SEOUL, March 3 (Korea Bizwire) — The financial burden of food expenses for South Korea’s lowest-income households has skyrocketed over the past five years, growing at a significantly faster rate than for higher-income groups. New data reveals that the bottom 20% of earners saw their monthly food expenditures rise by nearly 40%, far outpacing the [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 27 (Korea Bizwire) — The government and the ruling People Power Party (PPP) agreed Friday to provide 11.6 trillion won (US$7.86 billion) next year to stabilize consumer prices and ease the financial burden on low-income households. The two sides made the agreement during a consultative meeting among government officials, PPP lawmakers and private [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 19 (Korea Bizwire) — The proportion of unmarried individuals in their 40s increased 6.7 times for men and 5.7 times for women in 2020 compared with 20 years earlier, a government report showed Thursday, underscoring the trend of delayed marriages that is partly blamed for South Korea’s ultra-low birth rate. The growing trend [...]
SEOUL, Nov. 26 (Korea Bizwire) – “All cosmetic samples for just 10,000 won.” Such listings have become increasingly common on Danggeun Market, South Korea’s popular secondhand trading platform, reflecting a growing divide in the nation’s beauty market amid persistent inflation. While some consumers hunt for bargain cosmetics and sample-size products, others flock to luxury brands like [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 11 (Korea Bizwire) — The Bank of Korea (BOK)’s first interest rate cut in 38 months highlighted the urgent need for South Korea to ease interest burdens on households and businesses to prop up sagging domestic demand despite concerns over rising home prices and household debts, experts said Friday. The BOK lowered its [...]
SEOUL, Aug. 19 (Korea Bizwire) — Major South Korean banks are scurrying to further raise their lending rates, alarmed by a spike in household loans amid extended easing monetary policy, industry sources said Monday. KB Bank, Shinhan Bank and Hana Bank will raise their lending rates on mortgage loans by between 0.1 percentage point and [...]
SEOUL, Aug. 12 (Korea Bizwire) – A recent study has shed light on the growing social isolation faced by individuals living alone in Seoul, South Korea’s bustling capital. More than half of Seoul’s single-person households report having no one to turn to for help with daily tasks or during emergencies, raising concerns about the need for [...]
SEOUL, Apr. 12 (Korea Bizwire) – The district of Jung-gu in Incheon has launched a mobile application aimed at preventing isolated deaths among its growing population of single-person households, officials announced on Tuesday. The “Safe eJung-gu” app is designed to automatically send emergency text message alerts to pre-registered guardians if the user, deemed at high risk [...]
SEOUL, Apr. 10 (Korea Bizwire) – The number of single-person households in South Korea has surpassed 10 million, driven by rapid aging and a growing trend toward remaining single, prompting the government to explore policies catering to this demographic shift. According to population statistics from the Ministry of Interior and Safety released on April 9, there [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 26 (Korea Bizwire) — Children and teenagers from households with lower incomes have lower satisfaction in engaging with family members and friends, a government report has showed. Statistics Korea conducted a survey of children and teens between 9-18 years of age in 2020, which showed that the satisfaction level of engaging with family [...]