Due to a low birthrate and increased life expectancy, the number of senior citizens in Seoul will reach 2.393 million by year 2033, statistics showed Tuesday.This means that by that time 1 out of every 5 citizens will be aged 65 years or older, according to the report released by the Seoul Metropolitan government.The median age will consequently rise, from the current 39 as of 2013 to 48.6 in 2033.The city’s number of economically active people aged between 15 and 64 will continue to decline fro

Despite the spread of charity activities in South Korea, the country still lags far behind advanced countries in terms of the ratio of donations to Gross Domestic Product, showed data on Sunday.According to a report released by the private Hyundai Research Institute, the nation’s donation amount continued to rise from 8.14 trillion won in 2006 to 12.49 trillion won in 2013. But its share in gross domestic product showed an immaterial increase during the same period. The share was 0.87 percent, n

Hanwha Eagles’ first baseman Kim Tae-kyun is the highest-paid pro baseball player in Korea this year, according to statistics released by the Korea Baseball Organization last Thursday.Kim’s annual contract with the Eagles landed him a 1.6 billion won ($1.3 million) salary. Broken down by position, the highest-paid pitcher was Kia Tigers’ Yoon Suk-min with 1.25 billion won, while Samsung Lions’ Lee Seung-yeop took top spot among designated hitters with 1 billion won, the same as SK Wyverns’ third

The Gaeseong industrial park had been in operation for 12 years as a relatively sturdy institution among otherwise volatile inter-Korean relations until the Feb. 7 decision to shutter the joint project.A total of 124 South Korean companies had been operating inside the complex located in the northern part of the border with some 55,000 North Korean laborers.A majority, or 58 percent, of the businesses dealt with textiles, followed by machinery and metals (19 percent), electronics (11 percent) an

The prices of products and services targeted toward infants increased 6.6 times higher than consumer prices last year, according to the Korea Institute of Child Care and Education on Thursday. The infant price index was 91.8 in September last year, a 3.61 percent increase from the previous year’s 88.6, the institute said. This increase rate was 6.6 times higher than the growth of the consumer price index of 109.4 in 2014 to 110 in 2015. Education-related services, such as child care and toys, in

Despite the dark clouds gathering over Korea’s economy, its sovereign ratings are at the highest levels on record, data shows. Standard & Poor’s, one of the world’s big three credit ratings agencies, on Wednesday decided to maintain Korea’s rating at AA-, the fourth highest level in its evaluation scheme, with an outlook of “stable.” A stable outlook means the rating is most likely to stay at the same level for the time being. An AA-, the highest rating given to Korea, is where the country was b

Three out of 10 South Koreans feel that society is unsafe, according to a survey released by the Ministry of Public Safety and Security this week. But nearly an equal number, or 33.5 percent, of respondents said they felt safe, the highest since the biannual survey was first conducted in July 2013. The level of safety felt by Koreans had dipped to 23.9 percent in the first half of 2014, following the Sewol ferry sinking disaster that occurred in April of that year, killing 304.The ministry also

The list of the world’s 50 deadliest cities, published by the Mexico Citizens Council for Public Security, features 41 in South America, including 21 in Brazil, which is scheduled to host the Summer Olympics this year.The ranking, based on the number of homicides per 100,000 inhabitants, places Venezuela’s capital city of Caracas as the world’s most dangerous city after toppling the Honduran city of San Pedro Sula, which had taken the top spot for four consecutive years. El Salvador’s capital ci

Per capita rice consumption in South Korea hit a record low in 2015 as people added other types of grain products to their diet, government data showed Friday.According to data by Statistics Korea, the average annual consumption of rice per person fell to 62.9 kilograms last year, down 3.4 percent from the previous year’s 65.1 kilograms, while the consumption of grains other than rice made up 12.3 percent of the country’s diet last year. This marked the lowest level since record keeping started

The number of global hallyu fan club members surpassed 35 million across 86 countries last year, up from 21.8 million in 2014, according to new data from the Korea Foundation Tuesday. There were a total of 1,493 official hallyu fan clubs worldwide, a 21 percent increase from 2014 when there were 1,229 clubs.  A total of 26.21 million fan club members were reported in Asia-Pacific -- a 48 percent increase from 2014. The Americas had 7.58 million fans, a staggering 182 percent rise from 2014 to 20