SEOUL, June 28 (Korea Bizwire) – Retail sales in South Korea rose 5.7 percent on-year in May as consumers celebrated holidays amid the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions, the industry ministry said Wednesday. The combined sales of 25 major offline and online retailers came to 15 trillion won (US$11.5 billion) last month, compared with 14.1 trillion [...]
WASHINGTON, June 27 (Korea Bizwire) — A majority of South Koreans hold a positive view of the United States and President Joe Biden while more than seven out of every 10 South Koreans also believe the U.S. contributes to global peace and stability, a poll showed Tuesday. In a 23-nation survey conducted by the Pew [...]
SEOUL, June 26 (Korea Bizwire) — Construction orders in South Korea are likely to slump nearly 13 percent on-year in 2023 due to less government spending on infrastructure and a sluggish housing market, a think tank said Monday. Local builders’ orders are predicted to decline 12.9 percent from a year earlier to 200.1 trillion won [...]
SEOUL, June 25 (Korea Bizwire) — The number of violent crimes that saw a significant drop in the initial years of the pandemic bounced back last year partially on eased social distancing measures, data showed Sunday. A total of 450,623 violent crimes were reported last year, up 7.4 percent from 419,683 cases the previous year, [...]
SEOUL, June 22 (Korea Bizwire) — The number of households that moved from urban areas to farming and fishing villages logged a marked decrease in 2022 following two years of on-year growth amid the COVID-19 pandemic, data showed Thursday. The number of households moving to farming villages came to 318,769 in 2022, down 12.3 percent [...]
SEOUL, June 22 (Korea Bizwire) — In-flight disturbances and other illegal acts on board have risen significantly this year as more people have gone on overseas trips since the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions, government data showed Thursday. According to the data from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, 159 such cases were reported between [...]
SEOUL, June 20 (Korea Bizwire) — The number of double-income households in South Korea moved up in 2022 from a year earlier, data showed, amid the eased COVID-19 restrictions. Double-income households came to 5.84 million in October 2022, up 20,000 from a year earlier, according to the data from Statistics Korea. They made up 46.1 [...]
SEOUL, June 20 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s overseas direct investment dipped 41.6 percent in the first quarter of 2023 from a year earlier, data showed Tuesday, led by the manufacturing and property sectors. The value of overseas investments by South Korean companies reached US$16.49 billion, down 41.6 percent from a year earlier, according to [...]
SEOUL, June 19 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korean imports of Japanese seafood sank more than 30 percent last month, data showed Monday, amid concerns over Tokyo’s planned release of contaminated water from its crippled nuclear power plant. South Korea imported 2,129 tons of fishery products from the neighboring country in May, down 30.6 percent from [...]
SEOUL, June 18 (Korea Bizwire) — The number of chargers for electric vehicles in South Korea has surpassed 240,000, data showed Sunday, amid the growing popularity of eco-friendly cars in the country. Fast chargers accounted for 10.6 percent of the 240,695 installed electric vehicle charging stations in South Korea, Rep. Park Sang-hyunk of the main [...]