The number of seniors living alone has surged nearly 36 percent over the last five years amid the country's rapid population aging, data showed. 　A total of 1.66 million South Koreans aged 65 and older lived by themselves in 2020, up 35.8 percent from five years earlier, according to the data from Statistics Korea. 　The number accounted for 21.2 percent of local household members aged 65 and older, which numbered 7.85 million last year. 　In particular, the number of seniors living alone

　The Taliban now hold the keys to an untouched trillion-dollar trove of minerals including some that could power the world’s transition to renewable energies, but Afghanistan has long struggled to tap its vast deposits. 　The Taliban are already in a financial bind since they returned to power 20 years after their ouster, as major aid donors halted their support for Afghanistan. 　Endless wars and poor infrastructure have prevented the country from getting its hands on the metals that

　South Korea's online food market jumped more than 45 percent in the first half of the year from a year earlier, due to the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, data showed. 　The value of online food transactions in Asia’s fourth-largest economy stood at 27.8 trillion won ($23.5 billion) in the January-June period, up 45.4 percent from a year earlier, according to data from Statistics Korea and industry sources. 　It was the largest half-year tally, breaching the previous record of

　The number of households with children under 18 years old fell below 5 million for the first time in 2019, amid a chronically low birthrate, data showed. 　The number of households with children under 18 came to 4.87 million in 2019, down from 5.04 million the previous year, according to data compiled by Statistics Korea. 　Such households made up 23.3 percent of the total 20.9 million households in 2019, down 1.3 percentage points from 2018, the data showed. 　As of Nov. 1, 2019, the numbe

　Samsung Electronics was the world’s fifth-largest vendor of Chromebooks in the second quarter of the year, a report showed, as the South Korean tech giant aims to expand its presence in the portable PC market amid the pandemic. 　Samsung had a market share of 7 percent in the April-June period after shipping 900,000 Chromebooks - that is, laptops or tablets running on Google’s Chrome operating system - according to a report from market researcher International Data Corp. 　Sam

  Here are some key figures related to the Tokyo Paralympics, which kick off Tuesday after a year’s pandemic delay:    4,400 Paralympians 　Around 4,400 competitors from nearly 160 countries and territories will be in Japan for the Paralympics, with 12,000 staff, officials and journalists also taking part in the 13-day event. 22 sports 　From archery to wheelchair tennis, medals are up for grabs in 22 sports, with two new events this year -- taekwondo and badminton. 10 el

　More than 8 out of 10 South Koreans think colleges are too expensive and that tuition should be halved from the current level, a poll showed. 　In the online poll of 1,000 people nationwide released by Young Men’s Christian Association Korea, 83.9 percent of the respondents said college tuition was overpriced. 　Only 14 percent said it was reasonable and 2.1 percent said it was low-priced. 　The poll also showed that 83 percent supported the idea of cutting college tuition in half, whil

　South Korean automaker Hyundai Motor beat its Japanese rival Toyota to become the world’s largest fuel cell electric vehicle maker in the first half of the year with the release of a face-lifted model, industry data showed. 　Hyundai Motor, the maker of the NEXO SUV, sold about 4,700 units in the January-June period, up 62.7 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from SNE Research. 　Toyota’s fuel cell electric vehicle sales skyrocketed 735.1 percent on-year to 3,700

　Women hold 5.2 percent of executive positions at publicly listed companies in South Korea, the Gender Equality Ministry said. 　According to a survey of 2,246 stock market-listed companies in the first quarter, only 1,668, or 5.2 percent, of the 32,005 executives were women, according to the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family. 　Vice Minister Kim Kyong-seon said that rate was far lower than the OECD average of 25.6 percent, citing the British weekly the Economist. (Yonhap)

　Forget medalists: South Korean volleyball icon Kim Yeon-koung was the most impressive athlete from the country at the recently-concluded Tokyo Olympics, a poll showed. 　In a Gallup Korea survey conducted from Aug. 10-12, Kim, who fell short of a bronze medal in Japan, received 63 percent support from 1,002 respondents. 　People were allowed to select up to two athletes. 　An San, a triple gold medalist from archery, ranked second with 35 percent. Kim Je-deok, who won two gold medals in arc

　The total number of juveniles arrested decreased last year, but the proportion of drug and online crime cases involving teens increased, police data showed. 　According to the National Police Agency, 64,595 teenagers aged between 14 and 18 were apprehended on criminal charges last year, down from 66,204 in 2019 and 66,259 in 2018. 　But the agency said the number of teenagers nabbed for alleged drug crimes surged to 132 last year, from 72 in 2019 and 56 in 2018. 　The tally of teen arrest

　Nearly 7 in 10 South Korean senior citizens want to keep working until the age of 73 amid a rise in life expectancy, a survey showed. 　The survey by Statistics Korea showed 10 million, or 68.1 percent, of the 14.76 million South Koreans aged between 55 and 79, said in May they want to continue to work in the future, up 0.7 percentage point from a year earlier. 　The elderly said they want to keep working until an average age of 73, unchanged from the previous year. 　As for the main reason

　More Americans disapprove of the way Asian people are treated in the wake of a string of violent attacks, according to a Gallup poll released recently. 　The poll found that 46 percent of Americans are satisfied with the way society treats Asian people - down from 60 percent last year. Gallup surveys have found that satisfaction has been declining since 2016. Previously, more than 7 in 10 Americans were satisfied with society’s treatment of Asian people. 　The poll, conducted June 1 t

　South Korea’s wine imports more than doubled to touch a new high in the first half of the year as more people enjoyed drinking at home due to the coronavirus pandemic, data showed. 　Asia’s fourth-largest economy imported $236.9 million worth of wine in the January-June period, up 110 percent from a year earlier, according to data by the Korea Customs Service. 　It represents the highest first-half tally and accounts for 86 percent of wine imports for all of 2020. 　Imports for

　The annual Boryeong Mud Festival has been selected as one of Asia's three major festivals by an international festival association, a local government said. 　According to the city government of Boryeong, South Chungcheong Province, its popular mud festival was designated as one of the “Three Major Festivals of Asia” by the International Festivals & Events Association Asia. 　The two other festivals that received recognition were the annual Harbin International Ice and Sno

　Korea’s exports of biopharmaceutical products more than doubled in 2020 from a year earlier on the back of growing demand for pharmaceutical products amid the COVID-19 pandemic, a report showed. 　Outbound shipments of high-end biopharmaceutical products came to $5.1 billion in 2020, compared to around $2.1 billion tallied the previous year, according to the Korea International Trade Association. 　Asia’s fourth-largest economy stood in seventh place in terms of exports in the s

　Chinese electronics firm Xiaomi has overtaken Apple as the No. 2 global smartphone maker in a sizzling market with consumers emerging from lockdowns, a new survey showed. 　A Canalys survey of second-quarter sales showed worldwide smartphone sales up 12 percent, with South Korea's Samsung holding its top position with a 19 percent market share. 　Xiaomi, meanwhile, surged to the No. 2 position for the first time with a 17 percent share as sales jumped 83 percent, according to Canalys. 　Ap

　South Korea's instant noodle exports touched an all-time high in the first half of the year amid the coronavirus pandemic, data showed. 　Asia’s fourth-largest economy exported $319.68 million of instant noodles in the January-June period, up 5.8 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service. 　The amount was above the previous first-half record of $302.08 million set a year earlier. 　Yet the first-half growth rate was well lower than the 37.4 perc

　Drug smuggling caught by South Korea‘s customs agency more than doubled in the first half of the year as trafficking via non-contact delivery means rose amid the pandemic, data showed. 　A total of 214.2 kilograms of drugs were confiscated in the January-June period, up 153 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service. 　Drug smuggling via international mail and cargo sharply increased amid the protracted pandemic, according to the customs office.

　The United Nations lamented a “dramatic worsening” of world hunger last year, saying much of that is likely connected to the pandemic, and it urged that billions of dollars are needed to save millions of people from starving. 　A report issued jointly by five UN agencies said hunger outpaced population growth in 2020, with nearly 10 percent of all people estimated to be undernourished. 　It said the sharpest rise in hunger came in Africa, where 21 percent of the people - 282 mil