SEJONG -- Earlier this year, South Korea pledged to foster “smart harbors” across the country as part of a move in a variety of sectors preparing for the coming era of the “fourth industrial revolution.”The futuristic harbors will likely be equipped with state-of-the-art technologies such as artificial intelligence, the internet of things and robotics, according to the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries.Officials said the project’s focus will be 31 harbors designated

SEJONG -- Over the past decade, a growing number of urbanites in South Korea have moved to rural areas to tap the agriculture industry, helped on their way by various government-led benefits for new farming households.A large proportion of them were in their 40s, 30s and 20s, and quit salaried jobs in big cities to take up farming.But the situation has changed. Many of them have failed to accommodate themselves to the rural life and farm work.Among their troubles are difficulty getting along wit

SEJONG -- The nation’s jobless rate, which posted the critical 4 percent or over for the fifth consecutive month this year, has forced the government to pay out ever-higher amounts in benefits for the unemployed. The growing volume of payouts reflects the sentiment-reflected jobless rate, a measure that also takes underemployment into account. The sentiment-reflected jobless rate far exceeds the official unemployment rate of 4 percent mark, having hovered around 12 percent f

SEJONG -- They were the backbone of the country’s social and economic development in the 1980s and 1990s, and many of them are still working in core posts in the public and private sector.But now South Korea’s baby boomer generation -- born between 1955 and 1963 -- are having to deal with a retirement that many are not ready to accept.As some employers have a mandatory retirement age 60 or earlier, boomers have been leaving their main jobs since 2010, with knock-on effects on the job

SEJONG -- An election campaign pledge of President Moon Jae-in early 2017 was to create 1.31 million jobs -- 500,000 in the private sector and 810,000 in the public sector.At that time, he criticized the theory that employment should follow market principles, saying that “the (next) government (unlike past administrations) will be able to create up to 1.31 million jobs by taking the initiative (not by handing it over to the market).”In addition, he suggested that parents with prescho

SEJONG -- South Korea is sparing no efforts to promote its agricultural products globally, including Korean traditional dishes, beverages and alcoholic drinks.According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, “K-food Fair” held in Paris earlier this month drew wide attention from European consumers and retailers.“Twenty-one Korean producers participated in the fair in France and signed export contracts worth $17 million (19.6 billion won),” said a ministry

SEJONG -- South Korea saw its senior population surpass 15 percent of the total last month for the first time. Seniors are people aged 65 or over, according to standards set by the United Nations.The number of senior citizens came to 7.8 million out of the total 51.84 million as of May, according to the Ministry of Interior and Safety.This indicates that 1 out of every 6 or 7 Koreans are aged 65 or above, which is posing social concerns over a variety of sectors such as the national pension, tax

SEJONG -- Two major economic indices under the Moon Jae-in administration have plumbed to new lows since the nation was hit by the 2008-09 global financial crisis.Those are the growth of gross domestic product in the first quarter and the current account balance in April 2019.South Korea suffered a contraction of 0.4 percent in GDP during the January-March period on a quarter-to-quarter basis.This was the worst quarter-on-quarter GDP performance since the first year of the Lee Myung-bak governme

SEJONG -- It has been more than six years since the Ministry of Economy and Finance moved from Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province, to Sejong Self-Governing City. 　Nonetheless, some former functions of the ministry remained in Seoul after it handed over its financial industry policy authority to the Financial Services Commission in 2008, when the former Lee Myung-bak government took office. Since then, the FSC has been in charge of both supervisory policy and financial industry policy. The commissi

SEJONG -- The record household debt in South Korea is an Achilles’ heel when it comes to economic growth, as the financial liability of citizens is putting a damper on private consumption.Some market analysts say that Korea’s collective household debt is estimated to have topped 2,000 trillion won ($1.68 trillion). They claim the latest figure of about 1,500 trillion won, released by the Bank of Korea, does not include loans extended to the self-employed.In any case, the outstanding

SEJONG -- The general election for the 21st National Assembly is coming up in about 300 days, and it will be a crucial moment when ordinary people get their chance to assess the Moon Jae-in administration.Currently, few people expect the results of the parliamentary election to mirror those of the 2018 local elections, when the ruling Democratic Party of Korea scored a landslide victory over its main rival, the Liberty Korea Party. According to a variety of pollsters, President Moon’s

SEJONG -- The automobiles segment was one of the few hot-button issues during South Korea’s respective negotiations for a free trade agreement with the United States and the 28-member European Union.The Korea-EU FTA and Korea-US FTA, which took effect in July 2011 and March 2012, respectively, heralded the era of import cars in the nation under eased tariff barriers. Market insiders say that German carmakers -- the most popular import brands in Korea -- have been propelled forward in

SEJONG -- The Moon Jae-in government recently unveiled a policy to pay 3 million won ($2,550) over a six-month period, or 500,000 won a month, to a certain portion of jobless people aged 18-64 after assessing their household income levels.It has also decided to provide financial support for self-employed people who have had to close their businesses, according to the Ministry of Employment and Labor.Officials say the purpose of this support is to assist the recipients’ job-seeking activiti

SEJONG -- A core demographic change in South Korea in recent years is the rapidly growing number of single-person households.The trend is especially strong in Seoul as younger people working in the capital seem more reluctant to get married amid uncertainty over finances, job security and their prospects of being able to purchase apartments. According to the Ministry of Interior and Safety, the number of single-person households in Seoul was 1.51 million five years ago in May 2014, when the

SEJONG -- It has been 31 years since South Korea introduced the national pension, and 20 years since it became a universal program in April 1999.The number of policyholders for government-administered annuity products offered by the National Pension Service now comes to more than 22 million. Among those policyholders, subscribers paying into the state pension via their workplaces in the form of mandatory deductions accounted for the dominant proportion, or 62.3 percent. Their numbers totale

SEJONG -- Compared with past governments, the Moon Jae-in administration has been actively increasing public expenditure to benefit jobless people in their 20s and early 30s.However, many have cast doubt on the efficacy of its strategy of pouring dozens of trillions of won in taxpayer money into job creation over the past two years since May 2017.This year, the incumbent government is struggling to prevent the economic growth rate from falling sharply by proposing a supplementary budget bill, dr

SEJONG -- Poll results released Tuesday show that the main opposition Liberty Korea Party may have overtaken the ruling Democratic Party of Korea in terms of approval ratings, though the gap is negligible.Pollster R&Search surveyed 1,000 people nationwide in coordination with media outlet Asia Today, asking questions such as, “Which party would you vote for if the general election were held tomorrow?” While 37.7 percent of the respondents picked the Democratic Party, 38

The number of South Koreans applying for unemployment benefit (also dubbed job seekers’ allowance) have rapidly increased in the wake of widespread small business closures and rising jobless rates.According to the Ministry of Employment and Labor, the unemployment rate as of April 2019 came to 4.4 percent, higher than the 3.8 percent recorded both in April 2014 and April 2009. According to the Korea Employment Information Service, the government’s monthly payment of unemployment

Amet Actio Technology, the American subsidiary of South Korean firm CPE Cell, said Tuesday it has registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission for its greenhouse-gas reduction project to tackle global warming.Being registered means securing credibility among global investors. Amet Actio plans to launch a systematic security token offering in an active way for the development of a certified carbon emissions transaction project.According to US federal laws, STO tokens registered with the

SEJONG -- South Koreans have sharply increased their shopping through computers and smartphones in recent years, which is taking up more than 20 percent of their total consumption.The rapid growth of online shopping transactions has been backed by systematic parcel delivery services, which send products to consumers across the country in one to three days.Almost every kind of product -- from drinking water, food and cosmetics to clothing, home appliances and furniture -- are available on online