SEJONG -- The number of people who have given up on looking for jobs has shown a steady increase in South Korea since the nation started compiling the data in January 2014. They are dubbed “discouraged workers.” The tally for discouraged workers counts people who did not carry out job-seeking activities during the prior four weeks or longer, though they had looked for jobs within the past 12 months. Alongside sagging performances in the job creation sector in recent years, the COV

SEJONG -- South Korea’s benchmark interest rate has been set at an all-time low of 0.5 percent per annum for 10 months since May last year, as the central bank tries to prop up a lackluster economy that has faltered in the wake of the novel coronavirus. The record-low rate could benefit many households and micro-business owners who resort to financial loans in this unexpected situation. But the Bank of Korea will have no choice but to conduct rate hikes eventually on a mid-term basis, g

SEJONG -- Short selling, which is under a provisional ban in South Korea, has been a core issue in the local financial market since the novel coronavirus initially hit the nation 14 months ago. Short selling is a trading strategy in which investors are entitled to sell “borrowed” stocks at particular prices. They can reap gains by repurchasing the stocks -- which is dubbed “short covering” -- at lower prices later. Before COVID-19 dealt a blow to the country, local and

SEJONG -- All-time low fertility rates have caused a surge in the number of two-member households in South Korea, alongside the sharp increase in the number of single-person households amid sliding marriage rates, official data showed. According to the Ministry of Interior and Safety, the number of one- or two-member households reached a record high of 14.61 million (9.16 million and 5.44 million respectively), or 62.9 percent of the total 23.19 million households nationwide as of February. T

SEJONG -- Unlike most people born in South Korea, defectors from North Korea expressed a strong preference for self-employment in a 2019 survey.  According to Statistics Korea and the Korea Hana Foundation, 33.6 percent of the North Korean defectors said they would like to run their own businesses in the South. The annual poll was conducted by the foundation, and the results are the most recent available. Those who expressed hope of becoming self-employed made up the largest portion of r

SEJONG -- South Korea posted the highest growth in the portion of part-timers of all employed women among the members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in recent years. In its analysis on the part-time employment of women by the Paris-based organization for 36 of its members, 20.8 percent of all Korean employed women had a part-time job status as of 2019, the latest year for which data was available. Compared to 2014, when the figure stood at 15.5 percent, this mark

SEJONG -- The Korean currency has lost its value against the US dollar, in another phase of the fluctuations that have occurred since COVID-19 started hitting the world a year ago. The pandemic situation has increased volatility in the won-dollar foreign exchange rates, which has become a factor aggravating difficulties, held by a large portion of local businesses. The dollar, which traded at 1,082 won during the first trading session (Jan. 4) of the year, climbed 5 percent in only two months

SEJONG -- South Korea saw the number of recipients of unemployment benefits reach an all-time high of 1.78 million in 2020 in the wake of the novel coronavirus, data from a state-run agency showed. According to the Korea Employment Information Service, this marked an increase by 16.8 percent, 257,510 people, from 1.52 million a year earlier. By region, Greater Seoul -- including Gyeonggi Province and Incheon -- ranked top five, alongside Sejong and Jeju Province, among the nation’s 17 ma

SEJONG -- South Korea’s working hours are still far longer than the average among members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, as of 2019. In the French-based organization’s analysis of hours worked annually by its 35 members, Koreans ranked second. Of the 37 members, Colombia and Turkey were not included. The OECD defined average annual hours worked as the total number of hours actually worked per year divided by the average number of people in employment

SEJONG -- South Korea’s agricultural regions are aging far faster than cities in demographic structure while the portion of elderly population is simultaneously climbing across the nation, state data showed. According to Statistics Korea, the number of farm population stayed at an all-time low of 2.24 million in 2019, as young people have steadily relocated to urban areas. The nation’s farm population refers to those engaging in agriculture and family members&

SEJONG -- South Korea’s demographic slide since December 2019 is mainly attributed to continuous decline in the male population, while the female population has recorded both positive or negative growth on-month. The situation has pulled down the nation’s sex ratio -- the number of men per 100 women -- to an all-time low of 99.41, according to the data held by the Ministry of Interior and Safety. The male population posted 25.836 million in February, down 1,951 from a month earlie

SEJONG -- The percentage of working age population in South Korea fell to its lowest level in more than two decades, in the wake of continuously falling births and an ageing population, latest data showed. The nation has seen a gradually declining number of newborns since the 1990s and an ongoing entry of baby boomers -- people born between 1955-1963 -- to the senior population, which started in January 2020. According to the Ministry of Interior and Safety

SEJONG -- The novel coronavirus was found to have brought a seriously widening disparity in the online sales performances of local retailers by product segment and business type. South Koreans have sharply increased their online spending on agricultural, livestock and fisheries products as the cut back on dining out amid the pandemic. According to Statistics Korea, the monthly turnover of retailers selling products from agriculture, livestock and fisheries online -- for homemade food -- reach

SEJONG -- In 2016, South Korea saw collective household debt to net disposable income reach 174.52 percent, according to the research by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. The figure grew further to 181.81 percent in 2017, 184.99 percent in 2018 and 190.59 percent in 2019 amid a continuous climb in financial services firms’ outstanding loans, such as mortgages and credit-based lending, issued to the household sector. The 16.07 percentage point increase of Korea d

SEJONG -- South Korea ranked No. 10 in people’s life expectancy at birth among the 37 members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in its 2019 comparison. The Paris-based organization defined life expectancy at birth as how long, on average, a newborn can expect to live, if current death rates do not change. Korean newborns are estimated to live 82.7 years on average. Though Korea saw the average life span has become quite longer compared to 1970-1980s, the figur

SEJONG -- Housing prices in many satellite cities around Seoul posted a growth of more than 5 percent in 10 weeks, with price increases in some cities surging 10 percent. According to KB Kookmin Bank and Naver.com, Seongnam’s Bundang-gu saw the average trading price of homes climb by 9.5 percent from 31.97 million won ($28,800) per 3.3 square meters on Nov. 27, 2020 to 35.04 million ($31,600) on Feb. 5, 2021. This means the average price of an 84-square-meter house, a popular size among

SEJONG -- Gasoline prices in South Korea have climbed for 89 consecutive days in tandem with international crude prices, adding to the burdens facing households and businesses. According to the Korea National Oil Corp., the price of gasoline reached 1,461.05 won ($1.32) per liter on Feb. 15. It marked a third consecutive month of rebounding, having previously dipped to 1,317.12 won per liter Nov. 18. Furthermore, the current level marked the highest price point in about 11 months -- since Mar

SEJONG -- The number of registered foreign residents in South Korea came to 1.27 million at the end of 2019, making up 2.4 percent of the population of 51.84 million. The nation saw its foreign population climb quickly, from 1.7 percent a decade earlier in 2009 when 870,600 of Korea’s 49.77 million people where non-citizens. But the figure for Korea is still behind of the average of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, which compared 33 of its total 37 members for

SEJONG -- The tally of foreigners staying in South Korea -- both as long-term residents and short-term visitors -- has dropped to its lowest point in about three years amid the pandemic. Previously it climbed 116 percent in a decade, from 1.16 million in 2009 to 2.52 million in 2019. According to the Korea Immigration Service, the number of foreigners staying in Korea posted 2.07 million as of October 2020. It was 2.18 million in December 2017 and 2.04 million in December 2016. The 2020 figur

SEJONG -- The Moon Jae-in administration had been active in raising property taxes, claiming that the aggravated tax burden for multiple home-owners would eventually curb apartment prices. But housing prices in Seoul and some other major cities have continued to climb to record-highs. The government still maintains the policy of higher taxation on real estate, while more and more people have become skeptical about it in terms of efficacy. A recent survey suggests a dominant portion of people&