South Korea’s total population has started to decline amid low childbirths, but the number of foreigners here is forecast to continue to increase to make up of 4.3 percent of the population in 2040, a report showed. 　After peaking at 51.84 million in 2020, the country’s total population started to decline in 2021 and will likely further fall to 50.19 million in 2040, according to the report from Statistics Korea. 　Despite a fall in Korean nationals, the number of foreigners who r

　Almost half of call center workers have thought about taking their own lives due to poor labor conditions and extreme emotional labor, a state human rights watchdog survey showed. 　In the survey of 1,996 call center people conducted by the National Human Rights Commission of Korea from August to October, 48 percent said they thought of killing themselves and 30 percent said they had the thought in the past year. 　As reasons for having suicidal thoughts, economic difficulty was cited the most

　The number of registered vehicles in South Korea surpassed 25 million as of end-March, meaning roughly 1 out of every 2 South Koreans owns a vehicle, data showed.  　Car registrations had come to 25.07 million in the country of 52 million people as of end-March, up 2.12 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. 　The number of environmentally friendly cars registered here had advanced 7.7 percent from the previous year to r

　Incheon Airport, the main gateway to South Korea, became the world’s second-busiest cargo airport in 2021, up one notch from the previous year, a trade body said. 　Incheon International Airport handled 3.23 million tons of international cargo, up 18.6 percent from a year earlier, according to the Airports Council International. 　The airport, some 40 kilometers west of Seoul, ranked third in the world in terms of international cargo handling in 2019 and 2020. 　Hong Kong International A

　A majority of people in the United States continue to support a mask requirement for travel on airplanes and other shared transportation, a poll finds. A ruling by a federal judge has put the government’s transportation mask mandate on hold. 　The poll by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds that despite opposition to masks that included verbal abuse and physical violence against flight attendants, 56 percent of those surveyed favor requiring people on plane

　Nearly 7 in 10 foreign buyers think that South Korea’s national brand is having a positive impact on their purchases of products from Asia‘s fourth-largest economy, a poll showed. 　According to the survey of 213 foreign buyers, 72.9 percent of the respondents replied that their imports of South Korean goods have been affected positively by the country’s national brand. 　Slightly over 25.4 percent said South Korean products remind them of high quality, followed by reasonable

　Even as a new omicron wave gathers speed in some parts of the world, most countries are pushing ahead with reopening travel and easing restrictions in a bid to move past the COVID-19 era. 　In March, Norway claimed the No. 1 spot in Bloomberg’s COVID Resilience Ranking. After scrapping all of its travel restrictions, the country scored the highest among the 53 economies ranked with the most Vaccinated Travel Routes open and loose social curbs. The United Arab Emirates and Ireland rounded

　The number of male victims of digital sex crimes compiled by a state support agency doubled last year from the previous year, the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family said. 　The Digital Sexual Crime Victim Support Center extended assistance to 1,843 male victims in 2021, marking a near twofold increase from 926 in the previous year, the ministry said. 　The spike in the number of male victims of digital sex crimes is attributed to the rising prevalence of illegal photographing and filming,

　Sales of imported vehicles in South Korea fell 8.7 percent in March as chip shortages continued to affect vehicle production, an industry association said. 　The number of newly registered foreign vehicles fell to 24,912 units last month from 27,297 units a year ago, the Korea Automobile Importers & Distributors Association said in a statement. 　The three bestselling models last month were Mercedes-Benz’s E 250 sedan and E 350 4MATIC sedan and BMW’s 520 sedan, it said. &n

　Nike has been named the top clothing brand among US teens for 11 consecutive years, according to a survey from Piper Sandler. 　Nike earned 30 percent of the votes followed by American Eagle, Lululemon, H&M and Adidas. 　The survey was conducted among 7,100 US teens with an average age of 16.2 years between Feb. 16 to March 22.   　Nike was also the teens’ most favorite footwear brand followed by Converse, Vans, Adidas and New Balance.

　Almost half of call center workers have thought about taking their own lives due to poor labor conditions and extreme emotional labor, a state human rights watchdog survey showed. 　In the survey of 1,996 call center people conducted by the National Human Rights Commission of Korea from August to October, 48 percent said they thought of killing themselves and 30 percent said they had the thought in the past year. 　As reasons for having suicidal thoughts, economic difficulty was cited the most

　The popularity of professional baseball in South Korea is in decline, especially among people in their 20s, the exact demographic that teams are trying to attract, a national poll showed. 　Gallup Korea released results of its survey of 1,004 South Koreans aged 18 or older from March 15-17. 　And only 31 percent of the polled said they had at least some interest in the Korea Baseball Organization, the lowest since 2013 and well off the record high of 48 percent in 2014. 　Among different age b

　The average height of Koreans has increased for both men and women compared to 40 years ago, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy’s National Institute of Technology and Standards. 　The survey was carried out from May 2020 to December 2021 on 6,839 randomly selected Koreans aged 20 to 69. 　The average height of men stood at 172.5 cm, which was 6.4 cm taller than in the first survey conducted in 1979 (166.1 cm) while for women it increased by 5.3 cm to 159.6 cm. 

　Rice farmers in South Korea posted the largest net profit in 20 years in 2021 thanks mainly to favorable weather conditions, data showed. 　Rice farmers’ net income reached some 502,000 won ($414.2) per 1,000-square-meter paddy last year, up 13.4 percent from a year earlier, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. 　The amount represents the highest net profit from rice cultivation since the 511,600 won recorded in 2001. 　The statistics agency said local farmers’ net i

　A total of 70 earthquakes with a magnitude of 2.0 or stronger were detected on the Korean Peninsula and its surrounding waters last year, a level similar to the yearly average over the past 20 years, the state weather agency said. 　The 2021 figure is up from 68 logged the previous year and is similar to the yearly average of 70.6 since the country began tracking related data with a digital system in 1999, according to the data by the Korea Meteorological Administration. 　Of the total, 16 cas

　Nearly 7 in 10 foreign buyers think that South Korea’s national brand is having a positive impact on their purchases of products from Asia‘s fourth-largest economy, a poll showed. 　According to the survey of 213 foreign buyers, 72.9 percent of the respondents replied that their imports of South Korean goods have been affected positively by the country’s national brand. 　Slightly over 25.4 percent said South Korean products remind them of high quality, followed by reasonable

　South Korea’s imports of coffee surged more than 24 percent to hit a new all-time high in 2021 on its growing popularity here, data showed. 　The value of the country's coffee imports stood at $916.5 million last year, up 24.2 percent from the previous year, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service and industry sources. 　It marks the first time that South Korea’s coffee imports have exceeded the 1 trillion-won ($823 million) level in terms of the local currency. 　Last

　The popularity of professional baseball in South Korea is in decline, especially among people in their 20s, the exact demographic that teams are trying to attract, a national poll showed. 　Gallup Korea released results of its survey of 1,004 South Koreans aged 18 or older from March 15-17. 　And only 31 percent of the polled said they had at least some interest in the Korea Baseball Organization, the lowest since 2013 and well off the record high of 48 percent in 2014. 　Among different age b

　The global pandemic has deepened social isolation to an all-time high in South Korea, according to a “2021 National Quality of Life Report” released by Statistics Korea.  　The social isolation level last year was 34.1 percent, up 6.4 percentage points from 2019 (27.7 percent) before the spread of the coronavirus. This is the highest level since statistics began being compiled in 2009. 　Attendance at cultural and arts events decreased from 8.4 times in 2019 to 4.5 in 2020. L

　Finland has been named the world’s happiest country for the fifth year running, in an annual UN-sponsored index that ranked Afghanistan as the unhappiest, closely followed by Lebanon. 　The latest list was completed before the Russian invasion of Ukraine. 　The World Happiness Report, now in its 10th year, is based on people’s own assessment of their happiness, as well as economic and social data.   　Northern Europeans once again dominated the top spots - with the Danes second