South Korea ranked No. 1 among 33 countries surveyed on the “Digital Government Index (DGI): 2019,” the first-ever report published by the OECD that measures the level of digitalization, efficiency and transparency of public sectors of 29 member countries and four non-member countries. 　A total of 33 countries were surveyed from 2018 to 2019 and data were not available for a few countries, including the United States, Australia, Switzerland, Hungary and Mexico. 　South Korea t

　When it comes to the safety of food, water and electricity provided for their citizens, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain are the world’s top-ranking nations, according to a survey. 　Gallup surveyed more than 150,000 people in 142 nations for the World Risk Poll and asked if their governments do a good job ensuring food, water and power safety. 　The index, compiled in conjunction with the Lloyd Register Foundation, is a composite ranking of how well governments worldwi

　The number of passengers using South Korea’s railroad services tumbled nearly 40 percent in the first nine months of the year due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, data showed. 　The number of passengers on the high-speed KTX and 13 other railroad lines across the country totaled 63.89 million in the January-September period, or 61.7 percent of the 134.4 million recorded during the same period a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea Railroad Corp. 　The number of

　The number of illegal exemptions from mandatory military service detected by local authorities has surged nearly 60 percent over the past five years, a ruling party lawmaker said, calling for tougher punishments for draft dodgers. 　Rep. Ahn Gyu-back of the Democratic Party of Korea, citing the Military Manpower Administration‘s data, said the number of people booked by police on charges of illegally receiving an exemption from military duty increased 59.6 percent from 47 in 2015 to 7

　Four out of 10 Seoul residents believe their mental health has deteriorated due to the coronavirus outbreak, a poll showed. 　In the poll of 3,983 citizens in their teens to 80s, 40 percent, or 1,489, said their mental health has worsened since the COVID-19 outbreak erupted early this year. The remaining 60 percent said there has been little change in their mental health. 　The survey was conducted online by the Seoul Metropolitan Government from July to August and its results were analyze

　Sexual offenses against children under the age of 12 have been on a steady climb in recent years, a ruling party lawmaker said, calling for tougher punishments for their perpetrators. 　Rep. Yang Ki-dae of the Democratic Party, citing data from the National Police Agency, said that 3,912 child sex offenses were reported nationwide from 2017 to 2019. 　The number of offenses showed a steady increase every year, rising from 1,261 cases in 2017 to 1,277 in 2018 and 1,374 last year, Yang said.

　South Koreans’ card payments to Netflix reached a fresh high of 46.2 billion won ($40.2 million) last month, data showed, nearly double from a year earlier. 　An estimated 3.36 million people here spent the record amount in September on the popular video streaming platform, according to app tracker WiseApp’s data based on local payments made through credit and debit cards on Netflix. 　Last month’s figure marks a jump from the 24.1 billion won spent in September last year

　Nearly 90 percent of those who died last year were cremated, but crematorium services in South Korea are falling short of the growing demand, government data showed. 　According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare data submitted to Rep. Nam In-soon of the ruling Democratic Party, the bodies of 260,920, or 88.4 percent, of the 295,107 people who reportedly died last year were cremated. 　The rate of cremation has steadily increased over the years, rising from 79.2 percent in 2014 to hit t

　South Korea’s major government systems have suffered more than 410,000 hacking attempts over the past five years, with more than a quarter originating from China, data showed. 　A total of 410,140 hacking attempts targeting the Finance Ministry, the National Tax Service, the Public Procurement Service and the National Information Resources Service were detected between 2016 and August this year, according to the data for an annual parliamentary inspection of the agencies. 　The number

　The number of South Korean teens suffering from gambling addiction exploded at an alarming rate over five years from 2015, according to an opposition lawmaker. 　According to data from the state-run Korea Center on Gambling Problems, which was released by Rep. Bae June-young of the main opposition People Power Party, the number of teenagers who received treatment at the center for gambling addiction has increased nearly fourteenfold from 71 in 2015 to 981 in 2019. 　The number of reported n

　Illegal fishing by Chinese boats in South Korean waters has grown increasingly rampant, with reported cases more than doubling from 2017 to 2019, according to a lawmaker. 　The number of cases of either arrest or expelling of Chinese fishing boats operating in South Korea's western waters reached 6,543 in 2019, according to Rep. Hong Moon-pyo of the main opposition People Power Party. 　The tally represents a 113 percent increase from the 3,074 in 2017. 　The lawmaker cited data submitted b

　The number of abandoned animals in South Korea passed the mark of 130,000 in 2019, amid a decline in animal shelters, government data showed. 　A total of 135,791 dogs, cats and other pets were deserted or lost last year, compared to 121,077 a year earlier, according to data from the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. 　The data was submitted to a ruling party lawmaker for an annual parliamentary inspection of the ministry. 　The number of abandoned pets in South Korea has soa

　Duty-free sales in South Korea rose for the fourth straight month in August on increased purchases by Chinese vendors, but revenues remained below the pre-pandemic level, industry data showed. 　Combined sales at duty-free shops here reached 1.44 trillion won ($1.23 billion) last month, up 15.3 percent from the previous month, according to the Korea Duty Free Shops Association. 　It marked the fourth straight month of gains since April, when sales fell below the 1 trillion-won threshold for

　Cancer has been the No. 1 cause of death in South Korea since 1983. 　The statistics agency said 574.8 deaths were reported per 100,000 people here last year. It also said 158.2 per 100,000 had died of cancer. 　Heart disease is the second-largest cause of death here, with 60.4 deaths per 100,000 people, followed by pneumonia with 45.1 deaths per 100,000 people. 　The leading causes of death included cerebrovascular disease, suicide, diabetes and Alzheimer‘s disease. (Yonhap)

　The number of new real estate agencies in South Korea fell more than 11 percent in August amid a nationwide tumble in housing transactions, data showed. 　A total of 1,302 new real estate agencies opened across the nation last month, down 11.3 percent from the previous month, according to the data from the Korea Association of Realtors. 　August marked the second consecutive month of on-month decline. 　The numbers were 1,468 for July and 1,488 for June. (Yonhap)

　South Koreans on average consumed alcoholic beverages 8.5 days per month in 2019, a poll showed, with a growing number of people drinking at home this year due to the virus pandemic. 　It marked a slight drop from 8.8 days posted in 2017 and 2018, according to the report released by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. 　Around 43 percent of South Koreans picked beer as their preferred alcoholic beverage, followed by soju, a distilled liquor made with grain, with 25 percent.

　Lottery sales in South Korea hit a 15-year high in the first half of the year amid the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, government data showed. 　Sales of lottery tickets were tallied at 2.6 trillion won ($2.2 billion) in the January-June period, up 11.1 percent from a year earlier, according to data from the Finance Ministry and the Korea Lottery Commission. 　The figure is the largest for the first half since the ministry started releasing data on lottery sales for the firs

　Nearly 1,000 travel agencies in South Korea have gone out of business in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak that started to hit the country in late January, data showed.  　The number of tour agencies came to 21,671 as of the end of June this year, down 938, or 2.7 percent, from the end of December, according to data from the Korea Tourism Association.  　Compared to the end of September last year, the figure is down 4.1 percent. (Yonhap)

　Almost all of the state coronavirus relief funds that were given out in card form have been spent, and about half of the money was spent mostly on dining out and grocery shopping, the Interior Ministry said. 　The government handed out the relief funds totaling 14.3 trillion won ($12.2 billion) to all households from May 4 to Aug. 24 to help people cope with the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic. 　The money was available in the forms of credit or debit card points, prepaid cards

　Despite COVID-19 having bogged down the global entertainment industry, the conversation and buzz surrounding K-pop on the social media platform Twitter have increased substantially in the past year. 　The number of K-pop-related tweets on the global social media platform from July 2019 to June 2020 reached 6.1 billion, up 15 percent from the 5.3 billion tally from a year prior, according to data compiled by Twitter Korea together with music startup Space Oddity’s fandom analytics dash