The number of people diagnosed with a gambling addiction has increased due to economic plight.According to the Health Insurance Review & Assessment Service, there were 925 such cases in 2015, already up from 751 in 2014, with a further rise to 1,113 in 2016.By age, those in their 30s made up 37.2 percent, followed by those in their 20s at 32.5 percent. People in their 40s made up 13.7 percent of the total.

China executed more people in 2016 than all other nations combined, Amnesty International said, even as worldwide total executions decreased overall. The human rights organization estimates the Asian giant alone killed “thousands” of people, a figure based on examinations of court records and news reports. All other countries combined executed at least 1,032 people last year -- a decline of 37 percent compared to 2015. Of those, 87 percent took place in just four countries -- Iran, Saudi Arabia,

Italy has been ranked the healthiest country in the world according to the Bloomberg Global Health Index of 163 countries. Iceland, Switzerland, Singapore and Australia rounded out the top five healthiest countries in the index. South Korea placed No. 24, with a health grade of 82.06 out of 100 points.Each country in the index was graded based on variables such as life expectancy, causes of death and health risks ranging from high blood pressure and tobacco use to malnutrition and the availabili

On average, South Koreans drank 500 cups per person last year. The coffee consumption is estimated to have reached about 25.05 billion cups in 2016, up 25 percent from 10 years ago, according to industry data. Coffee mixes accounted for the largest portion, with 13.21 billion cups, followed by canned coffee with 3.79 billion cups, and brewed coffee with 3.64 billion cups, the data showed.

South Korea has experienced more days of ultrafine dust blanketing the country so far this year compared to the past two years, government data showed. According to the Ministry of Environment, the concentration level of ultrafine dust particles -- about 1/30 the thickness of a strand of human hair -- from January to March this year marked the worst level at 32 micrograms per cubic meter, up 2 micrograms per cubic meter from the same period in 2015 and 2016. That level is equal to an AQI of 93 o

Two leading candidates – Moon Jae-in of the Democratic Party of Korea and Ahn Cheol-soo of the People’s Party – are waging keen campaign battles to grab voter sentiment in the provinces.According to a recent Gallup Korea poll, Moon and Ahn each hold an advantage in three of their six major regions – Gyeonggi Province, North and South Jeolla Provinces and South Gyeongsang Province for Moon and Seoul, North and South Chungcheong Provinces and North Gyeongsang Province for Ahn.The divided provincia

The Korea Press Foundation said in its Korea Press Yearbook 2016 that only 14.3 percent of respondents to its annual survey said they subscribe to printed newspapers at home. This is about one fifth of the 69.3 percent that answered positively to the same question in 1996.The book showed that the country‘s newspaper-reading population has also declined sharply.Only 20.9 percent answered “yes” when asked if they had read printed newspapers in the past week, down 4.5 percentage points from 25.4 pe

A record number of women now use contraception in Asia. The latest figures from the UN’s Department of Economic and Social Affairs show disparities in the use of contraceptives within Asia.China, South Korea and Thailand are Asian countries where a high proportion of people use contraceptives. In China, 83 percent use contraceptives, while in both South Korea and Thailand the figure is 78 percent.Vietnam (76 percent), Sri Lanka (71 percent) Bhutan (67 percent), Singapore (66 percent) and Banglad

National University of Singapore has retained its title as Asia’s best university for the second year in a row, according to the Times Higher Education Asia University Rankings 2017.Peking University maintained its second-place ranking and Tsinghua University was ranked third. Both of them are located in Beijing. Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology ranked eighth, followed by Seoul National University and Pohang University of Science and Technology.The universities were ranked base

South Koreans spent a record high overseas last year as more people opted to go on overseas trips, data from the central bank showed Sunday.According to the data compiled by the Bank of Korea, South Koreans spent 28.93 trillion won ($25.9 billion) overseas last year, up 8.3 percent, or 2.23 trillion won, from the previous year.The 2016 tally marks the highest since the central bank began to compile related data in 1970.South Koreans’ overseas spending has been on a sharp rise, reaching 26.7 tril

South Korea‘s food exports to the United States are expected to reach $1 billion for the first time this year, owing to their brisk advances into ethnic markets, the Korea Agro-fisheries and Food Trade Corp.’s branch said. Most notable among the top 30 export items are ramen, ginseng, mixed seasonings and gochujang, or red pepper paste. Ramen posted $6.84 million during the first two months this year, up 14.3 percent on-year; ginseng $3.3 million, up 67 percent; gochujang $1.8 million, up 33.8 p

The estimated value of land owned by South Korea‘s five biggest business groups rose to a record high in 2016 due in part to the purchase of the headquarters of the Korea Power Electric Corp. by Hyundai Motor and its affiliates, a market researcher said Monday.Hyundai Motor and some of its affiliates purchased the 79,345-square-meter plot in southeastern Seoul for 10.55 trillion won in late 2015 to build a Seoul landmark featuring the country’s tallest skyscraper, a global business center, a hot

The number of foreigners overstaying their visas in the country increased for the second straight month in February, the immigration office said.According to data from the office, the figure was tabulated at 214,615 as of February, accounting for 10.8 percent of the total number of 1,986,353 foreigners staying in the nation. The figure was an increase from 208,971 in December and 211,320 last month, the data said. By nationality, those from China were at the top with 1,001,311 or 50.4 percent, f

South Korea’s efforts to increase state police services are stalling, as the police-to-population ratio roughly stagnated in the 2015-2016 period, statistics show. According to data from the National Assembly Budget Office and the National Police Agency, the people-to-police ratio in 2016 was 451, meaning one officer for every 451 citizens, compared to the previous year’s 456. The number of people that one police officer is accountable for has been declining over the past years, from a peak of 5

According to the report from the Ministry of the Interior, the number of people in their 40s was about 8.77 million as of the end of February, accounting for 17 percent of the country‘s overall population of 51.71 million and making it the single largest age bracket. People in their 50s came to some 8.45 million, or 16.4 percent, of the total.Those in their 40s or 50s accounted for 33.4 percent of all people here. People in their 30s came to about 7.51 million, or 14.5 percent, of the overall po