Employed South Koreans have been getting older over the past five years in line with the country's rapid population aging, with the average age of the jobless falling, a report said Sunday.The persistence of such a situation is feared to increase the burden of local companies and make some industries have difficulties recruiting new employees due to a dearth of young workers. (Yonhap)According to the report by the Hyundai Research Institute, the average age of employed South Koreans has increase

The South Korean economy has been showing some modest signs of recovery thanks to brisk exports and investment but the momentum remains weak due to flaccid private consumption, a state-run think tank said Sunday."Exports and investment maintained high growth, signaling that economic activity has continued to expand at a moderate pace," the Korea Development Institute said in its monthly evaluation of the country's economic conditions. "Exports exhibited relatively high growth as s

South Korea's corporate watchdog said Sunday that it has imposed a combined 312 million won ($275,600) on Hyundai Steel Co., the country's second-biggest steelmaker by sales, and its employees for obstructing an investigation and refusing to present evidence.Investigators of the Fair Trade Commission carried out on-site investigations into Hyundai Steel's alleged violations of the local fair trade law in December 2016 and February 2017, according to the watchdog. (Yonhap)During the period, two c

The number of foreign residents who took out life insurance policies here topped 200,000 in 2015, with their subscriptions rising at an annual rate of 16 percent over the past five years, industry data showed Sunday.According to the data compiled by the Korea Insurance Development Institute, a total of 212,000 foreigners took out life insurance in 2015, compared with 186,000 in 2014, 164,000 in 2013 and 142,000 in 2012. (Yonhap)The pace is much higher than the annual growth rate of 3.9 percent f

Outbound shipments of such products as camera modules, flat panel display equipment and face masks rose the sharpest among South Korean goods whose exports topped $100 million annually in 2016, government data showed Sunday.Overall shipments of goods abroad for Asia's fourth-largest economy contracted 5.9 percent on-year, but exports of modules, panel-related gear and makeup products all jumped by double and triple digits, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said. (Yonhap)Exports of modul

Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance Co., South Korea's top non-life insurance company, said Sunday that it has agreed to buy a 20 percent stake in a Vietnamese non-life insurer, as part of its efforts to tap deeper into the Southeast Asian country.Under the deal with a Vietnamese state-run oil firm, Petrolimex, Samsung Fire will buy the stake in PJICO, Vietnam's fifth-largest non-life insurer with a 7 percent market share. (Yonhap)The value of the deal was not disclosed.Samsung Fire established its

The US troops in South Korea are pushing to set up a unit that will be charged with gathering and analyzing human intelligence on North Korea, local authorities said Sunday.Human Intelligence, known as HUMINT, is intelligence gathered by means of interpersonal contact. This undated photo provided by the Eighth US Army shows soldiers of its 501st Military Intelligence Brigade analyzing intelligence. (Yonhap)The move comes as the North's development of communications security technology is increas

Direct taxes collected by the state made up a record 55.3 percent of all dues collected in 2016, official data showed Sunday.The rise comes as the government reformed its tax credit rules on income and transfer taxes, the finance ministry said. It said the percentage of direct taxes to overall revenue earnings has been on the rise for the past three years. A rise in direct taxes generally reflects a more balanced form of taxation and better distribution of wealth.Last year, the ministry said tha

South Korea will invest 2.5 trillion won ($2.2 billion) in railway facilities and safety systems to sharply reduce rail accidents this year, the government said Sunday. The budget allocated to help prevent train crashes and other major rail accidents has been marked up 32 percent, or 610.3 billion won, from last year, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transportation said in a statement. Workers engage in removing a derailed passenger train near Yulchon station in the southern port of Yeos

The total amount of South Korean land owned by foreigners increased 2.3 percent in 2016 compared to a year earlier, the government said Sunday.At the end of 2016, foreign investors owned a total of 234 million square meters of land worth 32.31 trillion won ($28.5 billion), accounting for 0.2 percent of the country's overall territory, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transportation said in a statement.  In the previous year, foreigners held 32.57 trillion won worth of land estimated

The prevalence of ovarian cancer among South Korean women in their 20s has jumped nearly 50 percent over the past five years due to a change in their life patterns, data showed Sunday.According to the data by the Health Insurance Review & Assessment Service, 20-something ovarian cancer patients stood at 1,218 last year, up a whopping 48 percent from 825 in 2012. (Yonhap)Last year's figure accounted for 6.7 percent of all ovarian cancer patients in the country, but the increase rate outpaced that

Most listed manufacturing firms in South Korea tend to hold or resell treasury shares instead of canceling them in order to help controlling shareholders strengthen their managerial control, a report said Sunday.According to the report by professor Kim Woo-jin of Seoul National University, treasury share cancellations by listed manufacturing companies came to 174 cases between 2004 and 2015.The figure accounted for only 2.3 percent of stock buybacks, resales and retirement conducted by all 7,428

Exports of oil and related goods to China increased 2.6 percent in the first quarter of 2017 from a year earlier in the face of an ongoing diplomatic tussle over the deployment of an advanced US missile defense system in South Korea. industry data showed Sunday.According to the data compiled by the Korea Petroleum Association, petroleum exports to China amounted to 22.48 million barrels in the January-March period, compared with 21.91 million barrels in the year earlier period. (Yonhap)In terms

South Korea's chief economic policymaker has called for bold measures against unfair trade practices, expressing worries over growing protectionism by advanced economies.At an annual gathering of the Asian Development Bank in Yokohama, Japan, on Saturday, South Korean Finance Minister Yoo Il-ho also said Asian countries should raise their guard against short-term downside risk in order to regain their recovery momentum. "We need to take stern measures against unfair trade practices, which w

Major owner-managers of conglomerates in South Korea, known as chaebol here, earned at least 10 billion won ($8.8 million) in dividends, compensation and other income in 2016, data showed Sunday.According to the data by market Chaebul.com and conglomerates' 2016 business reports, Lee Kun-hee, chairman of tech giant Samsung Electronics Co. and chief of No. 1 conglomerate Samsung Group, topped the income list with 195.4 billion won last year. This undated file photo shows the headquarters of Samsu

Sales of midsize hybrid cars were halved in the first four months of this year, mainly due to existing vehicle models becoming dated and the popularity of new non-hybrid vehicles, market watchers said Sunday.Data provided by carmakers showed sales of the Sonata, K5 and Malibu hit 2,268 units at the end of April, down a sharp 49.7 percent from a year earlier.Broken down by month, sales in January plunged 62.6 percent on-year, with numbers backtracking 41.7 percent and 29.7 percent in the followin

Samsung Heavy Industries Co. said it partially resumed operations Saturday, after being shut down for six days following a deadly crane accident at one of its shipyards earlier this week. The Ministry of Employment and Labor had ordered the South Korean shipbuilder to suspend operations at its shipyard in the southeastern port city of Geoje after two cranes collided at the dockyard Monday, causing a structure to fall from one of the cranes. Six workers at the site were killed and another 25 were

The Gangneung city government said more than 2,500 residents were ordered to flee Saturday as a wind-fed forest fire spread in the eastern city.About 300 residents are known to have fled from their homes after the blaze started on a hill near Daegwallyeong, a mountain pass close to the east coast, at around 3:30 p.m., according to city officials.A total of 30 private houses were damaged by the fire as of 10 p.m., but no casualties have been reported, they said. (Yonhap)The residents took shelter

The former ruling party on Saturday completed the reinstatement of 12 lawmakers who departed from the conservative Bareun Party earlier this week to support the presidential candidate of the rival party, a party official said. A total of 56 party members are subject to the reinstatement, including the former lawmakers of the splinter party who announced earlier this week they will return to the former ruling party to back Hong Joon-pyo in Tuesday's presidential election. Hong Joon-pyo of the con

Presidential hopefuls hit the road and braved dusty conditions on Saturday as their campaigns entered the final stretch.Front-runner Moon Jae-in of the liberal Democratic Party stayed in Seoul and its surrounding cities, with the presidential election just three days away. Moon Jae-in of the liberal Democratic Party (Yonhap)He made stops in Incheon and Ansan, both lying just west of Seoul, before returning to the capital for the evening.Thirteen candidates are vying for the presidential office,