SEJONG -- South Korea posted 21,960 in the number of births in August, which marked a record low since the government began compiling the data on a monthly basis. It is also the first time that the monthly figure for newborns fell below the 22,000 mark, the data from the Ministry of Interior and Safety showed. The figure for August 2020 contrasts with 31,291, posted three years earlier in August 2017 and 35,868, five years earlier in August 2015. Further, Korea saw the number of deaths outst

SEJONG -- South Korea ranked 33rd in the proportion of graduates from medical schools to the general population among the 35 surveyed members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. The France-based OECD compared the numbers of medical graduates per 100,000 inhabitants in its latest research for 2017, 2018 or 2019 data, according to that available for each. The organization defined medical graduates as students who have graduated from medical schools or similar institutio

SEJONG -- Some apartment complexes in Seoul were found to have renewed all-time high prices despite the measures introduced by the government on June 17 to cool the market. The record-breaking prices are have risen particularly in the wealthy Gangnam area, which comprises Gangnam-gu and Seocho-gu, two of the 25 administrative districts in Seoul. According to the data held by the Land Ministry, an 84-square-meter apartment in the Acro Riverpark complex in Banpo-dong, Seocho-gu, traded at 3.57

SEJONG -- South Korea lagged behind Japan, Russia and some Western countries this year in terms of employment among working-age people. According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, Korea posted a 65.4 percent employment rate for those aged 15-64 during the April-June period of 2020. In contrast, Japan -- also an OECD member -- saw the employment rate for its working-age population reach 77 percent over the corresponding period, though the country was also hit hard b

Korea’s de facto jobless up 860,000 in 2020 Deck: In July, unemployed plus underemployed top 4 million [News Focus] By Kim Yon-se SEJONG -- South Korea saw the number of unemployed on an “extended” basis, which includes the underemployed, hover over 4 million for the fifth consecutive month. These are regarded as the “de facto” or “comprehensive” jobless. According to the Supplementary Index III for Employment, held by Statistics Korea, the tally for “the employed plus the underemployed” wa

SEJONG -- It has been found that residents in Gyeonggi Province outnumbered those in Seoul plus Busan for a year with the gap continuously widening each month. According to the Ministry of Interior and Safety, the population of Gyeonggi Province overtook the collective figure for the nation’s largest and second-largest cities in August 2019, which marked the first time in history since the nation began compiling the data. The figures were 13.19 million vs. 13.16 million. Further, the ga

SEJONG -- South Korea was found to have fallen short of the average of Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development member countries in consumer sentiment for the 25th consecutive month. OECD data showed that Korea’s consumer confidence index stood at 96.4 as of June 2020. Figures below 100 indicate a pessimistic attitude towards future developments in the economy, possibly resulting in a tendency to save more and consume less, according to its definition. For the Korean defini

SEJONG -- South Korea’s tax revenue was found to have increased fastest among the members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. The Korean government’s tax revenue -- the state’s income from taxation -- was equivalent to 28.42 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product in 2018 (the latest available), according to OECD comparison data. The figure posted an increase of 2.18 percentage points in only two years, compared to 26.24 percent of GDP

SEJONG -- South Korea’s population posted a positive growth for the first time in eight months in July, after it suffered a continuous negative growth during the December 2019-June 2020 period. But the men’s population fell for the 12th consecutive month. This is leading the nation’s population decline, which de facto started in late 2019. According to the Ministry of Interior and Safety, Korea saw the population inch up 444 (minus 1,141 for men and plus 1,585 for women), co

SEJONG -- The gulf between the haves and have-nots is wider in South Korea than in almost any other member of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, a recent analysis suggests, with only the US showing greater inequality. The OECD measured income disparities by analyzing the poverty rates of 35 of its 37 members as of 2019. (Colombia and New Zealand were excluded.) The poverty rate is the percentage of people whose income is less than half the median household income, acco

SEJONG -- President Moon Jae-in has lost popularity in Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, as well as in the country’s southeastern Yeongnam area, seemingly due to fury over the government’s real estate policies. According to a poll conducted in the fourth week of July by Gallup Korea, 1 out of 2 residents of Seoul and the surrounding areas responded that Moon was “not doing well.” The survey showed that 50 percent of the respondents in Seoul and 52 p

Virus brings 69% surge in payouts for jobless in Korea Deck: Benefit recipients up 58,000 in Seoul in 6 months [News Focus] By Kim Yon-se SEJONG -- The tally of recipients of unemployment benefits surged by 69 percent for the first six months of the year, when the novel coronavirus hit the nation. In June, the government provided benefits to 718,921 people who lost their jobs, according to the Korea Employment Information Service. This marked an increase of more than 290,000, compared to 42

SEJONG -- The number of people residing alone has continued to increase in South Korea over the past few years, with the figure rising by 1.6 million in just five years. According to the Ministry of Interior and Safety, the number of single-person households came to 8.76 million as of June. They made up 38.4 percent of the total 22.79 million households nationwide. The growth pace is noteworthy, compared to five years earlier in June 2015, when the tally and percentage of single households ma

1 in 5 NK defectors see household debt top 100m won Deck: Outstanding debt doubles in a year among defectors in 50s [News Focus] By Kim Yon-se SEJONG -- The burden of financial liabilities held by North Korean refugees was found to have aggravated, while their employment conditions were worse than the average of ordinary South Koreans, state data showed. According to Statistics Korea and the Korea Hana Foundation, the defectors from the North saw their outstanding debt per household reach an

SEJONG -- The number of national pension recipients has reached a historic high, while the tally of subscribers paying monthly premiums has fallen. The situation is aggravating worries and discontent among ordinary citizens over policies of the government and the state-run pension operator. According to data from the National Pension Service, the number of state pension policyholders fell from 22.31 million at the end of 2018 to 22.21 million at the end of 2019. Further, the figure declined

SEJONG -- The female population overtook the male population five years ago in South Korea. The turning point was June 2015, when the gender ratio fell to 99.9 -- the first time in history it had dropped below 100 since the nation began compiling relevant data. According to the Ministry of Interior and Safety, women outnumbered men by 131,534 as of June 2020. The sex ratio, or the number of men per 100 women, posted an all-time low of 99.49 last month. Seoul recorded the lowest ratio of males

SEJONG -- Opponents of the Moon Jae-in administration’s real estate policy have outnumbered its supporters for the past 2 1/2 years, a poll showed. According to Gallup Korea, opposition to the administration’s real estate policy overtook support in January 2018, within months of President Moon taking office in May 2017. In January 2018, the gap between the two sides was 10 percentage points, with 24 percent looking favorably on the policy vs. 34 percent unhappy with it. Based on

Korea Water Resources Corp., also called K-Water, has unveiled its road map to take the initiative on the global stage by fostering an eco-oriented paradigm as well as innovative digitalization in water quality management. At its headquarters in Daejeon on Wednesday, K-Water CEO Park Jae-hyeon declared the vision to become the “world’s best water-related comprehensive platform company.” The vision comprises the public company’s pledges toward water management innovatio

SEJONG -- Relative to all salaried workers in South Korea, the percentage of temporary workers increased 3.2 percentage points in just one year -- from 21.2 percent in 2018 to 24.4 percent in 2019, data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development showed. As a result, in 2019 Korea was fourth on the list of OECD countries with the highest percentage of temporary workers -- up from No. 7 a year earlier. Only 34 of the OECD’s 37 members were included in the comparison. O

SEJONG -- The tally of unemployed or underemployed young people in South Korea has reached a historic high in the wake of the novel coronavirus. According to the Supplementary Index III for Employment, the number of de facto jobless (unemployed or underemployed) Koreans aged between 15 and 29 came to 1.28 million as of May. This marked the highest number since the nation began compiling the monthly data in January 2015. They made up 26.3 percent of the 4.89 million economically active people