The number of online advertisements for illegal loans rose sharply in 2018, government data showed.　According to data submitted by the Korea Communications Standards Commission to the National Assembly, 4,569 complaints were lodged about unauthorized ads posted on blogs or social media between January and September, compared with 1,755 reported in 2014.　Separate government data showed that 11,122 phone numbers were blocked by authorities between January and July this year, as they were being us

　Samsung Electronics was among the top 10 employers preferred by college students majoring in engineering and information technology, according to a survey.  　The South Korean tech giant ranked ninth, up one notch from last year, in the 2018 survey on the world’s most attractive employers conducted by human resources researcher Universum. 　Samsung was included among the top 10 for the third consecutive year.　Amazon was in 10th place, while Facebook and Huawei Technologies ranked 23rd and 40th, r

　A recent string of natural disasters, the latest a deadly earthquake and tsunami in Indonesia, have exacted a severe toll both in economic damage and human lives throughout Asia. The UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, or UNISDR, says up to 1.6 million people could be affected by the magnitude 7.5 earthquake and the tsunami it created in a central region of the island of Sulawesi. 

　US scientist Frances Arnold became the fifth women to win a Nobel Prize in chemistry on Oct. 3, a day after Canada’s Donna Strickland became the third woman -- and the first in 55 years -- to clinch the Nobel Prize in physics.　Twelve women have won the Nobel Prize in medicine. There have been 19 female winners -- Marie Curie received two separate prizes -- out of more than 600 laureates across the three scientific categories. (AFP)

　The United Nations says the number of undernourished people in the world is growing and returning to levels seen a decade ago, reversing recent trends in large part due to climate change that is wreaking havoc on crop production in many parts of the developing world.　Major UN agencies said in an annual report Tuesday that the number of people facing chronic food deprivation increased to 820.8 million in 2017 from 804.2 million in 2016. South America and Africa showed the worst trends.　The head

　According to the research conducted by Embrain, 82.8 percent of South Koreans believe society is overly reliant on smart devices.　The survey was conducted on 1,000 respondents, aged from 19 to 59, in June.　More than half of the respondents, or 54.7 percent, claimed they themselves were reliant on their smart devices.　Around 72 percent of respondents said they use smartphones in their free time, which marked a slight increase from 61.5 percent posted in 2016.

　Cancer remained the leading cause of death in South Korea in 2017, with heart-related illnesses second, government data showed.　A total of 285,534 South Koreans died in 2017, up 1.7 percent from a year earlier, according to data from Statistics Korea.　Of all deaths reported last year, 78,863 people died of cancer, or 27.6 percent of the total, making it the leading cause of death in Asia’s fourth-largest economy.　The death rate -- the number of deaths per 100,000 people -- from cancer rose to 1

　The number of North Koreans defecting to South Korea has fallen under Kim Jong-un's regime, data showed.　According to Rep. Park Byeong-seug of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, citing figures he received from the Ministry of Unification, the figure has been on a steady decline since 2012. Kim took power in late 2011 following the death of his father, Kim Jong-il.　Park said, there were 2,706 North Koreans who defected to South Korea in 2011, but only 1,502 in 2012.　The number went up slightl

　South Korea is the 18th-best country in the world to live in, a survey by a US nonprofit organization showed.　According to the Social Progress Imperative, Korea earned an overall score of 87.13 out of 100 in its social progress index survey for 2018, ranking 18th out of 146 nations surveyed across the globe. Last year, the Northeast Asian nation ranked 26th.　The index aggregates 51 social and environmental indicators that track three aspects of social progress: basic human needs, foundations of

　France retained its No. 1 ranking as the most-visited country, with 86.9 million visitors, followed by Spain (81.8 million) and the US (75.9 million), according to the United Nations World Tourism Organization.　More than 1.3 billion people traveled to a foreign country in 2017, marking a 7 percent increase in international tourist arrivals from the year prior.　International tourists’ spending also reached $1.6 trillion in 2017, according to the UNWTO. 　China continued to lead outbound travel, w

　Members of the International Whaling Commission have defeated a Japanese proposal to reinstate commercial whaling.　The commission suspended commercial whaling in the 1980s. But Japan argues that stocks have recovered sufficiently for the ban to be lifted. 　Countries that support the ban argue that many populations are still vulnerable and whaling is unacceptable. 　Twenty-seven countries backed Japan’s proposal at the meeting in Florianopolis, Brazil; 41 opposed. 

　Singapore has the fastest 4G network in the Asia-Pacific region, followed by South Korea and Australia.　Singapore is also the fastest 4G, also known as Long Term Evolution, country in the world, according to a report by Open Signal, a UK-based wireless technology company. The report compares 4G performance across 88 countries worldwide.　South Korea has the second-fastest network in Asia, followed by Australia and New Zealand. In Australia, Vodafone has jumped ahead of Telstra in the 4G speed me

　A new study finds gun deaths worldwide total about 250,000 yearly. And the United States is among just six countries that make up half of those fatalities.　The findings are from an analysis of global data from 1990 to 2016.　Two-thirds of the gun deaths in 2016 were homicides, although the US is among wealthy countries where suicides by gun outnumber gun killings.　The US had the second-highest suicide rate in 2016, but ranked 20th in overall gun death rates. 　Gun deaths worldwide increased over

　Yanolja was identified as the most popular South Korean accommodation and flight-booking application among Android smartphone users, recent data showed.　According to data compiled by industry tracker WiseApp, around 1.98 million users are estimated to have used the accommodation-booking service in July, up 33 percent from a month prior.　The figure was calculated based on a sample survey of 23,000 Android smartphone users in Korea. It did not include users of other operating systems.　Good Choice

　Thai Airways took the top spot as the best economy-class airline in the world, according to the Skytrax’s annual “Best Airlines in the World” ranking for 2018.　Airlines based in Asia dominated the ranking, taking nine of the top 10 spots.　The UK-based consumer aviation agency’s survey based its ratings on more than 20 million customer satisfaction surveys. 

　George Clooney topped an annual list of the world’s highest-paid actors, mainly due to the sale of his tequila company. 　The 57-year-old earned an estimated $239 million between June 2017 and June 2018, the highest earnings of his 35-year career in film and television, according to Forbes. 　Clooney sold the Casamigos tequila company he co-founded to British spirits company Diageo in June 2017. He has not starred in a Hollywood movie since the 2016 crime thriller “Money Monster.” 　His on-and off

　The number of South Koreans treated for depression last year rose 15.8 percent from five years before, government data showed.　Some 681,000 patients were treated for depression last year, up from 588,000 tallied in 2012, according to the data compiled by the National Health Insurance Service. 　While the number for women grew 12.1 percent from 406,000 to 455,000, the comparable figure for men jumped 24 percent from 182,000 to 226,000, the data showed. 

　New York is no longer home to the biggest number of ultrarich people, as it has been overtaken by the rising tide of wealth in Asia.　Hong Kong has surpassed the Big Apple as the city with the highest population of people worth at least $30 million, according to a new report. 　Research firm Wealth-X found that the number of ultrarich people in the former British colony increased 31 percent last year to reach about 10,000, higher than the nearly 9,000-strong ultrarich population of the US’ larges

　South Korea's fruit imports reached record-high levels last year on the strength of growing demand for greater variety in food choices, customs data showed.　The country imported 834,000 tons of fruit, worth $1.24 billion, last year. In terms of value, last year's figure marks the highest tally ever, according to the data compiled by the Korea Customs Service.　In the first seven months of the year, fruit imports stood at $1 billion, also up 7.6 percent from a year earlier.　The popularity of avoc