Douglas fir These soft needles are dark green or blue-green in color and are about 2-3 centimeters in length. The Douglas fir’s needles radiate in all directions from the branch. When crushed, these needles have a sweet fragrance. They are one of the top Christmas tree choices. Balsam fir These trees exhibits a relatively dense, dark green, pyramidal crown with a slender spirelike tip. On lower branches, needles generally occur as two-ranked (two rows along sides of the branch), a

World News Dec. 22, 2023

　South Korea’s exports of dried seaweed - “gim” in Korean - and cooked rice reached an all-time high during the first 10 months of this year on brisk overseas demand accompanying the popularity of Korean culture and food, the Korea Customs Service said. 　Outbound shipments of gim came to a record high of $670 million in the January-October period, up 20.4 percent from a year earlier, according to the data by the customs agency. 　In terms of volume, gim exports rose 17.3 perc

Consumer Dec. 21, 2023

More than half of the new jobs in 2022 were taken by adults 60 or older, while younger people took up only about 1.15 percent of the year’s newly added posts, data showed. South Korea added 870,000 new jobs in 2022, marking a 3.4 percent on-year increase to bring the total jobs to 26.45 million, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. Of the total, jobs for those aged 60 and older rose the most by 440,000, followed by 260,000 new jobs for people in their 50s. The number of jobs

Social Affairs Dec. 20, 2023

　South Korean 15-year-olds were among the top performers in mathematics, reading and science among their peers from the member nations of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, a report showed. 　The findings were made in the latest report by the Programme for International Student Assessment, operated by the OECD. 　In the 2022 report, the PISA measured the abilities of 15-year-olds from a total of 81 countries — including 37 OECD member nations — to use their r

World News Dec. 19, 2023

Over 85,000 foreign nationals own a house in South Korea, with Chinese nationals accounting for more than half of real estate properties held by foreigners in the country, government data showed. A total of 85,358 foreign nationals owned a house in South Korea as of the end of June, up 4.6 percent from the corresponding figure from six months earlier, according to data compiled by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. Nearly 93.5 percent of the foreign nationals had ownership of a

Social Affairs Dec. 18, 2023

Singapore and Zurich surpassed New York to become the world’s most expensive cities to live in this year, according to a new global survey. The sky-high cost of car ownership, pricey alcohol and rising grocery prices saw Singapore pull ahead of the US city, with which it shared top spot last year, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit’s Worldwide Cost of Living 2023 report. Zurich jumped from sixth place last year to joint first, thanks in part to the strong Swiss franc, as we

World News Dec. 15, 2023

The number of marriages between South Koreans and foreign spouses rose by the greatest number last year as the stable COVID-19 situation promoted people’s cross-border movements, the statistics agency said. The number of “multicultural marriages” jumped 25.1 percent on-year to reach 17,428 in 2022, according to the data from Statistics Korea. It marked the sharpest growth since the statistics agency began compiling related data in 2008. The number of international marriages fel

Social Affairs Dec. 14, 2023

The proportion of women in executive positions at the top 100 companies in South Korea reached the 6 percent mark for the first time ever this year, data showed. According to data of top 100 companies in terms of sales compiled by global headhunter UnicoSearch, 439, or 6 percent, of the total of 7,345 executives were women as of the first half of this year. The executives included executive directors, members of the owner families and unregistered directors, but not outside directors. By compani

Social Affairs Dec. 13, 2023

　Americans are divided on US President Joe Biden’s response to the Israel-Gaza conflict, with more disapproving of the president’s response than approving of it. 　Most Americans agree Hamas has “a lot of responsibility,” for the current conflict, according to data from the Pew Research Center. 　Opinions on the Biden administration’s response to Israel's military campaign in Gaza are starkly different between age groups. 　Cumulatively, 41 percent of respondents

World News Dec. 12, 2023

The number of young South Koreans is forecast to halve in 30 years amid a rapid aging trend and a record low birthrate, the statistics agency said. The number of people aged 19-34 came to 10.21 million in 2020, and the figure is forecast to tumble to 5.21 million in 2050, according to the analysis by Statistics Korea. The proportion of the young population out of the country’s total came to 20.4 percent in 2020, but it is expected to fall to 11 percent in 2050, it added. The number of youn

Social Affairs Dec. 11, 2023

Amy Yang’s win at the CME Group Tour Championship in Naples, Florida, Nov. 19, gave a combined total of five victories won by South Koreans in the LPGA in 2023. However, for the second time in three seasons, South Koreans have failed to produce a major champion in women’s golf, as the post-COVID downward trend continued. As recently as 2019, South Korea had eight players combine for 15 wins. Even during the pandemic-interrupted 2020 season, cut short to just 18 tournaments, South Kor

Golf Dec. 8, 2023

One out of every 6 South Korean married women suffers from career interruption due mainly to child-rearing, marriage and pregnancy, data showed. The number of married women aged 15-54 who stopped working came to 1.35 million as of April, accounting for around 17 percent of the total 7.94 million married women in the age group, according to data from Statistics Korea. This year’s number of career-interrupted women fell 3.45 percent on-year, or 48,000, because the total female population of

Social Affairs Dec. 7, 2023

Top companies in South Korea boosted their donations in the first nine months of the year despite overall weaker earnings, a corporate tracker said. CEO Score, which tracks corporate management activities, said 264 out of the country’s top 500 firms by sales donated a combined 1.42 trillion won ($1.09 billion) to charities during the January-September period, up 25.1 percent from a year ago. CEO Score said the increase came despite the overall lackluster corporate performances during the p

Companies Dec. 6, 2023

Israel’s war with Hamas resumed after a weeklong truce to allow hostages to be released broke down on Friday. In Israel, sirens warned of incoming rockets at several communal farms near Gaza, a sign that militants had also restarted attacks. The renewed hostilities heightened concerns for Palestinians - many of whom have been displaced by the war - as well as about 140 hostages who remain in Gaza, after more than 100 were freed during the truce. By Wednesday, Hamas had released 97 hostages

World News Dec. 5, 2023

Global wine production has fallen this year to its lowest level since 1961 as vineyards were pummeled by extreme weather events, the International Organization of Vine and Wine said. Output reached 244.1 million hectoliters, down 7 percent from last year, the intergovernmental body said as it presented its first estimates. A number of major producers in the southern hemisphere had significant drops in production. Australia, Argentina, Chile, South Africa and Brazil all saw output drop between 10

World News Dec. 1, 2023