Samsung Electronics was the second-largest vendor of wearable devices in Europe in the first quarter of the year, although its market share declined as archrival Apple expanded its presence. 　Samsung posted a 16.1 percent market share in the January-March period in the European market, down from 16.8 percent a year earlier, according to the latest report from market researcher International Data Corp. 　The South Korean tech giant shipped 3.5 million wearable products in the region in th

　The number of accidents involving e-scooters in Seoul more than tripled between 2018 and 2020, the fire authorities said. 　The Seoul Metropolitan Fire and Disaster Headquarters said it had responded to 366 e-scooter accidents over the three years: 57 in 2018, 117 in 2019 and 192 in 2020. 　The increase reflects the vehicles’ increased popularity. 　Collisions between e-scooters and cars were the most frequent, accounting for 107 accidents, or 29.2 percent of the total. 　There were 2

　New Zealand has the bubbliest housing market in the world, followed by Canada and Sweden, according to a ranking by Bloomberg Economics. 　Real estate prices around the world are flashing the kind of bubble warnings that haven’t been seen since the run-up to the 2008 financial crisis, the global news service said. 　Bloomberg ranked the world’s frothiest housing markets based on key indicators such as the price-to-rent ratio, price-to-income ratio, price growth and credit growth.

　Seoul National University has retained its rank of 9th place among Asia‘s top universities, while Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology and Sungkyunkwan University ranked 13th and 14th respectively in the latest rankings by Times Higher Education. 　The top 10 universities in Asia were dominated by China. Tsinghua topped the ranking followed by Peking University and the National University of Singapore 　The university rankings are based on global performance tables that judg

　South Korea was the world's largest spender on chip equipment in the first quarter of the year, a report showed, amid a global semiconductor shortage. 　South Korea, home to major memory chip producers Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, spent $7.31 billion in chipmaking equipment in the January-March period, up 118 percent from a year ago, according to quarterly billings data from SEMI, a global industry association representing companies in the electronics design and manufacturing supply c

　The image of the United States throughout the world has changed significantly since the election of Joe Biden to replace former President Donald Trump, according to a new Pew Research Center survey released. 　Pew Research examination of 16 public surveys found a noteworthy increase in the image of the United States, pointing to the election of Biden and several of his major policy initiatives. 　The center said more than 6 in 10 people surveyed said they had confidence in Biden to make the

　The portion of single-member households in South Korea surpassed 30 percent last year, a government survey showed, amid an increase in diverse forms of families. 　One-person households accounted for 30.4 percent of the total in 2020, according to a survey conducted of 11,000 households by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family every five years. 　The percentage was 21.3 percent in 2015 and 15.8 percent in 2010. 　At the same time, the portion of households composed of parents and unma

　South Korea’s exports of grapes shot up 35 percent on-year in 2020 to set a new record high, data showed, on the back of the growing popularity of local agricultural products overseas. 　Outbound shipments of grapes came to $30.7 million in 2020, compared to $22.8 million posted a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. 　Over the first four months of 2021, exports of grapes came to $7.2 million, also up nearly 50 percent fr

　Mixed martial arts superstar Conor McGregor was the sporting world’s highest-paid athlete in 2020, raking in around $180 million with earnings boosted by commercial ventures, a Forbes report showed. 　The 32-year-old Irishman only fought once in 2020, earning around $22 million from his victory over Donald Cerrone in January. 　The bulk of the former plumber’s pay - an estimated $158 million - came via his successful business activities, which included the sale of his Proper Twel

　Samsung Electronics was the world’s second-largest semiconductor vendor in the first quarter of the year, a report showed, after posting double-digit year-on-year sales growth. 　The South Korean tech juggernaut logged $17.07 billion in chip sales in the January-March period, up 15 percent from a year earlier, according to the latest McClean Report released by market researcher IC Insights. 　Samsung, the world’s largest memory chip supplier, racked up $16.15 billion in integr

　Taiwan, Mexico and Costa Rica have been ranked as the top spots to live and work abroad in 2021, based on their cost of living, ease of settling in and overall quality of life. 　The US was ranked only 34th out of 59 places, largely because of how expats viewed quality of life in America, according to a new survey published. 　Taiwan topped the charts for the third year in a row in the survey of 12,420 expats conducted by InterNations, a Munich-based expat network with about 4 million memb

　The average income of farming households reached a record high of 45 million won ($40,300) in 2020 on the back of the government’s subsidies, the Agriculture Ministry said. 　The amount marks a 9 percent rise from 41 million won tallied in 2019, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. It also marked 20 percent growth from 2016. 　The growth apparently came as the country expanded the amount of direct subsidies to local farmers.

　Around 30 percent of stray pets protected by animal shelters found new homes in 2020, data showed, amid the growing popularity of raising pets in South Korea. 　The number of pets rescued by animal shelters came to 130,401 in 2020, down 3.9 percent from 135,791 posted in the previous year, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. 　The data showed 29.6 percent of the rescued animals in 2020 were adopted, up 3.2 percentage points from a year ear

　Samsung Electronics maintained its status as the world‘s leading TV vendor with a record market share in the first quarter, a report showed, as the tech giant posted robust growth on the back of its QLED and large TVs. 　Samsung represented 32.9 percent of the global TV market in terms of sales revenue in the January-March period, its largest share for a first quarter, according to data from industry researcher Omdia. 　Samsung was followed by its South Korean rival LG Electronics wit

　Financial damage caused by cryptocurrency-related crimes has totaled more than 5.5 trillion won ($4.9 billion) since 2017, a lawmaker said, citing data from police. 　According to Rep. Yun Chang-hyun of the main opposition People Power Party, the National Police Agency estimated the damage to be 467 billion won in 2017, 169 billion won in 2018, 764 billion won in 2019, 214 billion won in 2020 and 92 billion won from January to April this year. 　The NPA also said in documents sent to Yun th

　South Korea rose one spot to rank as the fifth best place to be during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Bloomberg’s COVID Resilience Ranking. 　New Zealand regained the top position it held for five consecutive months until April, with COVID-19 all but wiped out in the island nation, allowing its people the freedoms of pre-COVID-19 life - except for international travel. 　The COVID Resilience Ranking uses a wide range of data to capture where the pandemic is being handled most eff

　South Korea’s personal computer market expanded to its largest in 10 years in the first quarter of 2021, industry data showed, due to robust demand for online education and remote working amid the pandemic. 　Domestic PC shipments stood at 1.89 million units in the January-March period, up 30.7 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from market researcher IDC Korea. 　This was the largest PC shipment volume in Korea since the first quarter of 2012, when it recorded 1.94

　A total of 6,705 native Koreans have joined the Roman Catholic priesthood in the 237 years of Catholic history in the country, a report showed. 　According to the 2021 directory published by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Korea, the list of ordained priests includes Father Andrea Kim, who became the first-ever Korean Catholic priest in 1845, and Father Yoon Hong-min, who most recently received his priesthood in February. 　Among those, 5,515 were still active. A total of 645 have

　Nearly 7 out of 10 South Koreans are willing to take vaccine shots to combat the coronavirus, a poll showed. 　According to the survey conducted from April 25-27 jointly by the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, 69.2 percent of 912 unvaccinated respondents said they would like to get vaccinated, up by 7.8 percentage points from a month ago. 　About 16.1 percent answered they would not take vaccine shots, while 14.7 perce

　More than 40 percent of the members of the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong plan to or are considering leaving the financial hub, with most citing discomfort with a sweeping national security law as one reason, a survey showed May 12. 　The legislation imposed by Beijing in 2020, which punishes secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces with up to life in prison, has further strained relations between the United States and China. 　The AmCham survey, to whic