About 60 percent of South Koreans in their 20s and 30s said unification with North Korea is not necessary, a survey showed, amid the ongoing impasse in inter-Korean relations and denuclearization talks. The survey, commissioned by a civic media group called Barun Media Citizen Action, found that 61 percent of people in their 20s and 30s say Korean reunification is “not absolutely necessary.” In comparison, 24 percent of them say unification with North Korea is “absolutely neces

North Korea May 2, 2023

The price for a bowl of jajangmyeon, or noodles in black bean sauce, has soared more than 60 times to 6,361 won ($5) over the past five decades, according to market tracker Korea Price Information. A bowl of jajangmyeon was 100 won in 1970 when the KPI began its first survey, but it had risen to around 2,500 won in 2000. Over the last five years alone, the price has jumped 26.9 percent largely due to growing ingredient prices. The prices of flour, cooking oil, onions and cucumbers used in jajang

Consumer May 1, 2023

Nearly half of single-member households are considered poor, and it is nearly 3 in 4 for senior citizens living alone, a report showed. The relative poverty rate of one-person households came to 47.2 percent in 2020, compared to 15.3 percent for all households, according to the report from the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs. The rate refers to the percentage of people with income below 50 percent of the median income. The figure for single-person households, however, has been decl

Social Affairs April 27, 2023

Shipments of Apple Macs plunged during the first quarter of this year as the global personal computer market suffered due to tough economic conditions, a market research report said. Weak demand, excess inventory and a worsening macroeconomic climate contributed to a “precipitous drop in shipments of traditional PCs” in the first three months of this year, according to the report from IDC. PC shipments globally tallied 56.9 million, some 29 percent less than the same period a year ea

World Business April 26, 2023

India is poised to overtake China as the world’s most populous nation, with almost 3 million more people than its neighbor by the middle of this year, data released by the United Nations showed. India’s population by mid-year is estimated at 1.4286 billion, against 1.4257 billion for China - 2.9 million fewer - in the United Nations Population Fund’s “State of World Population Report” for this year. The United States is a distant third, with an estimated population

World News April 25, 2023

Eight of the top 10 bestselling albums worldwide last year were K-pop albums, a global album sales chart showed. According to the Global Album Sales Chart 2022 released by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, an organization that represents the interests of the recording industry worldwide, albums by K-pop acts swept eight of the top 10 positions on the chart. The IFPI Global Album Sales Chart ranks the biggest albums of the year based on the number of units sold across all

K-pop April 21, 2023

Ukraine’s gross domestic product fell by 29.1 percent in 2022 as Russia’s full-scale invasion battered the economy, the state statistics service said. The final 2022 GDP figure was slightly better than the 30 percent drop previously forecast by the government. Russia’s economy contracted by 2.1 percent last year, shrinking less than expected despite sanctions imposed by European nations and the United States. Moscow’s February 2022 invasion has killed tens of thousands, u

World Business April 20, 2023

A total of 401 human rights activists were killed in 2022, and about half of the killings took place in Colombia, according to the Guardian. The UK daily quoted Front Line Defenders, a human rights group, and said Colombia’s 186 killings were followed by Ukraine (50), Mexico (45), Brazil (26) and Honduras (17) in that order. The figure of 401 deaths across 26 countries in 2022 was a jump from 358 deaths in 30 countries the previous year. Colombia saw more than three times the number of suc

World News April 19, 2023

The number of large and small forest fires in Korea has increased every year over the past decade. On April 11, A massive wildfire hit the northeastern coastal city of Gangneung, Gangwon Province, destroying about 70 homes and buildings, and burning woodland the size of 530 soccer fields. President Yoon Suk Yeol designated Gangneung a special disaster zone on April 12 after the eastern coastal city was ravaged. According to the Korea Forest Service, 441 forest fires have occurred nationwide this

Social Affairs April 18, 2023

Sales of smartphones in South Korea fell 6 percent last year from a year earlier, industry data showed. Samsung Electronics, the world’s leading smartphone maker, saw its smartphone sales decline 2 percent on-year in its home country in 2022, while sales of Apple’s iPhone inched down 0.4 percent from a year ago, market analyst firm Counterpoint Research said. Sales of others tumbled 71 percent on-year last year due to a base effect stemming from LG Electronics’ exit from the mo

Consumer April 17, 2023

　Investors are buying more gold as prices rise to an all-time high. 　According to the banking industry, gold bars sold at KB Kookmin, Hana, Woori and NH Nonghyup from April 3-6 stood at 2.49 billion won ($1.89 million). 　Gold bar sales at the four major banks increased from 1.98 billion won in January to 3.29 billion won in February and 3.95 billion won in March. 　Gold prices have risen as investors kept an eye on safe assets due to instability in global financial markets.

Market April 14, 2023

　The rates of murder and attempted murder in Russia increased last year for the first time in 20 years in what some analysts suggest is a knock-on effect of the country’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine, according to the Russian daily newspaper Kommersant. 　The number of murders and attempted murder cases in Russia in 2022 was 7,628, up 4 percent from 7,332 in the previous year. 　The data showed a significant rise in murder rates in the Russian regions that border Ukraine. 　The number of c

World News April 13, 2023

Despite recent advancements in autonomous vehicle technology, Americans are growing increasingly wary of the safety of self-driving cars. AAA released the results of its annual automated vehicle survey, finding that nearly 70 percent of respondents were afraid of self-driving cars, while less than 10 percent fully trusted them. These numbers represent a significant shift from last year’s survey results, with the number of respondents fearful of self-driving cars spiking by 13 percentage po

World News April 12, 2023

The prosecution of former President Donald Trump has evenly divided Americans but appears to have boosted his chances of winning the Republican nomination for the 2024 election, according to a recent Reuters/Ipsos poll. The poll was conducted between April 5-6, following the indictment of Trump by prosecutors in New York City on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. The survey found that 49 percent of all Americans think it was right for prosecutors to pursue the indictment, the first

World News April 11, 2023

Lahore in Pakistan jumped more than 10 places to become the city with the worst air quality in the world in 2022, according to an annual global survey by a Swiss air purifier manufacturer. The report published by IQAir also said that Chad in central Africa had replaced Bangladesh as the country with the most polluted air last year. IQAir measures air quality levels based on the concentration of lung-damaging airborne particles known as PM2.5. Its annual survey is widely cited by researchers and

World News April 10, 2023