The number of North Koreans defecting to South Korea dropped sharply last year apparently due to the North’s border closure to prevent an outbreak of the coronavirus, government data showed. 　According to the data provided by the Unification Ministry, a total of 229 North Koreans settled down in South Korea last year. 　The number was far fewer than the 1,047 tallied a year earlier and 1,137 registered in 2018. 　During the first quarter, 135 North Koreans defected to the South. The

　Deaths from industrial accidents rebounded in South Korea last year, the labor minister said, despite the Moon Jae-in government’s pledge to halve the number of workers killed in the line of duty during its term. 　Minister of Employment and Labor Lee Jae-kap said industrial disasters and work-related accidents took the lives of 882 workers in 2020, marking a rise of 27 deaths from the previous year. 　The number of workers killed on the job had increased from 964 in 2017 to 971 in 20

　South Korea's overseas construction orders rose to the highest level in five years in 2020 on major projects won in the Middle East and South America. 　The value of overseas construction deals stood at $35.1 billion last year, up 57.3 percent from a year earlier, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said in a statement. 　A total of 359 Korean companies won 567 orders from 98 nations last year, it said. 　Local builders’ overseas deals rose for three years from $28.2

　Global consumers picked kimchi as their most preferred Korean dish, a poll showed, amid the growing popularity of traditional Korean food, known as hansik, in line with the boom of the country‘s pop culture around the world. 　Nearly 34 percent of respondents said they preferred eating kimchi, trailed by bibimbap with 27.8 percent and Korean-style fried chicken at 27 percent, according to the poll released by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. 　The survey was based

　Koreans spent an average of 4.4 hours on mobile devices a day last year, up 19 percent from the previous year, a report showed. 　The country‘s increased use of mobile apps was in line with last year’s global daily average of 4.2 hours, up 20 percent over the same period, according to the report from mobile data tracker App Annie. 　App Annie said the time South Koreans spent on financial apps last year especially increased, with the country‘s top five financial apps loggi

　South Korean battery maker LG Energy Solution was the second-biggest supplier of electric vehicle batteries in the first 11 months of 2020 following China’s CATL, according to a market research firm. 　LG Energy Solution, which spun off from LG Chem earlier this month, shipped 26.4 gigawatt-hour equivalents of EV batteries in the January-November period, accounting for 22.6 percent of the global market, according to the data by SNE Research. 　China’s CATL supplied 24.4 GWh eq

　South Korea’s exports of fishery products moved down 7.4 percent on-year in 2020, data showed, as people around the globe refrained from dining out amid the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to a weaker demand for tuna and other popular goods. 　Outbound shipments of fishery goods reached $2.3 billion last year, down from $2.5 billion posted in 2019, according to data compiled by the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries. 　The decrease was largely attributable to the COVID-19 pandemic, which limi

　South Korea’s exports of organic light-emitting diode displays are expected to jump nearly 20 percent on-year to an all-time high in 2021 on growing global demand, sources said. 　Overseas shipments of OLED panels are projected to soar 19.6 percent on-year to $13 billion this year, accounting for more than 70 percent of overall display exports, according to the Industry Ministry and the Korea Display Industry Association. 　Bolstered by the sharp increase, South Korea’s overall

　South Korea’s exports of kimchi reached an all-time high in the first 10 months of 2020, data showed, on the back of growing global demand for healthier foods amid the new coronavirus pandemic. 　Outbound shipments of kimchi over the January-October period of last year came to $119 million, rising 36.4 percent from a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the Korea International Trade Association. 　The export volume also set a fresh high of 32,000 tons during the cited perio

　Qantas once again topped the list of safest airlines for 2021 as rated by AirlineRatings.com, the airline safety monitoring company said. 　The Australian airline has consistently maintained safety standards in the categories monitored for 385 airlines since 2013, the company said in a statement. 　Qantas, the world’s oldest continuously operating airline, has been a “clear leader” over the past 100 years in safety protocols, and a pioneer in operations and safety standard

　South Korea’s exports of agriculture products reached an all-time high of $7.57 billion last year on the back of strong demand for kimchi and processed foods, data showed. 　The record amount represents a 7.7 percent rise from the previous year, according to data compiled by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. 　Outbound shipments of fresh products rose 3.4 percent on-year to $1.43 billion. Those of processed goods increased 8.8 percent to hit $6.14 billion. (Yonhap)

　New Jersey and New York had the highest exodus amid the COVID-19 pandemic, a new study shows. 　Ability to work remotely during the pandemic, concerns for personal health and wellbeing, and desire to be closer to family were among the reasons people citied for moving, according to United Van Lines moving and relocation company survey data. 　Newark, New Jersey, and New York City both had 72 percent outbound moves, and another major metropolitan area, Chicago, Illnois, had 68 percent outboun

　South Korea’s exports of environment-friendly vehicles jumped 40 percent in 2020 from a year earlier on growing demand for eco-friendly cars, the Trade Ministry said.  　Exports of all-electric and hydrogen fuel-cell electric vehicles climbed to $4.6 billion last year from $3.3 billion a year ago, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. 　Eco-friendly vehicles accounted for 12 percent of the country’s overall vehicle shipments last year, up from 7.7 perce

　South Korea’s wine imports soared to a record high in 2020 as more people enjoyed drinking and partying at home due to the coronavirus outbreak, government data showed. 　South Korea imported $239 million worth of wine in the January-November period last year, much higher than the $204 million for all of 2019, according to the data by the Korea Customs Service. 　If the December numbers are included, last year's value of wine imports will far exceed the previous year’s tally. (Y

　Nearly 75 percent of parents ranked overuse of social media during the pandemic as a leading health concern for their children, according to the results of survey released by the University of Michigan. 　Just over 60 percent  of parents surveyed described bullying or cyberbullying as a major concern, while more than half cited unhealthy eating, lack of physical activity and depression and suicide, the data showed. 　However, fewer than half named COVID-19 itself as a major health conc

　The number of people killed in large commercial airplane crashes rose in 2020 to 299 worldwide, even as the number of crashes fell by more than 50 percent, a Dutch consulting firm said. 　Aviation consulting firm To70 said in 2020 there were 40 accidents involving large commercial passenger planes, five of which were fatal, resulting in 299 fatalities. In 2019 there were 86 accidents, eight of which were fatal, resulting in 287 fatalities. 　Large commercial airplanes had 0.27 fatal acciden

　South Korea’s population fell year-on-year for the first time in 2020, census data showed, with a record low number of births being surpassed by deaths. 　According to the latest census figures released by the Ministry of Interior and Safety, Korea had 51,829,023 people as of Dec. 31, 2020, down 20,838 from the end of 2019. 　The population had increased in each of the previous 10 years, though the growth rate had fallen steadily - from 1.49 percent in 2010 to just 0.05 percent by 201

　South Korea has the fastest 5G download speed in the world, reaching over 350 megabits per second, a report showed. 　The country’s 5G download speed stood at an average 351.2 Mbps, followed by Saudi Arabia at 272.8 Mbps and Taiwan at 247.7 Mbps, industry tracker Opensignal said in a report, citing data collected between Sept. 1 and Nov. 29 in 15 global markets with 5G networks. 　The result marks an improvement for South Korea from a previous report by Opensignal in October, which ha

　K-pop superstars BTS ranked as the sixth-most-tweeted-about people globally, data from Twitter showed, reflecting the seven-member group’s strong influence on the social media platform. 　While US President Donald Trump and President-elect Joe Biden topped the list, BTS was one of two music acts to make the list of the 10 most-tweeted-about global figures. The other was American rapper Kanye West. 　BTS also topped Twitter’s list of the most-tweeted-about K-pop accounts globally

　South Korea was the 10th-largest arms exporter in the 2015-2019 period, accounting for 2.1 percent of the world's total defense exports, an annual government report showed. 　According to the Global Defense Market Yearbook 2020 published by the Defense Agency for Technology and Quality, Britain, Iraq and Indonesia were the main buyers of South Korea’s defense products during the period. 　South Korea ranked 11th in last year's report. 　The United States remained the top arms exporte