SEOUL, Sept. 16 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s unemployment rate hit an all-time low last month, but the pace of job growth slowed down for the third month in a row amid economic uncertainties, data showed Friday. The number of employed people stood at 28.41 million in August, up 807,000 from a year earlier, according [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 15 (Korea Bizwire) — South Koreans’ use of internet banking services grew 6.9 percent in the first half of this year from six months earlier as customers preferred financial services through mobile devices, central bank data showed Thursday. The daily use of online banking services, including mobile banking, reached 18.82 million cases in [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 15 (Korea Bizwire) — Despite the steady growth of flexible work arrangements, the number of South Korean workers who can’t afford to take advantage of such benefits remains significant, a business lobby said Wednesday. According to an analysis of data from Statistics Korea conducted by the Federation of Korean Industries, the number of [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 14 (Korea Bizwire) — Various indices measuring the country’s overall levels of blood pressure, blood sugar and cholesterol levels in the liver among elementary, middle and high school students have worsened since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, data showed Tuesday. Rep. Shin Hyun-young of the Democratic Party shared reports from the Seoul [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 14 (Korea Bizwire) — Companies in South Korea saw their profitability shrink in the second quarter from a year earlier despite a sales jump due mainly to a rise in commodity prices, central bank data showed Wednesday. Their operating profit to sales ratio stood at 7.4 percent in the April-June period, down 0.3 [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 13 (Korea Bizwire) — The number of disposable cups consumed at major cafe and fast food chains topped 1 billion last year amid the COVID-19 pandemic, a report showed Tuesday. According to the environment ministry report submitted to Rep. Lee Joo-hwan of the ruling People Power Party, the number of disposable plastic and [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 13 (Korea Bizwire) — The government has seen nearly 560,000 outside hacking attempts into its key computer systems over the past six years, with a combined 43 percent from China and the United States, a report showed Tuesday. According to the interior ministry report submitted to Rep. Lee Hae-sik of the main opposition [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 13 (Korea Bizwire) — The number of South Korean firms unable to service their debts with earnings soared nearly 24 percent in 2021 from two years earlier amid the prolonged coronavirus outbreak, a report showed Tuesday. Asia’s fourth-largest economy had 2,823 “marginal companies” last year, up 23.7 percent from 2019 before the COVID-19 [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 10 (Korea Bizwire) — South Koreans’ consumption of flowers and ornamental plants rose 6.1 percent on-year last year on rising demand amid the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic and restrictions in outdoor activities, data showed Saturday. An average South Korean spent 12,386 won (US$8.90) on buying flowers and other plants in 2021, compared with 11,676 [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 10 (Korea Bizwire) — A majority of parents in South Korea were found to rely heavily on smartphones or tablet computers when tending to young children while carrying out daily tasks at home, a poll showed Saturday, a development that reflects the country’s growing smartphone addiction problem among young people. In the poll [...]