reported more cases of measles in 2018 compared with 2017, and the world body warned that conflict, complacency and the growing anti-vaccine movement threatened to undo decades of work to tame the disease.　Measles is more contagious than tuberculosis or Ebola, yet it is eminently prevent

Technology March 6, 2019

　South Korea remained the top country where women face lower wages in the workforce, a report from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development showed.　Data from 2017 revealed that 35.3 percent of female workers in South Korea were being paid low wages. Employees who were getting less than two-thirds of the median income of workers in OECD countries were categorized as low-wage earners.　South Korea was at the top for 2017 data, which compared eight member nations who had relevant da

Social Affairs March 5, 2019

　More civilians were killed in the war in Afghanistan in 2018 than during any other year on record, after nearly two decades of fighting, according to a UN report recently released.　Civilian deaths jumped by 11 percent from 2017 with 3,804 people killed and another 7,189 wounded, according to the UN figures, as suicide attacks and bombings wreaked havoc across the war-torn country.

World News March 4, 2019

　Overseas card spending by South Koreans posted double-digit growth for the second straight year in 2018 due to a larger number of outbound travelers and a weaker US dollar, according to the Bank of Korea.　Koreans made $19.22 billion worth of card payments abroad last year, up 12.1 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from the central bank.　Overseas card spending includes purchases made with debit and direct payment cards, in addition to credit cards.

Business March 3, 2019

　Pollution levels in many Asian countries are so high that they threaten food security and human health. Bangladesh, Pakistan, Thailand and Indonesia were identified as some of the world’s most polluted countries in a recent global ranking. In contrast, Japan was the least polluted Asian country on the list.   　To assess the environmental health of the world’s countries, Yale University and Columbia University jointly developed the Environmental Performance Index in collaboration with the World

World Feb. 27, 2019

　Asian countries are spending more on their human capital, according to World Bank Human Capital Index. 　The Human Capital Index measures the amount of human capital that a child born today can expect to attain by age of 18, given the risks to poor health and poor education that prevail in the country where the child lives. The HCI index values aim to convey the productivity of the next generation and highlights how ready Asian youth are to face a future of immense opportunities.　Singapore takes

World News Feb. 26, 2019