South Korea has taken the initiative in pushing forward protecting the maritime ecosystem and biodiversity of the Yellow Sea -- also called the West Sea here -- as part of its efforts to achieve regional sustainable development for oceans via carbon neutrality. During the 70th session of the United Nations General Assembly in Paris on Dec. 12, 2015, 192 UN members unanimously adopted 17 Sustainable Development Goals as common goals for the international community to attain together by 2030. T

SEJONG -- The number of single-person households in South Korea has surpassed the 9 million mark for the first time since the nation started compiling the data. According to the Ministry of Interior and Safety, the tally for single-person households came to 9.009 million as of November, which made up 39.1 percent of the total 23.03 million households nationwide. The figure contrasts with 34.4 percent (7.23 million), posted five years earlier in November 2015 and 33.3 percent (6.61 million) a d

SEJONG -- South Korea’s labor force participation rate was the 34th-highest among the 37 members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development as of 2019. In the Paris-based organization’s comparison of labor participation rates for those aged 25-64, Korea posted 76.6 percent. This means about 1 in 4 Koreans in that age bracket were not engaging in economic activities last year. This contrasts with an 85.5 percent labor force participation rate in neighboring Japan,

SEJONG -- The number of births in South Korea renewed its all-time low last month at 21,043, with the gap with the number of deaths widening after the latter overtook births last year. According to the Ministry of Interior and Safety, there were 25,997 deaths in November. Since the tally for deaths overtook births in November 2019, the gap has widened, with the previous biggest gap of 4,778 posted in October. The births tally in November 2020 contrasts with 34,847, posted five years earlier in

SEJONG -- It is almost certain that South Korea’s yearly population will mark its first decline in 2020 since the nation started compiling such data, given the unprecedented downhill phase for the first 11 months of the year. According to the Ministry of Interior and Safety, Korea saw its population fall by 3,714 (3,052 for men and 662 for women) in November on-month to post 51.838 million. Of the past 11 months, the nation recorded negative growth in demographics data for eight months

SEJONG -- If current trends continue, the annual tally for payouts for the jobless will hover around an unprecedented 12 trillion won ($10.8 billion) in 2020, data from the Korean Employment Information Service showed. Over the first 10 months of this year, the payment of unemployment benefits came to 10.26 trillion won. This has already outstripped the former record high of 8.35 trillion won in 2019. The 2020 projection would be a 160 percent increase compared to 2015, when the yearly be

SEJONG -- South Korea saw the percentage of those in nonregular job status among the total female workers climb to the all-time high. As for men, the nonregular employee portion marked the highest in more than a decade. In Korea, job statuses are commonly divided into regular jobs with permanent contracts and consequent protections for workers, and nonregular jobs, such as temporary jobs, contract jobs and other forms of works with low job security. According to research d

SEJONG -- Foreign ownership of South Korean land has continued to increase over the past few years, data from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport showed. As of December 2019 foreigners owned 248.6 million square meters of land, or 248.6 square kilometers, which is the latest figure available. This was a 3 percent increase from a year earlier in terms of land owned, as opposed to the value of the real estate. Compared with December 2016, when the figure was 233.5 million square m

SEJONG -- The number of foreigners per 1,000 population in South Korea reached the all-time high of 24.53 at the end of 2019, data held by Statistics Korea showed. The figure was based on the number of registered foreign residents, 1.27 million, of the nation’s resident registered-based population, 51.84 million, as of last year. The figure does not include people in Korea on F-4 visas, because they are not registered as residents here. The proportion of registered foreign residents cl

SEJONG -- South Korea saw its number of people aged 15 or over who have abandoned looking for jobs increase sharply over the past three years, data from a government agency showed. The data also suggested that women far outstripped men in this category during the first 41 months of President Moon Jae-in’s 60-month term. According to figures held by Statistics Korea, the number of discouraged workers was 498,000 in May 2017, when the Moon administration took office. The monthly figure,

SEJONG -- Alongside the Tokyo Summer Olympics, another big international sports event is slated for next summer: the Euro 2020. Both events have been delayed by one year due to COVID-19. The UEFA Euro 2020 -- whose official title, like that of Tokyo 2020, remains unchanged -- is slated for June 11-July 11, 2021, about a month before the Olympic Games. Some Japanese are protesting for the withdrawal of the 32nd Summer Olympiad, citing pandemic risks, and the same is true of the Euros. Since

SEJONG -- South Korean households saw their collective debt reach 191 percent of their net disposal income as of 2019, up from the ratio of 184 percent posted a year earlier, data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development showed. As a result, Korea placed at sixth on the list of OECD countries in the household debt-disposal income ratio last year, up from No. 8 in 2018. The France-based organization compared the latest available data for 33 of its total 37 members. The ex

SEJONG -- South Korean women aged 44.2 on the average as of October, the oldest since the nation compiled the data, according to the Ministry of Interior and Safety. They have become older by about 12 months than two years earlier in October 2018, when the figure was 43.1. Their average age was 43.7 in October 2019. Eight of the 17 major areas in the nation saw the average age of their female residents exceed 45 as women’s lifespans lengthen in particular compared to men and&n

SEJONG -- Earlier this year, the number of foreigners going through immigration dropped sharply in the wake of the novel coronavirus. But the figure has continued to rebound after touching the bottom in April. According to the Korea Immigration Service, the number of foreign visitors to South Korea continued to drop -- from 1.32 million in January, 719,449 in February, 90,837 in March and 34,544 in April. The country’s first case of COVID-19 was reported on Jan. 20. Among major visitors

SEJONG -- A coming independent investigative unit in South Korea is drawing close attention as it is seen as a way to identify corrupt prosecutors and high-profile government officials. Its launch was initiated by left-wing politicians from the ruling Democratic Party of Korea as part of their prosecutorial reform efforts. It is tentatively dubbed the Senior Civil Servant Crime Investigation Unit. Though the main opposition People Power Party eventually agreed to the installation of the

SEJONG -- South Korea saw its employment rate slide to 60.3 percent in September, its lowest level in four months since it hit 60.2 percent in May. People in their 30s have been hit hardest, government data suggested. According to Statistics Korea, the employment rate for those aged between 30 and 39 recorded 74.1 percent. This was the lowest figure in more than five years (65 months), since April 2015, when it stood at 73.8 percent. The figure for September 2020 was 2.4 percentage points lo

SEJONG -- South Korea posted the biggest population decline in October since the nation’s population began to fall again in December 2019. This also marked the second-largest decline since the nation began compiling the relevant data, after the figure of minus 5,303 reported in March 2008. But that drop was an outlier in the middle of steady positive growth. According to the Ministry of Interior and Safety, the population was 51.838 million as of last month, falling by 3,770 (3,284 for

SEJONG -- It has been found that nearly half of South Koreans were still pessimistic about economic conditions, far outnumbering optimists, a survey showed. According to a poll conducted on Oct. 27-29 by Gallup Korea, 46 percent of the 1,000 respondents said that economic conditions would deteriorate in the coming year. Only 23 percent were upbeat about the economy. Another 27 percent said the economic conditions ahead would remain roughly the same. Further, pessimists outnumbered optimists f

SEJONG -- The Korean government was pinning hopes on recovery in employment in the second half of the year, though the tally of the jobless increased sharply between March and May in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Though the number of “unemployed plus underemployed” showed signs of gradually falling during the summer, the monthly figure bounced back in September. According to the Supplementary Index III for Employment, as determined by Statistics Korea, the number of “de

SEJONG -- In his speech at Cheong Wa Dae in mid-September, President Moon Jae-in expressed his willingness to provide more houses for newlyweds and those in their 20s and early 30s. The remarks came as part of his pledges to stabilize the real estate market by weeding out speculative investors. Moon reiterated the importance of fairness in the sectors such as employment, education, military draft, society and culture. He also commented the apartment supply for the young generation as a policy