SEJONG - House prices rose an average of more than 25 percent in the last 12 months in South Korea’s nine major areas, including Seoul and Gyeonggi Province. According to KB Kookmin Bank and Naver.com, the average on-year growth in housing prices in the nine areas reached 26.7 percent during July 2020-July 2021 period. The other seven of the nine are Busan, Incheon, Daegu, Daejeon, Gwangju, Ulsan and Sejong. Seoul saw the average trading price of homes come to 37.38 m

SEJONG -- There is a high possibility that South Korea will receive the undesirable top spot in the proportion of temporary workers among major economies worldwide in the coming years, global comparison data has shown. According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, Korea ranked second in the portion of temporary workers of the total salaried jobs in 2020, with 26.1 percent. This was an increase from ranking fourth among 35 OECD members in 2019 (with 24.4 percent) and

DAEJEON -- South Korea is making full-fledged efforts to be practically cooperative in the global community’s concerted effort to tackle climate change by developing renewable energy and reducing greenhouse gases. A core joint effort by the global community is the “RE100” club, whose member companies have pledged to use 100 percent renewable energy without resorting to fossil fuels. In South Korea, the Korea Water Resources Corp. -- also known as K-water -- is the first

SEJONG -- Data on government payouts for people who have lost their jobs indicates that men and women in their 20s in South Korea were hit hardest by the pandemic over the past 1 1/2 years. In addition, the novel coronavirus dealt a worse blow to women than men in terms of job security, data held by the Korea Employment Information Service showed. The monthly tally of recipients of unemployment benefits reached 712,400 in May. This marked a 67.4 percent increase from 425,390 in December 2019,

SEJONG -- The tally for unemployed or underemployed young people in South Korea remains at a serious level, despite recent improvement in the hiring market. The de facto jobless -- unemployed plus underemployed -- among those aged 15-29 was 1.011 million in December 2019, a month before COVID-19 initially hit the nation, according to the Supplementary Index III for Employment, created by Statistics Korea. At that time, the de facto jobless rate was 20.8 percent out of the economically active

SEJONG -- South Korea was found to have fallen far short of the world average in renewable energy use, amid a global ramp-up in efforts to attain carbon neutrality by 2050. The world economies’ average in the percentage of renewable energy of the total energy supply reached 13.51 percent, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation Development that cited the latest available data (for 2019 or 2018) from the Extended World Energy Balances. South Korea’s portion stood

SEJONG -- The active shopping via the internet of households is likely to contribute much to the gross domestic product of South Korea in terms of increasing production and reducing the inventories of local manufacturers. The prospects can be read from a surge in recent years in the monthly turnover of retailers selling products online. According to Statistics Korea, monthly online shopping transactions reached 15.09 trillion won ($13.49 billion) in April 2021 (the latest available figure). T

Saemangeum, located in the west of South Korea, is drawing wide attention under the government’s fresh vision to foster the area, where futuristic, eco-friendly industries as well as tour destinations can coexist. Saemangeum is a reclaimed area -- with the world’s longest seawall -- that stretches across parts of Gunsan, Gimje and Buan in North Jeolla Province. Earlier this year, the government shifted the area’s vision from the initial aims for a regional center of global t

SEJONG -- The proportion of households in South Korea with fewer than four members has reached an all-time high, government data showed. According to the Ministry of Interior and Safety, the numbers of one-, two- and three-member households came to 9.21 million, 5.49 million and 4 million, respectively, in May. Collectively, these 18.71 million households made up 80.5 percent of the nationwide total, which was 22.22 million. This means only 1 out of every 5 households had four or more members

SEJONG -- The Moon Jae-in administration’s real estate policy has brought about social discord, as preferential treatment was effectively given to particular groups, irrespective of its initial policy intentions. The groups who benefited include people with large cash holdings and young married couples in their 20s or 30s. Though the government has not officially provided special favors for those with huge cash holdings in purchasing homes, property regulations including tight mortgage

SEJONG -- Gasoline prices in South Korea have almost reached pre-pandemic levels, in the wake of a spiral in international crude prices and weak US dollar. According to the Korea National Oil Corp., gasoline prices climbed to 1,562.7 won ($1.40) per liter as of Monday, which marked the highest in 16 months since it recorded 1,563.3 won on Feb. 4, 2020. At the current pace of increase, there is a high possibility that prices will exceed 1,571.26 won -- the level recorded on Jan. 20, 2020, when

SEJONG -- Women in South Korea have been hit harder by the pandemic than their male counterparts in terms of job security, labor-related government data suggested. The data indicated that women in the nation’s Honam region -- Gwangju and North and South Jeolla provinces -- suffered the hardest hit. According to the Korea Employment Information Service, payouts of unemployment benefits grew at a faster pace among women than men in most cities and provinces across the nation. The only exc

SEJONG -- South Korea’s population retreated to 2016 levels as of last month, with the demographic figure posting unprecedented negative growth over the past 1 1/2 years. According to the Ministry of Interior and Safety, the nation’s population fell by 19,075 (8,685 for men and 10,390 for women) from 51.702 million in April to 51.683 million in May. It was at its lowest since October 2016 when the figure was 51.677 million. After peaking at 51.851 million in November 2019 -- which

SEJONG -- Recent housing prices in Apgujeong-dong, Seoul, suggest that a raft of real estate policies from the administration since 2017 to tamp down runaway property prices had little efficacy eventually. According to KB Kookmin Bank and Naver.com, the average trading price of homes, including apartments, in Apgujeong-dong -- which belongs to Seoul’s Gangnam-gu -- surged by 11.4 percent for the first 21 weeks of this year. Prices in the affluent district climbed to 83.58 million won ($

SEJONG -- South Korea’s national debt has reached the highest level after rising back past 800 trillion won ($717 billion), aggravating concerns over fiscal soundness. According to calculations from the National Assembly Budget Office, the nation’s sovereign debt was estimated at 800.3 trillion won as of Saturday. Though the figure inched down below the 800 trillion-won mark in early 2021 after surpassing 800 trillion won for the first time in November 2020, it has broken through t

SEJONG -- The topic of food and agriculture will likely come under the spotlight as one of the core items on the agenda for the 2021 P4G Seoul Summit, set for May 30-31. P4G -- Partnering for Green Growth and the Global Goals 2030 -- is a global initiative launched in 2017 to accelerate the response to climate change and the implementation of the United Nations’ sustainable development goals. Twelve countries, including South Korea, are taking part in the gathering. While the internatio

SEJONG -- The pandemic has worsened hiring conditions for female defectors from North Korea, who already faced higher unemployment rates than male defectors and South Korean women who were born here. According to the Korea Hana Foundation and Statistics Korea, the jobless rate for female North Korean defectors reached an all-time high of 11.4 percent in 2020. Though unemployment had been relatively high among female North Korean defectors for years, until last year the rate never exceeded 8 p

SEJONG -- The number of foreign nationals in South Korea has dropped to the lowest level in more than four years in the wake of the pandemic, state data showed. According to the Korea Immigration Service, the tally for foreign nationals in the nation -- both as long-term residents and short-term visitors -- stayed at 1.99 million in April, down about 9,000 from 1.999 million a month earlier. This was the lowest number in 50 months since the figure stood at 1.986 million in February 2017. Thi

SEJONG -- South Korea has been successful in minimizing the spread of contagious animal disease by building up a bolstered, preemptive livestock disease control system over the past few years. Three major livestock diseases -- African swine fever, avian influenza and foot-and-mouth -- have been subject to full-fledged control measures, led by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. Among the ministry-led countermeasures and preemptive actions were intensive disinfection, immediat

SEJONG -- The pandemic dealt a severe blow to South Koreans in the core-working age group – those aged between 25-54 - in terms of employment, a global comparison data showed. According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, Korea’s employment rate for the “prime” working age population stayed at 74.9 percent last year. The nation ranked 29th out of 36 members in the Paris-based organization’s comparison of employment for the corresponding