South Korea came in at No. 5 in business environment among 190 countries this year, driven by high scores in electricity supply and other legal, administrative and taxation systems, a report by the World Bank showed Wednesday. It marked a notch down from last year.The annual “Doing Business 2017” report gave South Korea a total 84.07 points. The country moved up in the ratings in terms of legal settlement, environment for starting a business, tax payment and property registration. Its rankings,

Nearly half of South Korean workers feel threatened by the rise of artificial intelligence as they are concerned that one day they may be replaced by it at work, a latest survey has found. According to the Korea Employment Information Service’s poll of 1,600 workers across 23 job categories, 44.7 percent of respondents said the technology would eventually replace humans in their respective field of work. A slightly smaller proportion, 42.3 percent, predicted no impact on their jobs, while 13 per

Koreans in their 50s are the least satisfied with life, a survey found, while men in general are more discontent than their female counterparts. According to the survey, conducted by the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs, happiness peaks in your 20s, with 82.6 percent of 20-somethings saying that they are satisfied with life. However, as people get older their lust for life begins to dwindle reaching its lowest rate for those in their 50s (66.9 percent). The downward trend begins to

The average age at which women give birth has risen significantly over the past decade, with more than a quarter of mothers now aged 35 or more, while the number of women of childbearing age dropped, a study showed. According to data released by National Health Insurance Service, the average age of delivery stood at 32.2 as of 2015, up 1.9 years from 2006.Also, the proportion of mothers who were aged 35 or older soared from 13.7 percent to 27.6 percent during the same period.The total number of

The UN Population Fund (UNFPA) estimates South Korea’s average fertility rate at 1.3, the fourth lowest in the world.In its latest State of World Population report, the UNFPA said South Korea’s population growth rate stood at 0.5 percent, while the rate for the global population reached 1.2 percent. At the high end was Oman at 7.6 percent.China boasted the largest population of 1.38 billion, followed by India with 1.32 billion people, and the United States with a population of 324 million.The gl

The value of contracts signed by Korea’s top three shipbuilding firms -- Hyundai Heavy Industries, Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering, and Samsung Heavy Industries -- fell far behind the amount they projected for this year, industry sources said Wednesday. Samsung Heavy Industries did not sell a single vessel during the first eight months of this year. Its yearly outcome, however, may differ as the company is currently negotiating a deal worth as much as $2.7 billion. The pitch came afte

The number of school pupils in Seoul are declining at a faster pace, a direct result of the country’s persistently low birth rates, data shows. According to Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, as of April 1 this year, the city’s kindergartens, elementary, middle and high schools have 4.2 percent fewer students than a year earlier. The student tally stands at slightly over 1.07 million. That represents a steeper year-on-year drop than the 3.6 percent decline in 2015 and 3.7 percent in 2014. B

Samsung will ship 310 million smartphones this year, down from a forecast of 316 million units, according to new data from research firm TrendForce. Customers will, in turn, move in part to Apple’s iPhone, which will see its forecast shipments grow from 205 million to 208 million due in part to the Galaxy Note 7’s woes, according to TrendForce.“In the large-size smartphone market, Samsung’s competitors such as Apple, Huawei, Vivo, and OPPO are expected to snatch up the demand that was initially

Korea’s exports to Vietnam rose 200 percent between 2010 and 2015, according to the Korea International Trade Association.The amount of exports to Vietnam tripled from $9.7 billion (10.9 trillion won) in 2010 to $27.8 billion last year, KITA data showed.During the cited period, exports to the US also steadily rose on increased demand.Meanwhile, exports to China are on the decline, totaling $69.4 million between January and August, after posting 137.1 billion won in 2015. China’s share of Korea’s