SEJONG, April 29 (Korea Bizwire) — Sales of cigarettes in South Korea rose 4.1 percent on-year in the first quarter of this year, data showed Wednesday, due to robust sales of traditional cigarettes. South Korean smokers purchased 810 million 20-cigarette packs in the January-March period, compared with 780 million packs in the same period last [...]
SEOUL, April 29 (Korea Bizwire) — Large companies in South Korea have trimmed more than 10,000 jobs over the past two months in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, a corporate tracker said Wednesday. According to CEO Score, 492 out of the country’s top 500 firms by sales had a combined 1,644,868 employees subscribing to [...]
SEOUL, April 28 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea suffered its first year-over-year decrease in the number of corporate employees last month, the Ministry of Employment and Labor said Tuesday, apparently due to the economic impact from the coronavirus outbreak. According to the ministry’s labor force report, domestic business entities employing more than one person had [...]
SEOUL, April 28 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s credit card spending fell at the fastest rate ever last month, data showed Tuesday, amid the spread of the new coronavirus that continued to keep people away from unnecessary contact. In March, the amount of purchases using credit and debit cards dropped 4.3 percent from the same [...]
SEOUL, April 28 (Korea Bizwire) — Operating margins of South Korea’s top 100 companies fell to a six-year low in 2019 amid high labor costs, data showed Tuesday. Their average operating margin of the leading firms by sales stood at 4.5 percent last year, the lowest level since 2013, according to market research service provider [...]
SEOUL, April 27 (Korea Bizwire) — Some 47.5 percent of South Korean workers saw their income fall due to the coronavirus outbreak that has infected more than 10,000 here, a survey showed Monday. Among those on temporary work contracts, 66.3 percent suffered an income loss, while the corresponding figure was 35 percent for permanent employees, [...]
SEOUL, April 27 (Korea Bizwire) – The number of Catholics in South Korea rose slightly last year as the religion has experienced a slowdown in its growth in recent years, data showed Monday. According to the data by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Korea, 5.91 million South Koreans were registered with 16 dioceses in the [...]
SEJONG, April 27 (Korea Bizwire) — Suicide remained the leading cause of death among young people in South Korea in 2018, a report showed Monday, a chronic problem that has plagued the nation for more than a decade. The suicide rate per 100,000 people aged between 9 and 24 stood at 9.1 in 2018, up [...]
SEOUL, April 27 (Korea Bizwire) — Four in 10 major listed firms in South Korea pulled off earnings surprises in the first quarter of this year despite the coronavirus pandemic, market data said Monday. Fourteen out of the 35 companies listed on the country’s main and secondary stock markets posted first-quarter operating income that were [...]
SEOUL, April 27 (Korea Bizwire) — Foreign holdings of South Korean stocks reached a 13-month low, as offshore investors rushed for cash amid the prolonged coronavirus uncertainties, data showed Monday. Foreign investors held 468.2 trillion won (US$379.4 billion) worth of stocks traded on the main bourse as of Friday’s close, or 36.83 percent of the [...]