The prices of major fruits sold in South Korea hit the highest level in four years last month, data showed Tuesday. According to data compiled by Statistics Korea, the index of the prices of 15 major fruits, including apples, pears, grapes, strawberries and tangerines, surged to 118.15 in May, the highest since May 2013 when the figure stood at 118.18, data by Statistics Korea showed. The index is calculated by comparing the prices with a base figure of 100 set in 2015.

France has the highest minimum wage in the world, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Its after-tax rate of $11.20 per hour is followed by Australia with $11.10 and Luxembourg with $11. Germany and Belgium are among the top five countries, with minimum hourly wages of $10.30 and $10.20, respectively, the OECD said. The United States ranked 12th, with a federal minimum wage of $7.20 per hour. Mexico came in last out of 32 countries, with the lowest take-home mi

More than 1 in 10 people worldwide are now obese, with weight-related health problems claiming millions of lives every year, according to a major new global study released Monday.Conducted in 195 countries over a 35-year period, the study published in the New England Journal of Medicine and presented at a conference in Stockholm is billed as the most comprehensive research to date on the subject.Obesity numbers more than doubled in 73 countries since the study launch in 1980, triggering a surge

South Korea’s export prices fell in May due to the strong won and a drop in oil prices, central bank data showed Friday.Export prices fell 1 percent in May, according to data. Still, year-on-year, export prices jumped 5.3 percent last month, marking the seventh consecutive month of gains.Export prices of industrial goods fell 1 percent month-on-month, according to the latest tally, while those of agricultural and fisheries products climbed 1 percent during the same period.Import prices also fell

Six Asian countries are ranked among the world’s top 10 countries most affected by extreme weather events in the last 20 years, according to the Global Climate Risk Index by think-tank Germanwatch.Six Asian countries -- Myanmar, Philippines, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Vietnam and Thailand -- are among the world‘s top 10 countries most affected by an extreme weather event between 1996 and 2015. Central American country, Honduras has a long history of devastating natural disasters and remains the most

President Moon Jae-in had only three ministerial posts to fill in his Cabinet as of Wednesday. He has named 16 Cabinet members so far and two of them -- Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon and Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon -- have taken office. The remaining are pending parliamentary confirmation. Six are former or incumbent lawmakers. Twelve are men and four are women. Although the ratio of females is already higher than under the previous administration, which had two female

The number of twins, triplets and other multiple births in South Korea has tripled over the past 20 years, in contrast with declining total births every year, recent data shows. According to Statistics Korea, multiple births in the country numbered 16,166 in 2015, or 3.7 percent of all babies born in the same year. The number is 70 percent higher than in 1995, but the proportion as a total of all babies has nearly tripled over the same period.The number of multiples born marked 10,692 babies, or

South Korea ranked fifth in terms of rising food prices in the first quarter of the year out of 35 member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, according to data from the OECD. Food prices in Korea jumped 3.9 percent from the previous quarter, behind Turkey with 9.7 percent growth, Latvia with 5.9 percent, Czech Republic with 4.1 percent and Estonia with 4 percent, the data showed. The increase was mainly attributable to the spread of bird flu and the outbreak o

Hydroelectric power is China’s largest renewable energy source and its second overall, trailing only coal. The country is adding more new installed hydropower capacity than the rest of the Asia combined.China has added 331,110 megawatts of hydroelectricity generating capacity, far outpacing other Asian countries like India with 51,975 MW, Japan with 49,905 MW and Vietnam with 16,306 MW.On the other hand, Bangladesh, Nepal, Cambodia and Bhutan are the Asian countries with the least hydroelectric

Smoking and other tobacco use kills more than 7 million people each year, the World Health Organization said Tuesday, also warning of the dire environmental impact of tobacco production, distribution and waste.The UN agency said tougher measures were needed to rein in tobacco use, urging countries to ban smoking in the workplace and indoor public spaces, outlaw marketing of tobacco products and hike cigarette prices.In a report, WHO warned that the annual death toll of 7 million people had jumpe

Smartphones with wider displays, including 5.5-inch models, have become mainstream in the global market, amid rising demand for gaming and video streaming content via mobile devices, an industry tracker said. According to the IDC, global shipments of smartphones with 4-inch displays or smaller are anticipated to be 18.8 million units this year, marking a sharp drop from 86.1 million units in 2015. The decline in shipments is expected to continue, reaching 5.4 million units in 2019.On the other h

Earth’s average global temperature is scaling new heights, sea ice is retreating, extreme weather events have become more frequent and species are increasingly under threat.　

South Korea’s three major local broadcasters -- MBC, KBS and SBS -- started ultrahigh-definition broadcasting for the region in and around Seoul last week.UHD broadcasts provide four times the resolution of current high-definition broadcasts, officials said. Viewers can also use Internet Protocol-based services when they connect their TVs to the internet.However, they have to purchase a separate set-top box as UHD TVs manufactured by local TV makers have so far been based on the DVB-T2 broadcast

President Donald Trump declared he was pulling the US from the landmark Paris climate agreement, striking a major blow to worldwide efforts to combat global warming and distancing the country from its closest allies abroad. Only China tops America in greenhouse gas emission from fossil fuel combustion and industry, according the Environmental Protection Agency. Most emissions are due to electricity production closely followed by agriculture and forestry. Transportation is responsible for 14 perc

Many newlyweds quit their jobs after having a baby, as it can be a struggle to raise children while working, data from Statistics Korea showed.Out of 235,000 couples who tied the knot in 2014, 130,000 couples, or 55.5 percent, had at least one child as of November 2015, up from 22.5 percent a year earlier. On the other hand, the proportion of married couples who were both working after having their first child was 50.8 percent in 2014, but this fell to 41.2 percent in 2015, according to the data