SEOUL, March 11 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korean households’ spending on restaurants and hotels dropped in the fourth quarter of last year amid a resurge of coronavirus infections, central bank data showed Thursday. Household spending on eating out and hospitality services came to 18.9 trillion won (US$16.6 billion) in the October-December period, dropping below the [...]
SEOUL, March 9 (Korea Bizwire) — The indie music scene in South Korea has not been spared from the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic, more so due to the government’s strict social distancing guidelines and the usually tight budgets for indie musicians. In contrast to mainstream K-pop artists, who have successfully mobilized tens of thousands [...]
SEOUL, March 9 (Korea Bizwire) – Spending on private education for children declined nearly 12 percent last year amid the fallout of the pandemic, data showed Tuesday. Total expenditures on private education for primary, middle and high school students amounted to 9.3 trillion won (US$8.1 billion) last year, down 11.8 percent from a year earlier, [...]
SEOUL, March 9 (Korea Bizwire) — A recent survey has revealed that some South Korean young adults frequently experience feelings of depression and helplessness due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Korean Women’s Development Institute conducted an online survey of 6,570 adults between 19 and 34 years of age to identify what impact the COVID-19 situation [...]
SEOUL, March 5 (Korea Bizwire) — Online shopping in South Korea grew more than 20 percent in January from a year earlier as the protracted pandemic promoted more people to buy products via e-commerce platforms, data showed Friday. The value of online transactions stood at 15.1 trillion won (US$13.3 billion) in January, up 22.4 percent [...]
SEOUL, March 4 (Korea Bizwire) — More women than men feel concerned about being disadvantaged at work for taking time off to attend to parental duties amid the coronavirus pandemic, a survey showed Thursday. The survey, which was conducted by the Federation of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU), an umbrella labor group, ahead of March 8 [...]
SEOUL, March 3 (Korea Bizwire) — The average amount of time South Koreans spent using the internet reached over 20 hours per week last year, 2.7 hours more than the time spent the previous year amid the stay-at-home trend driven by the pandemic, a report showed Wednesday. South Koreans used the internet 20.1 hours a [...]
SEOUL, March 3 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea’s finance minister said Wednesday the government will make efforts to create some 300,000 jobs by 2025 in the service sector that has borne the brunt of the COVID-19 pandemic. Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki unveiled a road map on developing the service industry, under which the country will [...]
SEOUL, March 2 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korean schools opened for the new school year Tuesday amid a mix of anxiety and hopes, as the country is still fighting against the third wave of the pandemic, but much-anticipated vaccinations have finally begun. The Ministry of Education has said it would expand in-person classes this year, [...]
SEOUL, Feb. 25 (Korea Bizwire) — The number of people working at restaurants and hotels fell by a record 24,000 in January amid the third wave of the coronavirus pandemic, the labor ministry said Thursday. The total number of workers in the restaurant and hotel industry stood at 1.05 million last month, down 24,000, or [...]