SEOUL, March 23 (Korea Bizwire) — Nearly half of South Koreans over the age of 50 who transitioned from wage employment to self-employment are earning less than the country’s minimum wage, highlighting the precarious financial situation of older entrepreneurs. According to a report released on Sunday by the Korea Employment Information Service, analysis of Korea Welfare [...]
SEOUL, March 20 (Korea Bizwire) — The number of multicultural marriages reached 20,759 last year, up 1,042 from the previous year’s 19,717 cases, according to the data from Statistics Korea. The number of international marriages sharply declined to around 15,000 in 2020 from about 24,000 the previous year, and slid further to around 13,000 in [...]
SEOUL, March 16 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s household debt-to-gross domestic product (GDP) ratio was the second highest among major nations, following Canada, amid growing concerns about rising household borrowing amid weak growth and domestic demand, data showed Sunday. The debt-to-GDP ratio for South Korea came to 91.7 percent in the fourth quarter of 2024, [...]
SEOUL, March 13 (Korea Bizwire) — South Koreans are spending nearly seven times more time watching short-form videos than traditional over-the-top (OTT) streaming content, underscoring a shift in digital consumption patterns toward quick, engaging clips. According to a report released on Thursday by WiseApp Retail, a mobile app and retail analytics firm, the average South Korean [...]
SEOUL, March 13 (Korea Bizwire) — The South Korean government has, for the first time, publicly disclosed data on early childhood private education spending, shedding light on a rapidly expanding market that has sparked concerns over educational inequality and excessive academic pressure on young children. The Ministry of Education released findings from the 2024 Early Childhood [...]
SEOUL, March 9 (Korea Bizwire) — People in their 60s or older looking for jobs increased last year despite a decline in all other age groups, data showed Sunday. A total of 4,525,456 new job applications were posted on government-run employment website Worknet in 2024, marking a 5.3 percent decline from a year earlier, according [...]
SEOUL, March 2 (Korea Bizwire) — Nearly one in three newly minted Ph.D. holders in South Korea last year remained unemployed, a record-high figure that underscores a tightening job market even for the country’s most highly educated individuals. According to data from Statistics Korea, only 70.4% of Ph.D. recipients who graduated in 2024 had secured employment [...]
SEOUL, March 2 (Korea Bizwire) — More than half of South Koreans spend nearly two hours daily on YouTube, reinforcing its dominance in the country’s digital landscape, according to a report by Mobile Index from IGAWorks released on March 2. As of February 25, YouTube’s total usage time in South Korea reached 69.65 million hours, the [...]
SEOUL, Feb. 17 (Korea Bizwire) — The number of individuals experiencing moderate to severe depression and recurrent depressive disorder in South Korea has surged nearly 13% over the past two years, reversing a previous decline, according to government data. A report released on February 16 by the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s National Center for Mental [...]
SEOUL, Feb. 16 (Korea Bizwire) — The number of self-employed individuals in South Korea who failed to repay their debts increased by 35% in 2024, as high interest rates and prolonged domestic economic stagnation deepened financial distress, new data shows. The burden was particularly severe for those aged 60 and older, with defaults in this group [...]