SEJONG -- South Korea is the only country whose labor force exceeds 70 percent of the total population in the 37-member Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. The high percentage of the working age population -- people aged between 15-64 -- among Korea’s total inhabitants has greatly contributed to the nation’s economic growth over the past few decades. Their share of the population reached 72.8 percent in 2018, far surpassing Japan’s 59.7 percent and the OE

SEJONG -- Foreign investors’ total stake in Samsung Electronics dipped to the lowest level in over two years Wednesday, with their daily trading of the nation’s flagship stock drawing close attention. The market’s interest comes as short selling -- which had been under a provisional ban for about 14 months -- has been allowed again in the local stock market since May 3. While most retail investors had called for the government not to lift the ban, or issue the ban perma

SEJONG -- South Koreans shouldered a similar burden to US and Japanese nationals in property taxes, including those on real estate, in the mid-2010s, data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development showed. But recent figures indicate that Korea has far outstripped the US and Japan in the growth of property taxes, under which Koreans have been saddled with a much higher burden on capital gains from trading of apartments or land. According to the OECD, Korea saw the ratio of

SEJONG -- Labor-related indexes suggest that the pandemic is still dealing a severe blow to a large portion of jobseekers in South Korea, with the hiring market showing little signs of recovery this year. According to Statistics Korea, the number of people who abandoned looking for jobs reached 582,000 in March 2020, when the tally for COVID-19 infections was growing sharply after the first case was reported two months earlier. These are dubbed “discouraged workers,” those who did

SEJONG -- About three decades ago, nearly 1 out of every 4 South Koreans were residing in Seoul. But it has been found that less than 1 in 5 today are Seoulites. The population of Seoul peaked at 10.969 million in 1992, accounting for 24.6 percent of the entire population of 44.503 million, according to unofficial demographic statistics held by the government. Data from the Ministry of Interior and Safety showed that the share of residents in Seoul of the population of Korea fell to

SEJONG -- South Korea’s seven major cities are leading the nation’s population decline, with the nation’s largest and second-largest cities -- Seoul and Busan -- particularly posting negative growth in the demographic tally for several years. According to the Ministry of Interior and Safety, the nation’s seven major cities saw the population decrease by 122,083 collectively for the first three months of the year. This marked the highest decline since the nation faced a

SEJONG -- South Korea needs to diversify the nationalities of foreign students admitted into its institutions by actively attracting students from a variety of countries and offering more lectures in accordance with globalization, state data suggested. According to the Korean Immigration Service, those from Vietnam and China took up the dominant percentage, 69.8 percent, of 158,923 foreign students staying in the nation as of March. Among the group, 59,876 were Vietnamese and 51,094 Chinese.

SEJONG -- The Korea Water Resources Corp., also known as K-water, is vitalizing an environmental project toward improving air quality around a mega industrial complex in the western part of the nation. The project is drawing wide attention at home and abroad for its ability to provide renewable energy to both the industrial and residential sector, alongside the original function of reducing pollutants emitted from the complex. The mega complex is composed of two industrial complexes -- Banwol

SEJONG -- South Korea is heading toward a society in which the average household size is less than two, amid continuously falling marriage rates and an all-time low fertility rates. According to the Ministry of Interior and Safety, the average population per household reached a record low of 2.23 -- 51.705 million people to 23.157 million households -- last month. This is fewer by 0.06 people than 2.29, posted a year earlier in March 2020. The pace toward smaller families across the nation has

SEJONG -- Young Koreans in their 20s and early 30s have been frustrated with a tough hiring market, despite the Moon Jae-in administration’s pledge to prioritize job creation for the young generation. It has been nearly four years since President Moon Jae-in took office. But labor indexes suggest that the administration’s performance in the employment sector has fallen far short of the expectations many young job seekers had in 2017. The percentage of unemployment and underemploym

SEJONG -- Of all marriages in South Korea, the percentage of international marriages -- marriages between Koreans and foreign nationals -- plummeted again last year, possibly because of the COVID-19 pandemic, government data showed. The percentage of international marriages had bounced back in the years 2016 through 2019 after a decadelong decline. In 2000, when the nation started compiling data on marriages between Koreans and foreigners, international marriages made up only 3.4 percent of al

SEJONG -- The wage gap between regular and nonregular workers in South Korea has continued to grow over the past decade, state data showed. According to Statistics Korea, the average monthly wage for regular workers came to 2.29 million won ($2,050) in 2010, which posted a gap of 1.03 million won, compared to 1.26 million won for nonregular workers. In 2015, the gap between the two widened to 1.23 million won by 2.7 million won vs. 1.47 million won for nonregular employees. The state-run agen

SEJONG -- Housing prices in the wealthy Gangnam area of Seoul were found to have shot up again in recent weeks, after spikes in prices in Seoul’s non-Gangnam districts and Gyeonggi Province’s major cities last year. The Gangnam area generally refers to two districts -- Gangnam-gu and Seocho-gu – out of the 25 in the capital. According to KB Kookmin Bank and Naver.com, the average trading price of homes, including apartments, in Gangnam-gu climbed by 6.1 percent from 59.3 mil

SEJONG – Chinese travelers were the largest group of foreign visitors to South Korea by nationality before the COVID-19 pandemic hit. But state data shows that the rankings in foreign visitor numbers have changed in recent months: The US accounted for the largest portion of inbound visitors among foreign nationals. According to the Korea Immigration Service, the number of inbound travelers from China was 20,938 (including 6,095 ethnic Koreans residing in China) during the January-Februa

SEJONG -- People in their 60s outnumbered those in their 30s in South Korea for the first time ever this year, state data showed. According to the Ministry of Interior and Safety, those aged 60-69 outnumbered those aged 30-39 at 6.87 million versus 6.81 million in March. That put the aged 60-69 category in third place among 11 age groups, from those under 10 to centenarians. The top two groups were people in their 50s (8.61 million) and 40s (8.25 million). The change can be attributed to

SEJONG -- The percentage of nonregular workers in South Korea was found to have climbed steepest among women aged 20-29, state data shows. In the figures for nonregular jobs, held by Statistics Korea, The Korea Herald compared the eight “core” working-age groups -- men and women in their 20s, 30s, 40s and 50s. The other four, men and women aged 15-19 and those in their 60s or over, were excluded. As of August 2020, the number of nonregular workers, including those in temporary or

SEJONG -- South Korea’s employment rate had been outstripped by those of most members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development even before the coronavirus pandemic hit. And despite its relatively successful handling of the pandemic, Korea’s ranking made little progress in 2020. Korea recorded a 65.9 percent employment rate for people aged 15-64 last year. In a comparison by the French-based organization of 31 of its members, Korea ranked 24th. The OECD ha

SEJONG -- Gyeonggi Province saw the number of its residents decline last month after posting continuous population growth since the early 1990s. According to the Ministry of Interior and Safety, the population of Gyeonggi -- the most populous of South Korea’s 17 provinces and major cities -- fell by 5,921 (200 men and 5,721 women) in March to record 13.46 million people. Its monthly decline is noteworthy, given that Gyeonggi -- alongside Sejong -- had maintained a steady increase in its

SEJONG -- Recent data from a state-funded agency suggested that South Koreans in their 20s and 60s took the hardest hit by the novel coronavirus in terms of job security, with a noteworthy disparity among generations -- or somewhat by gender in the same age groups -- being posted. This is seen from a comparison of unemployment-benefit payouts to people who lost jobs or closed small businesses, offered by the Korea Employment Information Service. Its data provides the growth of the tally for be

SEJONG – Over the economic conditions in the coming year, a pessimistic stance was found to be dominant in most age groups in South Korea, with the only exception being people aged 40-49, a recent poll showed. According to a survey released Saturday by Gallup Korea, gloomy predictions on the economy outnumbered positive predictions among people in their 20s, 30s, 50s and 60s or older. Optimists outnumbered pessimists only among those in their 40s. By age group, 40 percent of those aged