The number of smartphone users on 5G mobile networks had topped 30 million as of April for the first time since the service was commercialized in 2019, data showed. 　The total number of 5G users reached 30.02 million in April, accounting for 38.1 percent of the total 78.79 million mobile subscriptions in the country, according to the data from the Ministry of Science and ICT. 　SK Telecom, the country’s largest mobile carrier by subscriptions, had the most 5G users at 14.35 million as o

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has reclaimed the title of the world’s wealthiest person, surpassing LVMH Chairman and CEO Bernard Arnault. Musk and the luxury tycoon have been neck-and-neck for the top spot this year in the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, a listing of the world’s 500 richest people. LVMH shares have tumbled about 10 percent since April, at one point wiping $11 billion from Arnault’s net worth in a single day. Musk’s rise in the position was due to the shares of Tesla

The proportion of female executives at South Korea’s major companies came to 7 percent in the first quarter of 2023 following last year’s implementation of a related law, a corporate tracker said. The number of female executives at 349 out of the country’s top 500 firms by sales reached 997 at end-March, accounting for 6.8 percent of the total 14,718, according to the Leaders Index. The proportion was up 0.5 percentage point from a year earlier and 1.7 times the tally for the f

South Korea, led by head coach Kim Eun-joong, secured a hard-fought 1-0 victory against Nigeria in the quarterfinals of the 2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup at Santiago del Estero Stadium in Argentina on Monday. The match was fiercely contested, with both teams locked in a neck-and-neck battle that eventually led to extra time. With this triumph, South Korea advances to the semifinals for the second consecutive time, building on their previous success as runners-up in the 2019 Polish Games. Looking ahea

The use of public transportation in Seoul reached a record high of 3.4 billion rides last year, with an average of 9.44 million rides daily, according to data from the Seoul Metropolitan Government. The busiest subway station in Seoul was Gangnam Station on Line No. 2 with 71,598 passengers per day, followed by Jamsil Station and Hongik University Station. Among bus stops, the highest usage was at Seoul Express Bus Terminal Station, with 9,318 passengers per day. Once passengers boarded, data in

At least 275 people were killed and hundreds more injured in a train collision in the city of Balasore, India, Friday. After two passenger trains collided, one struck a stationary freight train at full speed and derailed itself. This particular train crash is one of the worst train crashes in India in 20 years. According to India’s railways minister, the derailment was caused by an error in the train signaling system. Other deadly train collisions since 2013 include a crash in the Indian s

The number of foreign travelers to South Korea surged by sevenfold in April from a year earlier on eased travel restrictions amid efforts to return to pre-pandemic normalcy, data showed. A total of 889,000 foreign travelers visited South Korea last month, up nearly 600 percent from the 128,000 tallied in the same month last year, according to the data compiled by the Korea Tourism Organization. The monthly figure also accounted for 54 percent of 1.6 million tallied in April 2019, before the outb

Prices for hamburgers rose 10.3 percent in March and 17.1 percent in April, according to Statistics Korea. The increase marked the highest growth in 19 years. Such inflation in hamburgers came after major franchise companies raised their prices 4 to 5 percent in February and August of last year, and again in February this year. Pizza prices also set a record high in nearly 15 years with a near-12 percent increase in April. Chicken prices increased by 6.8 percent in the given period, which is low

More than 1.5 million South Korean people are at risk of “lonely death,” or unattended death, accounting for 3 percent of the country’s population, a government survey showed. The Ministry of Health and Welfare said it had conducted the poll on a sample of 9,471 single-member households from November to December last year to check their circumstances that could possibly lead to a lonely death in the future. The 10-step checklist includes questions about whether the respondent h

According to the 2023 Global Slavery Index, modern slavery is present in every country, regardless of its wealth status. The index, published by the human rights charity Walk Free, has indicated that in 2021, around 50 million people were living in situations of modern slavery, with approximately 27.6 million of those people being in forced labor and 22 million in forced marriages. The index indicated that the countries estimated to have the highest modern slavery rates tend to be “conflic

Recorded executions worldwide reached 883 last year, the highest since 2017, according to an Amnesty International report that decried the Middle East and North Africa in particular. The 2022 figure for 20 countries known to have executed people is a 53 percent increase on the previous 12 months, the global rights monitor said. It excludes the “thousands” of prisoners put to death secretively in China, but does count the “staggering” 81 people executed in a single day in

The swift growth of artificial intelligence technology could put the future of humanity at risk, according to most Americans surveyed in a Reuters/Ipsos poll. More than two-thirds of Americans are concerned about the negative effects of AI and 61 percent believe it could threaten civilization. Since OpenAI's ChatGPT chatbot became the fastest growing application of all time, the widespread integration of AI into everyday life has catapulted AI to the forefront of public discourse. ChatGPT h

Debt among those in their 20s and 30s jumped more than 27 percent over the past three years since the COVID-19 pandemic hit, indicating they suffered financial difficulties due to rising home prices and an economic slowdown, central bank data showed. In the fourth quarter of 2022, overall loans extended to those in the age bracket soared 27.4 percent to 514.5 trillion won ($384 billion) from 404 trillion won in the fourth quarter of 2019, according to a report submitted by the Bank of Korea to t

South Korea ranked 47th in the 2023 World Press Freedom Index, the Paris-based Reporters Without Borders (RSF) announced, falling by four places from last year. The index, based on an evaluation of the journalism environment in 180 countries and territories, is divided into four categories; “good,” “satisfactory,” “very serious,” “difficult,” and “problematic.” Korea was remarked as “satisfactory.” South Korea appreciates me

South Korea’s crime rate fell to the lowest level in a decade in 2021, data showed, although offenses in the cyber domain shot up amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Asia’s No. 4 economy reported 1,774 cases of criminal violations per 100,000 people in 2021, down 12 percent from a year earlier, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. The number of murders reached 1.3 per 100,000 people in 2021, down 18 percent on-year. The figures for acts of violence and theft fell 16 percent an

Global sugar prices have risen every month this year, the highest level in 11 1/2 years since October 2011. The global Sugar Price Index soared 27.9 percent from January, according to the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization. The index rose every month from 116.8 in January to 125.2 in February, 127 in March, and 149.4 last month due to concerns about reduced global sugar production in India, China and other countries. For instance, increased rainfall in Brazil has trimmed the

Almost half of US adults say they’re worried about the safety of their deposits in banks and other financial institutions — levels of concern that are as high or higher than they were during the 2008 financial crisis. A Gallup poll shows 48 percent of Americans are very or moderately worried about their money following the worst spate of bank failures in 15 years. Only 20 percent say they’re not worried at all. Levels of concern break somewhat among party lines, with 55 percent

Seven in 10 South Koreans support the Yoon Suk Yeol government’s efforts to shed light on North Korea’s dire human rights situation, a poll showed. In a survey on 1,000 adults conducted by the Peaceful Unification Advisory Council from March 24-26, 70.5 percent of the respondents said they support the government’s policy initiative to raise awareness on North Korean human rights. The PUAC, a presidential consultative body set up to draw up policies on democratic and peaceful un

The number of rail passengers in South Korea shot up 44 percent on-year in the first quarter as the country returned to pre-pandemic normalcy, government data showed. Around 39.2 million people traveled on railways in the January-March period, rising sharply from 27.2 million tallied a year earlier, according to data compiled by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. The figure excludes subway passengers. The figure represents a 0.7 percent rise from the first quarter of 2019, befor

South Korea’s whisky imports shot up nearly 80 percent in the first quarter of this year on the liquor’s surging popularity among young Koreans amid the coronavirus pandemic, data showed. The volume of imported whisky came to 8,443 metric tons in the January-March period, up 78.2 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service. It marks the highest first-quarter tally since 2000, when data tracking began. It is also the largest quarterly figure after