North Korea’s dependency on China for foreign trade hit its highest level in 2022 since leader Kim Jong-un took the helm of the reclusive country 10 years earlier, a report showed. Pyongyang’s trade with Beijing came to $1.53 billion last year, up about 125 percent from the previous year, according to the report from the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency. The amount took up 96.7 percent of North Korea’s overall trade, up from 95.6 percent a year earlier. Exports stood at

North Korea Aug. 17, 2023

The number of apparent heat-related deaths hit the highest this summer since 2018, the disease control agency said. According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, a total of 28 people were presumed to have died of heat-related illness as of Aug. 11 since late May. The tally marks the largest since 2018, when the comparable figure was 48. The number of people hospitalized for heat-related illnesses, including those who have died, came to 2,123 during same period, also the largest s

Social Affairs Aug. 16, 2023

About 7 in 10 US adults say they believe in angels, according to a new poll by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. “People are yearning for something greater than themselves — beyond their own understanding,” said Jack Grogger, chaplain for the Los Angeles Angels and a longtime Southern California fire captain who has aided many people in their gravest moments. People turn to angels for comfort, he said. They are familiar, regularly showing up in pop c

World News Aug. 15, 2023

Around 60 percent of South Korean seniors were economically active as of May, data showed, reflecting the state of the country’s rapidly aging population. The poll by Statistics Korea showed that 60.2 percent of the country's 15.48 million people aged 55 to 79 were economically active, up 0.8 percentage point from the previous year. The data encompasses both individuals currently employed and those actively in search of job opportunities. The number of employed people in the age group

Social Affairs Aug. 10, 2023

Global smartphone shipments fell 11 percent on-year in the second quarter, a report showed, as the market continued to face headwinds of slower consumer demand amid macroeconomic uncertainties. Market research firm Canalys said the continued market slump impacted market leaders, like Samsung Electronics and Apple, which had to reduce their sell-in, or shipments to retailers. Samsung led the market with a 21 percent market share, followed by Apple at 17 percent, Xiaomi at 13 percent and Oppo at 1

World Business Aug. 8, 2023

In pursuit of their third-straight gold medal, South Korea will face Bahrain, Thailand and Kuwait in the group stage of the Asian Games men’s soccer tournament this fall. The draw for the competition took place in the Asian Games host city of Hangzhou, China, Feb. 27. South Korea ended up in Group E with the three other countries. The participating 23 nations will be divided into six groups. Groups A, B, C, E and F will have four teams each, while Group D will have three teams. The top two

Soccer Aug. 4, 2023

A new poll conducted amid rising tensions between mainland China and Taiwan, as well as with the United States, has found that most Asian Americans view China unfavorably. The poll, conducted by the Pew Research Center, surveyed 7,006 Asian adults living in the US from July 2022 to January 2023. The poll found that 78 percent of Asian adults in the US view the nation unfavorably but just 20 percent view China favorably. Only 11 percent viewed the US unfavorably while the majority, 52 percent, vi

World News Aug. 3, 2023

Nearly 15 percent of employees in the South Korean construction industry were foreign nationals in the first quarter of this year, amid a shortage of local workers at construction sites, a report showed. A total of 110,000 workers of foreign nationality were working at construction sites here as of the end of March, accounting for 14.8 percent of the total 741,000 construction workers, according to a quarterly report by the Construction Workers Mutual Aid Association. The number of foreign const

Social Affairs Aug. 2, 2023

Overseas orders for industrial plants won by South Korean builders spiked more than 40 percent on-year in the first half of 2023, on brisk demand from the Middle East and Africa, data showed. Local builders clinched $13.05 billion worth of plant orders from abroad in the January-June period, up 40.2 percent from a year earlier, according to the Commerce Ministry data. The first-half jump came as orders from Middle Eastern and African countries shot up from a year earlier. Plant orders from the M

Industry Aug. 1, 2023

Major League Baseball will open its 2024 season in South Korea with two games between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Diego Padres. MLB and the MLB Players Association announced their plans for four international series outside the United States and Canada in 2024, with regular season stops in Mexico City and London, as well as spring training action in the Dominican Republic. Dubbed the “Seoul Series” as part of the MLB World Tour, the games in South Korea between the two Nation

Baseball July 28, 2023

South Korea reported a net inflow of migrants in 2022, data showed, following the normalization of global travel amid eased concerns over the COVID-19. The number of international migrants, referring to those who stay in and out of South Korea for 90 days or more, reached 1.12 million in 2022, up 26.8 percent from a year earlier, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. Of the figure, the arrivals accounted for 606,000, surpassing the number of individuals who departed the country, wh

Social Affairs July 25, 2023

South Korea’s barley output fell 1.1 percent in 2023 from a year earlier, data showed, due to the adverse effects of heavy rainfall over recent months. The production of barley in the country came to 97,794 metric tons this year, down 1,042 tons from 2022, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. The harvest season for barley spans from mid-June to early July. The decrease came as frequent heavy rains disrupted production, with the output per 1,000 square meters falling 7.4 perc

Social Affairs July 24, 2023

　South Korea has been ranked as 43rd most peaceful country in the world, while North Korea is positioned at the 149th spot out of the 163 surveyed countries. 　According to the 2023 Global Peace Index conducted by the Institute for Economics and Peace, the top 10 most peaceful countries are predominantly in Europe and Asia. Iceland claimed the top spot, maintaining its position since 2008, followed by Denmark, Ireland and New Zealand. 　On the other hand, Afghanistan ranked the least peaceful c

World News July 21, 2023

South Korean travelers using Korean air carriers reached nearly 84 percent of pre-pandemic levels in the first half of this year, government data showed. From January to June, the number of passengers on domestic and international routes amounted to 53.4 million, or 83.9 percent of the tally reported during the same period in 2019, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said in a press release. The number of passengers on domestic routes in the first half of 2023 stood at 32.7 millio

Industry July 20, 2023

The proportion of 40-year-olds in the US who are not married is at an all-time high, according to a survey. As of 2021, 25 percent of those aged 40 had never been married. This figure was a significant increase from 20 percent in 2010. The percentage of Americans at age 40 who have never married has increased steadily since 1980. Only 6 percent of 40-year-old Americans were unmarried at that time. Pew Research Center said people born after the 1960s are increasingly delaying marriage, and the pe

World News July 19, 2023