South Korea’s suicide rate increased in 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic, data showed Monday, with higher rates seen for people in their 20s and those aged 70 and above. The number of suicides for every 100,000 South Koreans was 26.0 in 2021, up 0.3 from a year earlier, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. The rate among males aged 70 and above came to 81.8 in 2021, up from 79.5 recorded the previous year. As for females, the rate for the same age group came to 25.7, also u

  Spring festivals in Korea, which have been suspended or reduced in size due to the COVID-19 pandemic, will return with the easing of quarantine guidelines. Local governments are busy welcoming tourists in anticipation of successful spring festivals. They are also striving to establish various measures to prevent safety accidents caused by large crowds of spring visitors.  

Jurgen Klinsmann, a German World Cup hero synonymous with the country’s success in the 1990s, has been named the new head coach of the South Korean men’s national soccer team. The Korea Football Association said Monday Klinsmann has agreed to a deal that will take him through the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Klinsmann, 58, will make his South Korea coaching debut on March 24 in a friendly match against Colombia in Ulsan, some 30 kilometers sout

South Korea’s fisheries output moved down 6 percent from a year earlier in 2022, data showed, primarily due to a fall in the production of anchovies, hairtail and squid. Total fisheries output amounted to 3.6 million tons last year, down from 3.83 million tons tallied in 2021, according to Statistics Korea. The statistics agency attributed the overall decrease to the fall in output from the aquaculture, littoral and deep-sea fishing sectors. The number of boats in the deep-sea fishing indu

　Americans’ dissatisfaction with gun laws has reached an all-time high according to a Gallup poll, after the country averaged nearly two mass shootings a day in 2022. 　Sixty-three percent of Americans are now unhappy with the nation’s gun policies, the highest in Gallup’s 23-year trend, and an increase of 7 percentage points over the last year. Gun policy satisfaction has dropped to just 34 percent. 　Unsurprisingly, the level of satisfaction largely reflected political party

South Korea came in 31st in a key international transparency index assessing corruption levels of countries in 2022, up a notch from a year earlier, a nongovernmental organization said. South Korea scored 63 in the 2022 Corruption Perception Index, ranking No. 31 among the 180 nations assessed, according to Transparency International, who compiled the index. The annual index ranks countries on a 100-point scale by levels of public sector corruption, as defined by the abuse of entrusted power for

　Support among the American public for providing Ukraine weaponry and direct economic assistance has softened as the Russian invasion nears a grim one-year milestone, according to a new poll from the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. 　Forty-eight percent say they favor the US providing weapons to Ukraine, with 29 percent opposed and 22 percent saying they’re neither in favor nor opposed. In May 2022, less than three months into the war, 60 percent of US adults sai

South Korea’s imports of gas and coal hit an all-time high last year on surging global energy prices, data showed. The value of gas imports came to $56.7 billion last year, the highest since 1956 when the government began compiling the related data, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. The previous record of $36.6 billion was set in 2014. The import value of coal also reached an all-time high of $28.1 billion, surpassing the previous record of $18.3 billion logged in 20

The number of South Korean workers who took time off to take care of their children rose 18.6 percent in 2022 from a year earlier on the back of more government support for parental leave, government data showed. A total of 131,087 workers took parental leave to take care of their children last year, up 20,532 from the previous year, according to the data by the Ministry of Employment and Labor. Women accounted for 71.1 percent of the workers on leave last year, far outnumbering their male count

　South Korean oil refiners’ exports hit a record-high in 2022, data showed, on the back of soaring global energy prices amid the protracted war between Russia and Ukraine. 　The combined exports of local oil refiners reached $57 billion in 2022, up 71.2 percent from a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the Korea Petroleum Association. 　It marked the highest level since $53.2 billion posted in 2012. By destination, South Korea shipped petroleum products to 64 countries last y

The public continues to be largely opposed to President Joe Biden seeking reelection, including most Democrats. Few adults have a great deal of confidence in Biden’s ability to handle various aspects of his job, including managing government spending, accomplishing policy goals, or working effectively with either Congressional Republicans or Democrats. In January 2022, 48 percent of Democrats wanted the president to run for a second term, and in October, 52 percent of them said Biden shoul

Sales of cigarettes in South Korea edged up 1.1 percent in 2022 from a year before, the Finance Ministry said, despite the government’s anti-smoking campaign. South Korean smokers purchased 3.63 billion packs of 20 cigarettes in 2022, up from the 3.59 billion packs tallied a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance. The amount, however, marked a 16.8 percent drop from 2014, a year before the government raised the price of cigarettes by 80 percent in January 2015 from

The death toll from last week’s massive earthquake in Turkey and Syria has now reached more than 28,000. Deadly earthquakes are unusual here, but South Korea is not in a safe zone. Recently, a 2.3 magnitude earthquake struck near Boeun, North Chungcheong Province, Saturday. Fortunately, no damage has been reported. Following is what you should do in the case of an earthquake:

　The poverty rate among South Korean senior citizens has been on the mend but is still high among members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, a report showed. 　The relative poverty rate of South Koreans aged 65 and older stood at 37.6 percent in 2021, down 1.3 percentage points from a year earlier, according to the report on sustainable development goals by Statistics Korea. 　The figure for male senior citizens came to 31.3 percent, while that for women amounted to 4

South Korea’s imports of kimchi touched an all-time high in 2022 amid galloping consumer inflation in the country, government data showed. Inbound shipments of the spicy Korean traditional side dish came to $169.4 million last year, up 20.4 percent from a year earlier, according to data from the Korea Customs Service. The on-year growth rate was the highest since the 53.8 percent surge recorded in 2010. Kimchi is a traditional Korean side dish normally made of fermented cabbage, salt and h

A magnitude 7.8 earthquake shook Turkey and Syria on Monday, killing more than 8,000 people. Here is a list of some of the world’s deadliest earthquakes since 2000:

Global smartphone shipments suffered their worst quarterly drop on record in a clear sign of cooling consumer demand that signals more pain for manufacturing hubs like South Korea and Vietnam. Shipments declined 18.3 percent in the December quarter compared to a year earlier, to a little over 300 million units, Needham, a Massachusetts-based IDC said. For the year, shipments fell 11.3 percent and marked the lowest total for a decade, the researchers said. Turmoil in Apple’s main Chinese pr

A panel of 206 judges have selected the world’s top-100 male soccer players of 2022. Argentina’s Lionel Messi, who led Argentina to World Cup glory for the first time since 1986, was voted the No. 1 player of 2022, with Paris Saint-Germain striker Kylian Mbappe coming in at second place and Real Madrid forward Karim Benzema at third, according to British newspaper The Guardian. South Korea’s Son Heung-min placed at 26th, climbing 13 ranks from 39th place the previous year.

South Korea’s population shrank last year, continuing its downward trend for three years in a row with the number of single-person households close to 10 million, government data showed. The Ministry of Interior and Safety said the country’s registered population stood at 51,439,038 as of Dec. 31 of last year, down 0.39 percent from a year earlier. Single-person households continued to rise to 9,724,256, accounting for 41 percent of the total of 23,705,814 households. Combined with t

Exports of soju, South Korea’s traditional distilled liquor, increased 13.2 percent in 2022 from a year earlier, data showed, rebounding for the first time in three years. Outbound shipments of soju reached $93.3 million in 2022, rising sharply from $82.4 million tallied a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the Korea Customs Service. In terms of volume, exports advanced 12.7 percent to reach 67,104 metric tons, the data showed. Soju is a clear, distilled liquor made with grain