SEOUL, March 22 (Korea Bizwire) — Card use for settlement in South Korea jumped 9.4 percent last year as consumption rebounded from a pandemic-caused slowdown and people reduced reliance on hard currency, central bank data showed Tuesday. The daily average settlement made through credit card and other card services came to 2.76 trillion won (US$2.26 [...]
SEOUL, March 22 (Korea Bizwire) — About 58 percent of South Koreans are against President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol’s plan to move the presidential office out of Cheong Wa Dae, while some 33 percent support the idea, a poll showed Tuesday. According to the poll of 1,018 adults, conducted by pollster Mediatomato on Saturday and Sunday, 58.1 [...]
SEOUL, March 21 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s imports of coffee surged more than 24 percent to hit a new all-time high in 2021 on its growing popularity here, data showed Monday. The value of the country’s coffee imports stood at US$916.5 million last year, up 24.2 percent from the previous year, according to the [...]
SEOUL, March 19 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea ranked 59th among 146 countries in a U.N.-sponsored world happiness index. The Sustainable Development Solutions Network under the United Nations announced the 2022 World Happiness Report on Friday (local time). Finland topped the list for the fifth consecutive year, followed by Denmark, Switzerland and Iceland. South Korea [...]
SEOUL, March 17 (Korea Bizwire) — The number of stock investors in South Korea spiked more than 50 percent on-year in 2021 to breach the 10 million mark amid a retail investment boom, industry data showed Thursday. A total of 13.84 million investors held shares in 2,426 companies listed on the country’s main and secondary [...]
SEJONG, March 17 (Korea Bizwire) – The number of South Koreans getting married tumbled to a new all-time low in 2021 amid the coronavirus pandemic and young people’s changing attitude toward marriage, government data showed Thursday. The number of couples tying the knot in Asia’s fourth-largest economy came to 193,000 last year, down 9.8 percent from the [...]
SEOUL, March 16 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s car exports expanded more than 5 percent in February on increased production capacity, despite a global shortage of automotive chips, data showed Wednesday. Outbound shipments of automobiles stood at 167,682 units last month, up 5.1 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from the Ministry [...]
SEOUL, March 16 (Korea Bizwire) – The number of employed people in South Korea increased by more than 1 million on-year for the second straight month in February due to a low base effect and the economic recovery, data showed Wednesday. The number of employed people came to 27.4 million last month, up 1.04 million [...]
SEOUL, March 16 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s import prices of grains have jumped nearly 50 percent over the past two years to a near nine-year high amid the prolonged coronavirus pandemic, data showed Wednesday. Prices of imported grains came to US$386 per ton in February, up 26 percent from a year earlier and 47.4 [...]
SEOUL, March 15 (Korea Bizwire) — More than 6 in 10 large firms in South Korea are feeling the pinch of the Russia-Ukraine war that has sent international material costs soaring, a poll said Tuesday. The survey on 153 out of the country’s top 1,000 companies by sales showed 60.8 percent of the respondents saying [...]