SEJONG -- The people’s disappointment and fury toward Cho Kuk, a confidant of President Moon Jae-in, is negatively affecting support for Moon, recent polls showed.Some analysts raised the possibility that Moon’s support rating could dip below the psychologically significant 40 percent mark amid allegations of impropriety in the university entrance of Justice Minister nominee Cho’s daughter.Cho’s daughter has been suspected of receiving admission from a highly ranked unive

SEJONG -- South Korea’s unemployment rate for people aged between 15 and 29 posted 9.8 percent in July, a government release showed.This might indicate that 9 out of every 10 young Koreans are employed. The estimation, however, is based on wide inclusion of those engaged in nonregular or temporary jobs as being hired, which cannot exactly reflect the tight job market situation in the nation.Youth employment in the nation turns critical when it refers to the Supplementary Index III for Empl

SEJONG -- It has been two decades since South Korea took its first steps into the free trade market, seeking bilateral deals with major world economies in hopes of enjoying tariff benefits.Since launching negotiations toward a free trade agreement with its first partner, Chile, in 1999, Korea has put 15 FTAs in place with three continental trade blocs (that involve 42 countries collectively) and 12 countries.The three trade blocs are the 28-member European Union, the 10-member Associat

SEJONG -- President Moon Jae-in will pass the halfway point in November, finishing the first 30 months of his 60-month term.The Moon administration launched in May 2017, several months after a political scandal involving former President Park Geun-hye and her confidante Choi Soon-sil swept the nation and ignited public fury.The people pinned great hopes on Moon, who stressed justice and fairness in his inaugural speech.Moon’s approval ratings hovered around 70-80 percent during the first y

SEJONG -- South Korea has five international cruise terminals -- two in Jeju, one in Busan, one in Sokcho and one in Incheon.With the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries focusing on the development of cruise tourism, its plan to open a new Jeju Port, aimed at handling a greater number of inbound cruise tourists, has been approved by the Cabinet.The endorsed budget for the third ocean cruise terminal on Jeju Island -- with the capacity to manage 4.7 million tourists per year -- is set at 2.8 trillio

SEJONG -- Ten years ago in July 2009, the number of single-person households was 6.08 million in South Korea, which took up 31.7 percent of the total households.Compared to a mild increase in the number of households over the past decade, the number of single-person households has surged by more than two million to post 8.33 million as of July 2019.According to the Ministry of Interior and Safety, they account for 37.3 percent of the total 22.31 million households across the country.They exceede

SEJONG -- South Korea’s annual food fairs across the globe have drawn wide attention from overseas buyers and consumers over the past few years.This year, the “K-food Fair,” which is organized by the Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corp. (also dubbed aT) and the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, targeted seven venues in Asia, Europe and the US.According to aT, more than 270 Korean companies are scheduled to participate in the fairs in seven locations, colle

SEJONG -- South Korea’s political parties will de facto enter campaign mode after the Chuseok holiday in the second week of September.The general election for the 21st National Assembly is coming up in eight months.Opposition lawmakers have predicted that the general election, slated for April 15, 2020, will pass judgement on the “economic policy failures” of the Moon Jae-in administration.However, some lawmakers of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (liberals) argue that the

SEJONG -- The demographic structure is rapidly changing in South Korea, reversing from the situation in the 1970-80s, when more people relocated to Seoul or metropolitan cities such as Busan, Daegu and Gwangju.Government data showed that most of the big cities nationwide saw their population decline over the past five years, following the farming population drops in provincial areas for decades.The nation’s total population came to 51.84 million as of July 2019, inching up 1.1 percent from

SEJONG -- This year on Aug. 15, South Koreans will celebrate Liberation Day and mark the 74th anniversary of Korean independence amid a trade war with Japan.Then on Sept. 18 the nation will commemorate 120 years of railroad history, with some saying Japan initiated the railway construction in 1899 in an attempt to plunder Korea’s resources.Since its liberation from Japanese colonial rule in 1945, Korea has strived to catch up with its neighbor in a variety of industrial sectors. While Japa

SEJONG -- The population of South Korea increased by less than 1.2 percent over the past five years from 51.25 million in July 2014 to 51.84 million in July 2019, amid the record-low birthrates.According to the Ministry of Interior and Safety, the number of Koreans increased by only 595,000 over the five-year period. This indicates a growth of less than 10,000 a month on average.Apart from the rapid reduction of newborns and those aged under 15, the working population aged between 15 and 64 has

SEJONG -- It is now seven years since the launch of Sejong Special Autonomous City in July 2012.The centrally located city borders Daejeon to the south, Gongju to the west, Cheonan to the north and Cheongju to the east. It is also relatively close to the southern provinces of North Jeolla and North Gyeongsang.As of June 2019, its population came to 327,643 with the number of households reaching 129,937.As the fastest-growing city in South Korea, Sejong is actively attracting people from neighbor

SEJONG -- South Korea is one of the few developing countries whose economy expanded sufficiently over the past decades to compete with advanced nations in Europe.Korea achieved the world’s 10th-largest gross domestic product in 2005. It was 28th in 1980, ranked behind Indonesia (21st), Iran (20th) and Saudi Arabia (14th).As exports in sectors such as semiconductors and automobiles greatly contributed to its GDP, there have been predictions that the nation could consistently become one of t

SEJONG -- South Korea saw its youth unemployment rate reach 10.4 percent in June 2019, up more than 1 percentage point from 9 percent a year earlier.The number of jobless people aged between 15 and 29 increased from 388,000 to 453,000 over the corresponding period, according to Statistics Korea.The youth unemployment rate exceeding 10 percent is arousing social worries, as it was 8.4 percent a decade ago (in June 2009) and 8 percent five years ago (in June 2014).Though the Moon Jae-in administra

SEJONG -- One year ago, President Moon Jae-in was gaining support from a dominant portion of people nationwide over his performance in state affairs.Moon’s approval rating had reached 67 percent, according to a poll conducted from July 17-19 last year by Gallup Korea. Only 25 percent of the 1,000 surveyed responded that they did not support him.His collective approval rating across the country was roughly in proportion to figures in the Seoul metropolitan area and North and South Chungcheo

SEJONG -- Prices of the US dollar and gasoline directly affect a large proportion of South Korean businesses and households in terms of manufacturing costs and purchasing power.While monetary authorities sometimes have intervened in the foreign exchange market and hamper the cheap dollar in an attempt to promote exports, the greenback’s current strong position versus the Korean won suggests the local economy has been sagging.Simultaneously, a hike in international prices of crude oil, whic

SEJONG -- A large proportion of self-employed people have closed their businesses and joined the growing number of jobless people over the past two years. Simultaneously, the state payment of unemployment benefits has climbed to an all-time high.The Moon government started providing some young jobless people with 3 million won ($2,540) for six months per individual, while the number of people who lost jobs has been drastically increasing among those in their early 50s, 40s and late 30s. The

SEJONG -- The Moon Jae-in government has introduced stern regulations on rebuilding old apartments or redeveloping old areas in Seoul. Housing redevelopment projects have been effectively blocked in the capital.The city authorities have also fallen behind in increasing housing supply for citizens.The central government has bolstered rules on mortgages under the guise of curbing apartment prices in the city. The ceiling of bank loans for housing purchases has sharply been lowered as part of a set

SEJONG -- There are three major expressways linking the Seoul metropolitan area and the southern parts of the country.Along the western side of the peninsula, there is the Seohaean Expressway running between Seoul and Mokpo, South Jeolla Province. The oldest route, the Gyeongbu Expressway, runs between Seoul and Busan. Lastly, the Jungbu Expressway runs from Hanam, Gyeonggi Province to Tongyeong, South Gyeongsang Province.Over the past decades, the highways have played a great part in the countr

SEJONG -- South Koreans have expressed significant fears about the nation’s workforce and growth potential in the coming decades, and it appears that recent demographic changes lend weight to those concerns.Two or three years ago, people aged between 15 and 64 began declining in number after a long period of continuous growth.People in this age group are classified as members of the working-age population, according to Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development criteria. At pres