South Korea's youth jobless rate surged to an all-time high of 12.5 percent in February, a government report said Wednesday, underlying the growing number of college graduates failing to land jobs due to the sluggish economy.   Statistics Korea said the nation's overall jobless rate stood at a six-year high of 4.9 percent last month, up from 3.7 percent in January. The February reading also marks a 0.4 percentage point rise from the year before, the agency said in its monthly job market report. 

Korean men are getting fatter and women’s legs are getting longer, according to a survey on Korean body size and obesity released Monday.The poll of 6,413 people, which was conducted by the Korean Agency for Technology and Standards under the Industry Ministry, showed that nearly half of Korean men in their 30s are obese. It said some 52 percent of those aged between 35 and 39 had a body mass index of 25, a measure of body fat based on height and weight. A BMI of 25 or over is regarded as obese

The head of Korea’s main international airport has been appointed to the Asia-Pacific Regional Board of the Airports Council International, the airport said Tuesday.Chung Il-young, the CEO of Incheon International Airport Corp., will take part in creating policy at ACI as a representative of Asian-Pacific airlines for three years.  Chung Il-young (Incheon International Airport)He was appointed to his post on March 13.Chung Il-young has been the CEO of Incheon International Airport Corp. since Fe

Korea's trade surplus expanded from a month earlier in February but mostly due to imports shrinking at a faster clip than exports, customs data showed Tuesday.The country's trade surplus came to $7.38 billion last month,compared with a surplus of $5.17 billion in the previous month, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service.   February marked the 49th consecutive month of a trade surplus.From a year earlier, however, the February tally dropped 1.2 percent.The on-month increase was lar

South Korea's tax office has launched a tax probe on the country's largest church, sources said Monday.According to Yoido Full Gospel Church insiders, the National Tax Service (NTS) has started going through its tax records."The NTS Seoul Regional Office started the tax probe into our church... It has asked us to set up an investigation office at the CCMM building (located in Yeouido, southwestern Seoul)," Reverend Dr. Lee Young-hoon was quoted as saying by several church officials who later rel

Nearly half of South Korean men in their 30s are obese, while women have longer legs compared to 10 years ago, a nationwide survey showed on Monday.According to the survey on 6,413 South Koreans conducted last year by the Korean Agency for Technology and Standards, 52 percent of men aged between 35 and 39 had a body mass index of 25. A BMI of 25 or more is regarded as obese in South Korea.On the female side, the survey showed that 46 percent of women aged 60 and over surpassed the 25 BMI thresho

A monthly fiscal report released by the Finance Ministry last week showed that Korea’s national tax revenue reached 30.1 trillion won ($25.3 billion) in January, up 4.4 trillion won from a year earlier. This accounts for 13.5 percent of the total national tax revenue planned to be collected throughout the year, compared with the corresponding figures for the same months in 2014 and 2015, which stood at 11.7 percent and 11.9 percent, respectively.This spike has drawn some skeptical and grumbling

South Korea's home sales plunged 24.9 percent last month from a year earlier as the local property market has shown some signs of a slowdown, government data showed Sunday.The number of home transactions reached 59,265 in February compared with a record 78,864 tallied a year ago, according to data compiled by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.It also marked a 5 percent drop from the previous month's 62,365 and a 12.2 percent fall from a five-year average of 68,000.February's sha

Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn pledged Monday to provide tax incentives to companies that create jobs for young adults.The government will "make efforts to expand jobs for young adults," Hwang said at the opening ceremony of a job fair in the central city of Daejoen. He did not elaborate on the tax incentives for companies. Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn (Yonhap)Young Koreans have been hit hard by a prolonged economic slump as local companies remain reluctant to hire new workers.The unemployment rat

Chinese companies' takeover of Korean businesses spiked last year, with the culture and financial service sectors emerging as their main targets, industry data showed Monday.According to the data compiled by the Korea International Trade Association, Chinese companies took over Korean firms in a total of 33 corporate merger and acquisition (M&A) deals last year, which was about three times more than the previous year. Money involved in those deals came to $1.93 billion, a 128-percent rise from t

Korea's import and export prices rose from a month earlier in February largely due to a recovery in global oil prices and the devaluation of the local currency against the U.S. dollar, central bank data showed Monday.The export price index came to 81.99 last month, up 0.8 percent from a revised 81.32 the previous month, according to preliminary data from the Bank of Korea (BOK).The on-month gain, however, was mostly attributed to a weakening of the Korean won, which on average traded 1,217.35 wo

Foreign direct investment in Korea reached a record annual high of $20.91 billion last year on the reporting basis, according to recent data from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. In the period between 2013 and 2015, the amount stood at $54.4 billion.But the record may well be seen as similar to the level in the late 1990s when the country began strengthening efforts to attract more investment from abroad while going through a foreign exchange crisis.The FDI here in 2013-2015 was up so

Real-wage growth surpassed economic growth in Korea last year mainly due to a record-low inflation rate, government data showed Sunday.According to the finance and labor ministries, the inflation-adjusted monthly salary at workplaces with five or more regular employees grew 2.7 percent on-year to an average of 3 million won ($2,510) in 2015. It was the first time since 2012 that real wages -- adjusted to reflect purchasing power -- grew faster than the economy itself. Korea’s gross domestic prod