ESPN’s FC 100 has ranked Son Heung-min among the world’s top soccer players, placing him 10th in the forwards category. The FC 100 list features the world’s top 100 soccer players, with selections divided into 10 goalkeepers, 30 defenders, 30 midfielders and 30 forwards. Son, ranked 10th among forwards, received praise from ESPN: “One of the most steadily successful players — and best finishers — in the Premier League kept right on going at age 31 this seaso

Soccer June 17, 2024

The city of Seoul has installed a total of 3,444 shade canopies at crosswalks across its 25 districts as of late April, according to data from the Seoul Metropolitan Government. The top three districts with the most shade canopies are Songpa-gu (268), Gangnam-gu (239) and Seocho-gu (232), which are collectively referred to as the Gangnam area. In contrast, the districts with the fewest shade canopies are Seodaemun-gu (78), Mapo-gu (71) and Jongno-gu (57), all north of the Han River. Seoul rout

Social Affairs June 14, 2024

Close to 30 percent of Americans said a college degree isn’t worth it, according to a survey from Pew Research Center that highlights the drag soaring costs have had on views about higher education in recent decades in the country. Almost half of US adults in the report think college is worth the cost — but only as long as they don’t need to take out a loan. Only 22 percent of respondents said a college degree is worth it even with student debt. Four in 10 Americans said havi

World News June 13, 2024

A recent report by the Seoul Digital Foundation, an organization affiliated with the Seoul city government, revealed that the number of registered pet dogs in Seoul has reached 612,000, accounting for 17.5 percent of the country’s total. This data, based on the March 2024 database of registered pets, indicated that approximately 1 in 10 households in the South Korean capital now own at least one dog, with a ratio of 14.9 dogs per 100 households. The report also provided a detailed breakd

Social Affairs June 12, 2024

South Korean workers’ average yearly salary has surpassed 90 percent of the OECD average, according to a recent report. The country’s salary has also consistently exceeded that of Japan for the past decade. The report from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development reveals that the average annual salary for South Korean workers in 2022 was $48,922, which is 91.6 percent of the OECD average. This marks significant growth since 1992, when the ratio was just 63.8 percen

Social Affairs June 11, 2024

The 2023 Seoul Survey revealed that the city’s Korean residents consider the Han River to be the capital’s most iconic landmark, while its foreign residents consider Gwanghwamun Square to be Seoul's most representative site. The survey polled 35,881 Korean national residents aged 15 and up about Seoul’s top landmarks. Results showed 48.3 percent selected the Han River, followed by Gwanghwamun Square, the palaces and N Seoul Tower. The survey asked 2,500 foreign residents

Social Affairs June 7, 2024

Billions of cicadas will appear this year in a rare occurrence that hasn’t been seen in the United States since Thomas Jefferson was president and won’t be seen again until 2245, entomologists say. According to scientists, 2024 will see a rare event called “double brood emergence,” in which two different broods of cicadas — one that appears every 13 years and another every 17 years — emerge simultaneously. The 13-year group, known as Brood XIX or the “

World News June 6, 2024

A recent report from Microsoft reveals that 3 out of 4 knowledge workers worldwide are using artificial intelligence in their jobs, marking 2024 as the year AI becomes integral to the workplace. The “2024 Work Trend Index,” a collaborative research effort by Microsoft and LinkedIn, examines how AI is transforming work, leadership, and hiring practices globally, based on a survey of 31,000 individuals across 31 countries. The study found that 75 percent of global workers (including

World News June 5, 2024

New York and London are ranked the top two global cities according to economic advisory firm Oxford Economics in its inaugural Global Cities Index. This index is described as a “comprehensive evaluation of the world’s 1,000 largest urban economies.” Tokyo, ranking fourth, is Asia's top urban economy, followed by Seoul at 41st and Singapore at 42nd. Korea’s second-largest city, Busan, came in at 252nd. The index was compiled using five broad categories — econo

World News June 4, 2024

The average height of South Korea's elementary school students (ages 7-11) has increased by 4.3 centimeters for boys and 2.8 centimeters for girls compared to ten years ago. According to a survey by the Korean Agency for Technology and Standards, the peak growth period for children was identified as 14-15 years old for boys and 13-14 years old for girls, showing that the growth rate for both boys and girls has advanced by about two years compared to ten years ago. Using a 3D scanner, the

Social Affairs June 3, 2024

Photo-sharing app Instagram overtook Naver, the nation’s leading internet portal, as the third most popular mobile app in South Korea in terms of usage time last month, industry data showed. South Koreans spent a combined 20.9 billion minutes on Instagram in April, according to data from mobile market research firm Wiseapp Retail Goods. It marked the first time Instagram outstripped Naver to become the third most used smartphone app here since Wiseapp began compiling such data in March 2

Social Affairs May 31, 2024

Illegal trafficking of plant and animal wildlife remains stubbornly prevalent, according to a UN report, and it is critical governments focus on more than just “iconic” species like elephants, where progress has been made. While seizures reported in 2020 and 2021 were around half that of previous reports, that could be attributed to pandemic-linked disruptions rather than a decline in actual trafficking, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime World Wildlife Crime Report said.

World News May 30, 2024

Cristiano Ronaldo has been named the highest-paid athlete over the past year, according to the Forbes article, “The World’s 10 Highest-Paid Athletes 2024.” The Portuguese soccer superstar earned $260 million between May 1, 2023 and May 1, 2024. Spanish golfer Jon Rahm, who made headlines with his move from the PGA Tour to the Saudi-backed LIV Golf in December 2023, ranked second with $218 million in earnings. In third place was Argentina’s Lionel Messi, an eight-time Ba

World News May 29, 2024

Last year, a total of 229 children found new homes through both domestic and international adoption, according to the Ministry of Health and Welfare. This figure marks a decline for the fourth consecutive year, with 150 children adopted domestically and 79 adopted internationally. The cumulative number of adopted children now stands at 249,959. In domestic adoption, 89 girls and 61 boys were adopted, though the proportion of girls saw a slight decrease of 4.9 percent compared to the previous y

Social Affairs May 28, 2024

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, whose death in a helicopter crash was announced Monday, is the latest major political leader to die in an aviation accident. Here are some of the most well-known incidents.

World News May 24, 2024