The number of bills and coins discarded due to severe damage shrank by 14.1 percent on-year in the first half amid an increasing prevalence of non-cash transactions, data showed. 　A total of 191.66 million damaged bills and coins were discarded in the January-June period, compared with 223.10 million tallied in the same period a year earlier, according to the data from the Bank of Korea. 　The decline stemmed from less use of cash in transactions and increased dependence on credit cards and o

　The global market share of major South Korean battery makers fell in the first half of this year from a year earlier amid strong growth of Chinese rivals, a report showed.  　LG Energy Solution, SK On and Samsung SDI together accounted for a combined 25.8 percent share for the January-June period in terms of the total amount of battery energy registered, according to the report by market tracker SNE Research.  　That marks a 9.1 percentage point decline from the previous year’s

　Sales of cigarettes in South Korea gained 1.9 percent on-year in the first half of the year due to weak demand for duty-free cigarettes amid the coronavirus pandemic and increased sales of heated tobacco products, the Finance Ministry said. 　South Korean smokers purchased 1.78 billion 20-cigarette packs in the January-June period, compared with 1.75 billion packs a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance. 　The rise came as COVID-19 restrictions, which decreased access

　South Korea’s total population fell for the first time last year due to the country’s low childbirths and rapid aging, along with a decline in incoming foreigners during the pandemic, data showed. 　The country’s total population reached 51.74 million as of Nov. 1, 2021, down 91,000, or 0.2 percent, from the previous year, according to the 2021 census by Statistics Korea. 　It marked the first on-year decline since 1949, when the statistics agency began compiling data. 　The

　A total of 294 people were arrested between March and June for crimes related to child sexual exploitation, and more than half of the offenders were teenagers, police said. 　Of 786 arrests made in the four months for cybersex crimes, 294 people, or 37.4 percent, were either using, producing or distributing child sexual abuse materials, the National Police Agency said. 　Noticeably, 54.5 percent of the offenders were aged in their 10s, followed by 36 percent in their 20s and 7.1 percent in the

　South Korea’s exports of ice cream reached an all-time high in the first half of this year, data showed, amid a global heat wave and the growing popularity of Korean culture. 　Overseas shipments of South Korean-made ice-cream products came to $50 million in the January-June period, up 14 percent from a year earlier to reach a record high, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service. 　Imports inched up 0.3 percent on-year to $28 million, also hitting an all-time high, during th

　Manchester United duo Cristiano Ronaldo and Harry Maguire were the most abused players on Twitter last season, according to a new report. 　Nearly three quarters of Premier League soccer players received abusive messages with some of them receiving daily abuse. 　The report, carried out by The Alan Turing Institute and Ofcom and using a new machine-learning technology, analyzed 2.3 million messages directed at Premier League players over the first five months of the 2021-22 season. 　It found

　Nearly 1.4 million people have visited the former presidential compound of Cheong Wa Dae since it opened to the public on May 10, data showed.  　A total of 1,396,859 people, including 5,055 foreigners, visited the complex in central Seoul through July 27 since its public opening, according to data from the Cultural Heritage Administration submitted to Rep. Kim Seung-su of the ruling People Power Party.  　The figure is far bigger than the number of visitors to the Gyeongbok and Chan

　Efforts to close the global gender gap improved slightly this year after the COVID-19 pandemic delayed gender equality by at least three decades, the World Economic Forum said. 　In its 16th Global Gender Gap Report, the WEF said overall gender disparity across politics, work, health and education improved and it will now take 132 years to reach full parity compared with 136 years last year. Before the pandemic, the gap was set to close within 100 years. 　Iceland topped the ranking for the 13

　South Korea’s exports of information and communication technology products in the first half of 2022 soared 18.9 percent on-year to set a new semiannual record tally, thanks to brisk overseas demand for chips and computer products, data showed. 　Outbound shipments of ICT products came to $122.6 billion in the January-June period, up from the $103 billion tally a year earlier, according to data compiled by the Ministry of Science and ICT. 　It marked the highest-ever semiannual tally sin

　North Korea‘s economy is estimated to have contracted for the second straight year in 2021 on global sanctions and the coronavirus pandemic, according to South Korea’s central bank. 　The North’s economy, which has been hit by tightened UN sanctions over its nuclear and missile programs, shrank 0.1 percent last year from the previous year, the Bank of Korea said in a report. 　Still, last year’s contraction slowed from a negative growth rate of 4.5 percent recorded a ye

　The number of registered vehicles in South Korea rose 0.6 percent in the second quarter to over 25 million, with that of eco-friendly cars exceeding 1.36 million units, government data showed. 　Car registrations came to 25.22 million units as of end-June, up from 25.07 million units a quarter earlier despite a global chip shortage, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said in a statement. 　Global carmakers have been struggling with the lack of semiconductor parts since late 202

　The number of South Korean and foreign migrants fell at the fastest-ever pace last year as the COVID-19 pandemic restricted cross-border movements, data showed. 　The number of international migrants, or those who stay in South Korea for more than 90 days, declined 347,000, or 28.1 percent, on-year to 887,000, according to the data from Statistics Korea. 　The data is calculated based on cross-border movements of both South Korean nationals and foreigners, excluding short-term visitors. 　It m

　Sales of K-pop albums have once again reached an all-time-high in the first half of this year, a local market tracker said. 　According to Kim Jin-woo, head researcher of Circle Chart, which reports accumulated sales and streams, combined sales of the nation‘s top 400 physical albums have risen to 34.9 million copies in the first half of 2022, up 34.6 percent from a year ago. It was the highest first-half sales figure of all time. 　First-half sales of physical albums have risen from 10.

　Around 65 countries in which monkeypox is not endemic have reported outbreaks of the viral disease as confirmed cases cross 15,600. 　The rapidly spreading monkeypox outbreak represents a global health emergency, the World Health Organization‘s highest level of alert, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on July 22. 　The illness, which spreads through close contact and was first found in monkeys, has rarely spread outside Africa, where it is endemic, until this year. (Re

　Drug offenders in their teens to their 30s grew sharply in the past three years to represent 58.9 percent of those convicted of drug crimes last year, the chief of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency said.  　The number of young drug offenders in those age brackets stood at 1,566 in 2019, accounting for 48.9 percent of all drug offenders, before growing to 1,769 at 51.2 percent in 2020 and 1,839 at 58.9 percent last year, Kim Gwang-ho, Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency commissioner, said

　World food prices fell for a third consecutive month in June, but remained close to record-high levels set in March, the United Nations’ food agency said. 　The Food and Agriculture Organization’s food price index, which tracks the most globally traded five major food commodities - cereal, meat, dairy products, vegetable oils and sugar - averaged 154.2 points last month versus a revised 157.9 for May. 　The May figure was previously put at 157.4. 　Despite the monthly decline, the

　Advanced nations continued to assess China’s national image negatively, according to Pew Research Center. 　Northern powers of US, Canada and Germany saw China unfavorably as 82 percent of Americans and 74 percent of both Canadians and Germans had negative views of China as shown in the center’s surveys conducted from January to June. 　The numbers turned out worse for China’s Pacific neighbors. Eighty-seven percent in Japan, 86 percent in Australia and 80 percent in South Ko

　The United Nations estimated that the world’s population will reach 8 billion on Nov. 15 and that India will replace China as the world’s most populous nation next year. 　In a report released on World Population Day, the UN also said global population growth fell below 1 percent in 2020 for the first time since 1950. 　According to the latest UN projections, the world’s population could grow to around 8.5 billion in 2030, 9.7 billion in 2050 and a peak of around 10.4 billion

　Korea’s Electric Vehicle Battery industry showed slow sales growth as its global market share in the first five months dropped by 9.5 percentage points from last year, according to the battery industry tracker SNE Research’s June report. 　LG Energy Solution, the country’s top battery maker, took 14.4 percent of the market. The figure shrank by 9.2 percentage points from last year’s 23.6. Samsung SDI’s share also went down by 1.5 percentage points from 5.9 percent