European Union leaders agreed to open membership talks with Ukraine, in a historic political win for Kyiv as it grapples with uncertainty over future financial aid from the US and Europe. European Council President Charles Michel announced the move on Dec. 14. He said the bloc also agreed to open accession talks with Moldova and granted candidate status to Georgia. While Kyiv still faces hurdles in clinching funding from both the EU and US, the country’s progress on joining the bloc will

  Douglas fir These soft needles are dark green or blue-green in color and are about 2-3 centimeters in length. The Douglas fir’s needles radiate in all directions from the branch. When crushed, these needles have a sweet fragrance. They are one of the top Christmas tree choices. Balsam fir These trees exhibits a relatively dense, dark green, pyramidal crown with a slender spirelike tip. On lower branches, needles generally occur as two-ranked (two rows along sides of the branch), a

　South Korea’s exports of dried seaweed - “gim” in Korean - and cooked rice reached an all-time high during the first 10 months of this year on brisk overseas demand accompanying the popularity of Korean culture and food, the Korea Customs Service said. 　Outbound shipments of gim came to a record high of $670 million in the January-October period, up 20.4 percent from a year earlier, according to the data by the customs agency. 　In terms of volume, gim exports rose 17.3 perc

More than half of the new jobs in 2022 were taken by adults 60 or older, while younger people took up only about 1.15 percent of the year’s newly added posts, data showed. South Korea added 870,000 new jobs in 2022, marking a 3.4 percent on-year increase to bring the total jobs to 26.45 million, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. Of the total, jobs for those aged 60 and older rose the most by 440,000, followed by 260,000 new jobs for people in their 50s. The number of jobs

　South Korean 15-year-olds were among the top performers in mathematics, reading and science among their peers from the member nations of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, a report showed. 　The findings were made in the latest report by the Programme for International Student Assessment, operated by the OECD. 　In the 2022 report, the PISA measured the abilities of 15-year-olds from a total of 81 countries — including 37 OECD member nations — to use their r

Over 85,000 foreign nationals own a house in South Korea, with Chinese nationals accounting for more than half of real estate properties held by foreigners in the country, government data showed. A total of 85,358 foreign nationals owned a house in South Korea as of the end of June, up 4.6 percent from the corresponding figure from six months earlier, according to data compiled by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. Nearly 93.5 percent of the foreign nationals had ownership of a

Singapore and Zurich surpassed New York to become the world’s most expensive cities to live in this year, according to a new global survey. The sky-high cost of car ownership, pricey alcohol and rising grocery prices saw Singapore pull ahead of the US city, with which it shared top spot last year, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit’s Worldwide Cost of Living 2023 report. Zurich jumped from sixth place last year to joint first, thanks in part to the strong Swiss franc, as we

The number of marriages between South Koreans and foreign spouses rose by the greatest number last year as the stable COVID-19 situation promoted people’s cross-border movements, the statistics agency said. The number of “multicultural marriages” jumped 25.1 percent on-year to reach 17,428 in 2022, according to the data from Statistics Korea. It marked the sharpest growth since the statistics agency began compiling related data in 2008. The number of international marriages fel

The proportion of women in executive positions at the top 100 companies in South Korea reached the 6 percent mark for the first time ever this year, data showed. According to data of top 100 companies in terms of sales compiled by global headhunter UnicoSearch, 439, or 6 percent, of the total of 7,345 executives were women as of the first half of this year. The executives included executive directors, members of the owner families and unregistered directors, but not outside directors. By compani

　Americans are divided on US President Joe Biden’s response to the Israel-Gaza conflict, with more disapproving of the president’s response than approving of it. 　Most Americans agree Hamas has “a lot of responsibility,” for the current conflict, according to data from the Pew Research Center. 　Opinions on the Biden administration’s response to Israel's military campaign in Gaza are starkly different between age groups. 　Cumulatively, 41 percent of respondents

The number of young South Koreans is forecast to halve in 30 years amid a rapid aging trend and a record low birthrate, the statistics agency said. The number of people aged 19-34 came to 10.21 million in 2020, and the figure is forecast to tumble to 5.21 million in 2050, according to the analysis by Statistics Korea. The proportion of the young population out of the country’s total came to 20.4 percent in 2020, but it is expected to fall to 11 percent in 2050, it added. The number of youn

Amy Yang’s win at the CME Group Tour Championship in Naples, Florida, Nov. 19, gave a combined total of five victories won by South Koreans in the LPGA in 2023. However, for the second time in three seasons, South Koreans have failed to produce a major champion in women’s golf, as the post-COVID downward trend continued. As recently as 2019, South Korea had eight players combine for 15 wins. Even during the pandemic-interrupted 2020 season, cut short to just 18 tournaments, South Kor

One out of every 6 South Korean married women suffers from career interruption due mainly to child-rearing, marriage and pregnancy, data showed. The number of married women aged 15-54 who stopped working came to 1.35 million as of April, accounting for around 17 percent of the total 7.94 million married women in the age group, according to data from Statistics Korea. This year’s number of career-interrupted women fell 3.45 percent on-year, or 48,000, because the total female population of

Top companies in South Korea boosted their donations in the first nine months of the year despite overall weaker earnings, a corporate tracker said. CEO Score, which tracks corporate management activities, said 264 out of the country’s top 500 firms by sales donated a combined 1.42 trillion won ($1.09 billion) to charities during the January-September period, up 25.1 percent from a year ago. CEO Score said the increase came despite the overall lackluster corporate performances during the p

Israel’s war with Hamas resumed after a weeklong truce to allow hostages to be released broke down on Friday. In Israel, sirens warned of incoming rockets at several communal farms near Gaza, a sign that militants had also restarted attacks. The renewed hostilities heightened concerns for Palestinians - many of whom have been displaced by the war - as well as about 140 hostages who remain in Gaza, after more than 100 were freed during the truce. By Wednesday, Hamas had released 97 hostages

Global wine production has fallen this year to its lowest level since 1961 as vineyards were pummeled by extreme weather events, the International Organization of Vine and Wine said. Output reached 244.1 million hectoliters, down 7 percent from last year, the intergovernmental body said as it presented its first estimates. A number of major producers in the southern hemisphere had significant drops in production. Australia, Argentina, Chile, South Africa and Brazil all saw output drop between 10

South Korea’s rice output fell 1.6 percent this year due mainly to a decrease in cultivation area, data showed. Rice production came to 3.70 million metric tons in 2023, compared with 3.76 million tons a year earlier, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. This year’s decline came as the combined size of rice paddies slid 2.6 percent on-year to a record low of 708,012 hectares. The government has been implementing measures to balance supply and demand of rice, such as gi

Almost half of Russians want President Vladimir Putin to open talks to end the war in Ukraine, according to a survey. Some 48 percent of respondents agreed it was time to negotiate a peace deal, with 39 percent in favor of pressing on with the war, the telephone poll of 1,611 people by the Russian Field company found. The proportion favoring talks was the highest since the company began monitoring attitudes to the war in April last year. Russian President Vladimir Putin has shown no willingness

Eco-friendly cars accounted for one-third of all new vehicle purchases made here in the first nine months of 2023, government and industry data showed. According to data from the Transportation Ministry and the Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association, the rate of car purchasers who bought eco-friendly models, including hybrid and electric units, between January and September, stood at 32.1 percent of all new vehicle customers. It marked the first time for the portion of new eco-friendly model

South Korea’s beer imports from China plunged more than 40 percent last month from a year earlier following the release of a viral video showing a man urinating into a tank at Tsingtao Brewery, the customs office said. The amount of beer imports from China fell 43 percent on-year to 2,281 metric tons in October, and the value of beer purchases from the neighboring country declined 38 percent to $1.93 million, according to the Korea Customs Service. The video released on Oct. 19 shows a uni