The annual cost of cybercrime has hit $600 billion worldwide, fueled by the growing sophistication of hackers and proliferation of criminal marketplaces and cryptocurrencies, researchers said Wednesday. A report by the security firm McAfee with the Center for Strategic and International Studies found theft of intellectual property represents about one-quarter of the cost of cybercrime in 2017,...

South Korea’s main international gateway, Incheon Airport, has the worst on-time performance among major airports, a report showed. According to the report by Flightstats, a global flight information service provider, the airport located west of Seoul ranked 44th in terms of departure performance at major hubs last month, with an average 50.04 percent on-time record. On-time departures are c...

China produced 808.4 million metric tons of Crude Steel, accounting for 50.3 percent of the world’s total production. China is home to the largest steel producing companies - mostly state-owned - such as Hebei Iron and Steel Group, Angang Steel Co., Baosteel, Wuhan Iron and Steel Corp., and Jiangsu Shagang Co. Last week, China warned that US President Donald Trump’s vow to impose high tariffs ...

South Korea ranked 51st in the 2017 Corruption Perceptions Index report issued by Transparency International, up only one notch from a year earlier, when the ranking nosedived due to the influence-peddling scandal involving ousted former President Park Geun-hye. New Zealand topped the 180-nation list and Somalia ranked rock bottom. The United States came in 16th place, Japan in 20th, China in ...

According to Statistics Korea, the number of newborns in South Korea dropped to a new record low last year. The number of babies born in 2017 reached 357,700, down 11.9 percent, or 48,500, from 2016. The figure marked the lowest number of newborns since the statistics agency started to compile such data in 1970. The total fertility rate, or the number of babies that a woman is projected to...

Switzerland and the US are the most secretive major financial centers in the world, according to a global ranking compiled by a group campaigning for more transparency. The Tax Justice Network’s study found Switzerland to be the “global capital of bank secrecy.” The US ranked second because its share of global offshore financial services has increased steadily. The study, which is published eve...

South Korea’s science and technology capabilities ranked seventh last year among the 34 member states of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, according to a state-run think tank. The Korea Institute of S&T Evaluation and Planning said the evaluation was based on five categories: research environment; support from both public and private sectors; the quality of work carrie...

International tourist arrivals grew by a remarkable 7 percent in 2017 to reach a total of 1,322 million, according to the latest UNWTO World Tourism Barometer. This strong momentum is expected to continue in 2018 at a rate of 4-5 percent. Based on data reported by destinations around the world, it is estimated that international tourist arrivals (overnight visitors) worldwide increased 7 perce...

Each year, some 2.6 million babies do not survive their first month. The UN children’s agency has singled out Pakistan as the riskiest country for newborns, saying that out of every 1,000 children born in Pakistan, 46 die at birth. The report is part of UNICEF’s new campaign, launched last week, to raise awareness to bring down neonatal mortality rates. UNICEF says that after Pakistan, the...

Two gold medals are at stake in men’s and women‘s hockey. Teams of 20 players line up with six players typically on the ice for each team at any one time. Two referees and two linesmen officiate. Players attempt to fire a hard rubber puck into a small goal while skating at high speeds swathed in extensive padding and helmets to protect them from injury.

Nordic combined brings together cross-country skiing, with its demand for strength and endurance, and ski jumping, which requires technical mastery and audacity. There are two individual events for men -- normal hill jumping with a 10-kilometer competition, and large hill jumping, also with a 10-kilometer race. The team events feature large hill jumping with a 4x5-kilometer relay.

Competitors launch themselves from a takeoff ramp in an effort to fly as far as they can before touching down in the landing zone. Five judges mark competitors for distance and style. The four events are: men's normal hill individual, women's normal hill individual, men's large hill individual and men's team.

Bobsleigh is an event in the Winter Olympic Games where a two-or four-person team drives a specially designed sled down an ice track, with the winning team completing the route with the fastest time. For bobsleigh, the track length is 1,200 to 1,500 meters long with an average slope of 8 to 15 percent while the curve radius is minimum 20m. The bobsleigh reaches an average maximum speed of 135 ...

Three gold medals are up for grabs in curling at the 2018 PyeongChang Games: men’s team, women’s team and mixed doubles. A curling team is composed of two or four athletes, and each team takes turns launching the nearly 20-kilogram curling stone. When the curling stone is thrown, athletes follow the movement of the stone and sweep the ice surface using brooms to control the direction and speed...

Competitors ride a small flat sled in single or two-person format and accelerate feet first and face-up down a sharp gradient on an ice track measuring 1,000 to 1,500 meters. Maximum average speeds reach 140 kilometers per hour - faster than bobsleigh and skeleton. Medals are awarded in men’s singles, women’s singles, doubles and team relay. The course includes left curves, right curves, hairp...