SEOUL, Oct. 9 (Korea Bizwire) — More than half of South Korea’s fine dust pollution during the winter months comes from China, according to new government data underscoring the persistent cross-border nature of the country’s air quality problem. A report released Wednesday by the National Institute of Environmental Research (NIER) found that 55 percent of ultrafine [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 9 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s imports of coffee beans jumped sharply from a year earlier in 2024, with imports this year widely expected to reach an all-time high, customs data showed Thursday. Imports of coffee beans, including both raw and roasted products, came to US$1.24 billion last year, up 13 percent from $1.1 billion the previous year, [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 9 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s exchange-traded fund (ETF) market has entered a new era, surpassing 250 trillion won ($180 billion) in total assets and reshaping what it means to be a “mega fund” in one of the country’s fastest-growing financial sectors. According to data from the Korea Securities Depository released Tuesday, the number [...]
WASHINGTON, Oct. 9 (Korea Bizwire) – A leading Washington think tank has warned that South Korea’s reluctance to challenge China militarily or economically could complicate U.S. strategy in Asia, even as it praised Seoul’s technological prowess as vital to the allies’ shared interests in an era of intensifying competition with Beijing. In a report released Wednesday [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 9 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea ranked second after Vietnam in per capita consumption of “ramyeon,” or instant noodles, in 2024, a global industry association said Thursday. South Korea’s overall ramyeon consumption reached 4.1 billion units last year, ranking eighth worldwide, while its per person consumption stood at 79.2 in the country of [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 9 (Korea Bizwire) – Cigarette smoking rates among men in their 30s have slumped by 19.5 percentage points over the past nine years amid steady declines among some other age groups, government data showed Thursday. The figure stood at 28.5 percent in 2024, compared with 48 percent in 2015, according to an annual [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 9 (Korea Bizwire) — Despite the country’s rapidly aging population, more than half of South Koreans have never discussed death or end-of-life care with their families, reflecting deep cultural reluctance to confront mortality, a new study shows. According to a report published this year by the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs, 54.3 [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 9 (Korea Bizwire) — As investigators probe the cause of the recent fire at South Korea’s National Information Resources Service (NIRS) data center, attention is turning to the safety of the lithium-ion batteries used in its uninterruptible power supply (UPS) system—reviving debate over pouch-type battery risks and accelerating the industry’s shift toward prismatic [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 9 (Korea Bizwire) — Samsung Electronics marked Korea’s Hangeul Day with a traveling art exhibition across major U.S. universities, highlighting the beauty and cultural value of the Korean alphabet through a collaboration with the New York Korean Cultural Center and renowned installation artist Kang Ik-joong. The company said Thursday that the “Hangeul Truck” project [...]
BOEUN, Oct. 9 (Korea Bizwire) — Amid mounting criticism from animal rights groups, Boeun County in North Chungcheong Province plans to proceed with its annual bullfighting festival later this month, defending it as a local tradition and a driver of regional tourism. The county and the Boeun branch of the Korea Folk Bullfighting Association announced [...]