Seoul has suffered its largest population decline in five years, with the soaring housing prices likely driving people out of the capital city, data showed. 　According to figures compiled by the Ministry of Interior and Safety and provided to People Power Party Rep. Tae Young-ho, Seoul had a population of just over 9.56 million as of June. Compared to a year ago, that represented a drop of 154,856, or 1.59 percent. It is the largest annual drop in five years. 　Seoul had almost 9.99 million p

　South Korea's exports of agricultural products shot up to set a new record in the first six months of 2021, data showed, on the back of stronger global demand for healthier foodstuffs amid the new coronavirus pandemic. 　Outbound shipments of such goods in the January-June period came to $4.15 billion, up 15.4 percent from a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food, and Rural Affairs. 　Exports of fresh products advanced 11.4 percent over the period t

　The level of interest in the Tokyo Summer Games is much lower in South Korea compared with past Olympic events, a survey showed. 　According to a survey of 1,003 people aged 18 and older conducted by Gallup Korea from July 20 to 22, only 32 percent of respondents said they were very interested or a little interested in the Summer Olympics in Tokyo. 　A majority, or 66 percent, said they were not interested in one of the biggest sports events in the world. 　The survey also showed that soccer

　The South Korean passport was found to be the third most effective one for travelers around the world, allowing its bearers to travel to 191 countries visa-free, data showed. 　Asia’s fourth-largest economy and Germany tied for third, only after Japan and Singapore, in the latest edition of the Henley Passport Index. 　The Japanese passport provides visa-free travel to 193 countries and Singapore to 192 countries. 　The index released by immigration consulting firm Henley & Part

  　Tokyo Olympics organizers have worked to slash the cost and scale of the 2020 Games after a historic postponement, but the numbers involved are still staggering. 　Here are some key figures from the sporting extravaganza, which opens on Friday: (1) 15,400 athletes 　Sportsmen and women from 205 countries and regions will compete at the Tokyo Games, with more than 11,000 Olympic athletes and 4,400 Paralympic athletes taking part. (2) 29 　South Korea will be represented by 232 athletes a

　Three South Korean electric vehicle battery makers accounted for a third of the global market in the first five months of the year, but their share has slightly slipped since last year in the face of toughening competition with Chinese rivals, a market research firm said. 　The trio - LG Energy Solution, Samsung SDI and SK Innovation - supplied a combined 88.4 gigawatt-hour equivalents of EV batteries in the January-May period, up from 33.6 GWh a year earlier, according to the data by SNE

　South Korea had the second-largest monthly capacity of 200-millimeter-equivalent wafers last year behind Taiwan, a report showed. 　The country, home to major chipmakers like Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, had a capacity of 4.25 million wafers per month, accounting for 20.4 percent of global wafer capacity as of December 2020, according to market researcher IC Insights. 　Taiwan was the capacity leader at 200 mm or 8-inch wafers, taking 21.4 percent of the global capacity. The country,

　US automakers overtook Japanese brands to take the No. 2 spot in the imported car market in South Korea last year, a report showed, taking advantage of local consumers’ boycott of Japanese products over trade and wartime legacy disputes. 　A total of 46,000 cars from US automakers were sold in South Korea last year, accounting for 15.2 percent of the overall imported car sales, according to data by the Korean Automobile Manufacturers Association. 　German brands topped the ranking wi

　Turkmenistan’s capital Ashgabat has overtaken Hong Kong as the world‘s most expensive city for foreign workers, a survey showed. 　Turkmenistan is almost wholly dependent on natural gas exports and has struggled to recover from the global energy price slump in 2014 that battered the local manat currency and plunged many citizens into poverty. 　Despite the long-running economic crisis, authorities broke ground on a major expansion of Ashgabat in May, with autocrat leader Gurbangul

　Parcel shipments in Seoul increased 26.9 percent last year from the previous year, a study showed, as an increasing number of people have preferred ordering food and daily necessities online amid the spread of COVID-19. 　According to the artificial intelligence-based study by the University of Seoul, parcel deliveries of food, household items and health products in the capital surged by around 50 percent in 2020, due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. 　In contrast, the study said

　The value of household chores grew nearly 36 percent in 2019 from five years earlier, with men‘s participation in such work rising amid an increase in one-person households and double-income families, data showed. 　The value of household work, such as child care, meal preparations and cleaning, came to 490.9 trillion won ($433 billion) in 2019, compared to 361.5 trillion won in 2014, according to the data from Statistics Korea. 　The 2019 figure was equivalent to 25.5 percent of the

　The number of counterfeit South Korean banknotes identified dropped to a new record low in the first half of 2021, as the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the decline of cash use, the Bank of Korea said. 　In the January-June period, the number of fake banknotes found here came to just 38, down from 161 a year earlier and marking the lowest figure since the BOK began releasing such data in 2000. 　By denomination, 5,000-won counterfeit bills accounted for more than half of all counterfeit bil

　Nine out of 10 people who have been vaccinated said they would recommend that their families and friends receive shots, a government survey showed. 　The poll, jointly conducted by the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters and the Culture Ministry, showed that 95.6 percent were favorable toward receiving COVID-19 vaccines. 　The share was up 10.4 percentage points from the same survey conducted last month. 　Some 1,000 adults aged 18 and older took part in the latest surv

　Amazon and Apple are the world’s most valuable brands but Chinese brands are rising up the leaders list and are more valuable than Europe’s top brands, according to a global ranking by Kantar’s BrandZ. 　Amazon, founded in 1994 by Jeff Bezos, remained the world’s most valuable brand with an estimated value of $684 billion, followed by Apple, founded in 1976, at $612 billion and Google at $458 billion, Kantar said. 　Tencent, China’s biggest social media and vid

　South Korea’s global competitiveness ranking remained unchanged this year after rising by five notches in the previous year on the back of its efforts to contain the pandemic, a report showed. 　South Korea ranked 23rd in terms of global competitiveness among 64 countries surveyed, according to the 2021 report by the International Institute for Management Development. 　IMD, a Swiss-based international institution, has been releasing the report every year since 1989 based on a country

　Nearly 8 out of 10 South Korean consumers have increased their online shopping during the coronavirus pandemic, a poll showed. 　The survey of 1,000 local consumers, taken by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, showed 78.4 percent of the respondents saying their online purchases have risen since the outbreak of COVID-19. 　About 71 percent of them said they have purchased more foodstuffs and beverages online, followed by dining out and other food services, kitchen and daily goods an

　Over 60 percent of South Koreans are opposed to President Moon Jae-in’s possible visit to Japan during the upcoming Tokyo Olympics, a poll showed. 　In a survey of 500 people aged 18 and older conducted by Realmeter on June 25, 60.2 percent of respondents said they object to Moon’s visit during the games scheduled to open July 23, while 33.2 percent approved of his visit and the remaining 6.6 percent were undecided. 　Japanese media have reported the two governments have been

　The world has marked the first rise in child labor in two decades and the coronavirus crisis threatens to push millions more youngsters toward the same fate, the United Nations said. 　In a joint report, the International Labor Organization and the UN children’s agency UNICEF said the number in child labor stood at 160 million at the start of 2020 - an increase of 8.4 million in four years. 　The hike began before the pandemic hit and marks a dramatic reversal of a downward trend that

　Sales of fiction and poetry books at leading online bookstore Yes24 have grown this year as people spend more time at home amid the coronavirus pandemic, the company said. 　The sales volume of novels, poetry and dramas has risen 8.3 percent year-on-year so far this year, Yes24 announced. Their sales increased 21.4 percent year-on-year last year after decreasing 9.6 percent in 2019. 　Among this year’s 100 bestsellers, 13 titles belonged to the category, which came in third after busi