SEOUL, Jan. 25 (Korea Bizwire) — A total of 25.6 suicides per 100,000 across the entire population — a statistic that equates to one suicide per 40 minutes or 36 suicides per day — is South Korea’s alarming suicide rate in 2016. South Korea bears the undesirable distinction of having led all OECD countries in [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 23 (Korea Bizwire) — Despite numerous studies that vouch for the effectiveness of cough etiquette, the practice of ‘covering one’s mouth while coughing’ has yet to take root in South Korea. “You can cough during a performance. I know you can’t help coughing. I would just like you to cough with your mouth covered,” [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 22 (Korea Bizwire) — North Korea’s seven-member delegation entered the South on January 21 as it began its two-day journey to conduct site inspections of performance venues in Seoul and Gangneung, a city near PyeongChang where the 2018 Winter Olympics will be held. The delegation, led by North Korean pop singer Hyun Sung-wol, [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 19 (Korea Bizwire) — A long-held rite of passage for new employees at big firms has in recent weeks come under fire after reports surfaced detailing allegations that newly hired female employees at Kookmin Bank (KB), who were participants in a company mandated training program, were offered contraceptives to avoid suffering from discomfort [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 18 (Korea Bizwire) — The South Korean government is being criticized for pushing for a showcase of inter-Korean unity at the PyeongChang Olympics through a series of high-level talks. Dialogue between the two Koreas continues over the logistics of North Korea’s participation in the Winter Olympics next month, as officials from Seoul and Pyongyang [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 16 (Korea Bizwire) — “When the new minimum wage takes root, the economy will rebound and job growth will materialize.” In his back-and-forth with journalists at the Blue House on January 10, Moon stood firm in his conviction that his administration’s audacious minimum wage boost — dragging up wages from 6,470 won to [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 15 (Korea Bizwire) — Despite the family-friendly image of traditional holidays, a significant number of couples file for divorce around traditional family holidays such as Lunar New Year and Chuseok. Data from the National Court Administration shows that nearly twice as many married couples file for divorce during the 10 days before and after [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 13 (Korea Bizwire) – The story of an ambulance driver facing prosecution after a car accident last week caused uproar in South Korea. The private ambulance carrying a two-month-old infant ran a red light, according to police, before colliding with an SUV while traveling from one hospital in North Chungcheong Province to another in [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 11 (Korea Bizwire) – Before an assembly of 250 domestic and foreign media personnel, President Moon Jae-in expounded upon his vision for South Korea’s 2018 on January 10. Moon’s New Year’s address was both populist and pacifist; the president emphasized improving the quality of life for the average citizen and reaffirmed his dedication [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 9 (Korea Bizwire) — South Koreans are increasingly having discussions over their unique way of calculating age, which has met as much curiosity as the confusion it has generated. Known as East Asian age reckoning, many Asian countries used to follow the practice of understanding age one as the starting point of life. [...]