The number of single households is continuing to spike as more Koreans live away from their families, while the country’s marriage rate continues to nose-dive. 　According to a survey released by Statistics Korea on Wednesday, the number of single-person households in the second half of 2016 reached roughly 5.27 million as of October last year, up 3.3 percent from the previous year. 　The data showed that the number of married people living alone hit 3.12 million or 59.1 percent of all singl

A forum of the world’s five largest intellectual property offices, known as IP5, emphasized its new vision for a stronger and more flexible intellectual property system that can adapt to the fourth industrial revolution at an event marking 10 years of global cooperation.The heads of IP5, including Lee Young-dae, acting commissioner of the Korean Intellectual Property Office, gathered together in Valletta, Malta on May 31 and June 1 to take stock of all the achievements made by the offices

The government said Monday it would apply stricter lending regulations on homes in Seoul and parts of Busan to curb real estate speculation and reduce household debt.　The announcement was made jointly by the Ministry of Strategy and Finance, the Financial Services Commission and the Ministry of Construction and Transportation. 　The new regulations, which are set to take effect on July 3, stipulates that the loan-to-value ratio in Seoul, Gyeonggi Province, Sejong and selected areas in Busan are t

President Moon Jae-in on Monday condemned the apparent terrorist attack in London, calling it a "cruel" and "inhumane" crime.   "The series of terrorist attacks that took place in London was an act of crime committed against innocent civilians and children," Moon wrote on his Facebook account. "War and terrorism, especially attacks targeting civilians like the latest incident, cannot be justified under any cause."    "I and the people of South Korea are outraged about this inhumane crime," he sa

North Korea has rejected South Korean civic and religious groups' offers to resume exchanges in protest of Seoul's support of U.N. sanctions, the organizations said Monday, casting a cloud over fledgling efforts by the new liberal government to improve ties.    The Korean Sharing Movement, a South Korean civic group, said Monday that it will delay plans to ship aid supplies and visit North Korea, as Pyongyang took issue with the latest U.N. sanctions and South Korea's attitude toward its adoptio

The National Assembly will hold confirmation hearings next week for President Moon Jae-in's four minister nominees from the ruling party, officials said Monday.   The parliamentary committees will soon adopt plans to hold respective hearings for Interior Minister-nominee Kim Boo-kyum, Maritime Minister-nominee Kim Young-choon and Culture Minister-nominee Do Jong-hwan on June 14, according to the officials of the Democratic Party. The hearing for Transport Minister-nominee Kim Hyun-mee will be he

A South Korean man has been stabbed by two unidentified assailants in Jakarta, local police said Monday.   The assailants, presumed to be Indonesians, attacked the 28-year-old victim in the northern neighborhood of Kelapa Gading at 1 a.m. Sunday, they said.    The Korean man, whose identity was withheld, is known to have entered Indonesia on Saturday night and was out to buy something after checking in at a hotel in the neighborhood.    "The victim was robbed of his cell phone and returned to th

Eight people were killed and nine injured in an explosion and fire Monday at a chemical plant in eastern China's Shandong province, local authorities and media reports said.      The accident was triggered by an explosion of a liquefied gas tanker in a loading area at the Linyi Jinyu Petrochemical Co. plant at about 1 a.m., the official Xinhua News Agency reported.       The blast set ablaze several fuel storage tanks at the site in the Lingang Economic Zone in the city of Linyi. Nearby areas we

South Korea plans to raise the avian influenza alert status to the highest level, government officials said Monday, as it confirmed a case of highly pathogenic avian flu on the country's southern resort island of Jeju.   Officials said they will issue the warning Tuesday and ban all poultry farmers across the country from moving poultry for 24 hours starting Wednesday.   The move came hours after the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs said tests showed the virus that hit a poultry f

Despite strong exports, South Korea’s current account balance slid to $4 billion in April this year, recording the smallest surplus in the past year, according to the Bank of Korea on Monday. 　Bank of Korea announced the current account balance had continued a surplus for 62 consecutive months, but the growth in exports was offset by higher dividend payouts to foreigner investors, surging oil prices and other factors, which contributed to the current account surplus decreasing dramatically

Two South Koreans were killed and three others injured after a crane broke down at a construction site near Seoul, police said Monday. Five workers fell from a 55-meter-tall tower crane at the construction site for an apartment complex in Namyangju, just northeast of Seoul, around 4:40 p.m., according to police and firefighters.  (Yonhap)Two were confirmed dead at the scene and three seriously injured were rushed to nearby hospitals in Namyangju and Seoul. Two of the three injured workers report

Despite impassioned pleas from several countries, the World Health Organization's annual assembly refused Monday to even discuss admitting Taiwan to the meeting, under pressure from China.   Self-governing Taiwan, which China sees as a renegade province awaiting reunification, has been invited to attend the WHO's main annual meeting as an observer every year since 2009, but this year it did not receive an invitation.   Relations with China have become increasingly frosty since Taiwan's Beijing-s

South Korean football coach Shin Tae-yong said Monday his team will show an even better performance in its second match at the FIFA U-20 World Cup than it did in a convincing victory last weekend.   Hosts South Korea opened the 2017 U-20 World Cup last Saturday by cruising to a 3-0 win over Guinea at Jeonju World Cup Stadium in Jeonju, some 240 kilometers south of Seoul.   South Korea will face Argentina at the same venue on Tuesday for their second Group A match and Shin was confident that his

Indonesian police have detained 141 men including several foreigners for allegedly taking part in a gay sex party at a sauna, an official said Monday, the latest sign of a backlash against homosexuals in the Muslim-majority country.   Officers late Sunday raided a building in the capital Jakarta that houses a sauna and a gym, and halted what they said was a sex party promoted as "The Wild One".   Pictures circulating online showed topless men sitting crammed in a room next to gym equipment after

The number of foreign tourists to South Korea fell 27 percent in April from a year earlier as demand from China fell dramatically, the country's tourism agency said Monday.    Last month, a total of 1.07 million foreigners visited the country. Chinese travelers plunged 67 percent year-over-year to 227,811, according to data from the Korea Tourism Organization.    China banned the sale of travel packages to South Korea from March 15 in retaliation against the deployment of the Terminal High Altit

The number of Chinese tourists in South Korea more than halved last month from a year earlier, dragged down by China's ban on sales of Korea-bound trips amid a diplomatic row over a U.S. anti-missile system, the state tourism body said Monday.    The tally of Chinese visitors came to 227,811 in April, down 66.6 percent from 682,318 recorded the previous year, according to the data by the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO). On a cumulative basis, the number dipped 25.8 percent on-year to 1.74 milli

When children sexually assault other children at school, sometimes the only measure of justice comes through the courts.      The barriers are formidable, and can lead to long, grueling fights: Public schools in many states enjoy powerful shields, including caps on damages and high legal hurdles to prove misconduct. And a handful of states offer schools complete immunity from lawsuits in state court.      But the incentives for families are powerful, too -- protecting their children, winning ref

South Korea's search team investigating the Sewol ferry, which was salvaged three years after it sank in the country's worst maritime disaster, said Saturday it has identified the remains of a missing high school student.The team said the victim's family identified the remains of a female student named Cho Eun-hwa, by reviewing parts of discovered teeth. The remains were found on the fourth deck close to the stern of the ship.(Yonhap)According to workers, the remains of another female student mi

US lawmakers are pushing to reauthorize a bill promoting human rights and freedom in North Korea that expires this year, according to a news report Saturday.Voice of America reported that US Senator Marco Rubio of Florida has presented a bill titled "The North Korean Human Rights Reauthorization Act of 2017" to the Senate's Foreign Relations subcommittee on human rights. Rubio is the chairman of the subcommittee.  (Yonhap)The act, which first went into effect in 2004 under President George W. Bu

President Donald Trump threatened to shut down daily press briefings Friday as he sought to defend his White House from criticism of its shifting explanations and misstatements about the firing of FBI Director James Comey.    Trump's statements, through a tweet and later television interview, threaten a Washington institution that is the most high-profile forum for journalists to question the government about policy and the news of the day.    In the Trump era, it has become a cable TV hit and c