The nation’s five major automobile companies exported 809,642 units in the second quarter this year, down 0.2 percent from a year ago, according to data released Wednesday.The report by the Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association said their combined income from car exports during the period reached $11.5 billion, a 3.9 percent drop.The average export price per car stood at $14,200, a 3.7 percent decrease on-year, the KAMA report said.The export unit price of cars has decreased since the third

 Investments in start-ups increased by 40 percent after the government announced various support policies last year, data showed Tuesday.　The Small and Medium Business Association said that investments amounting to 956.9 billion won were made for venture funds from January to June in 2015, a 38.4 percent increase from the same period last year.　The number of venture capital firms also increased to 517 in the first half of this year, a 23.7 percent increase from a year ago.　An SMBA official said

South Korea will reach a per capita gross national income of $40,000 in 2023 if Korea continues low growth, data showed Monday.According to the Korea Economic Research Institute, the OECD predicted that if South Korea’s potential growth rate falls to 2.9 percent, it would take 17 years for the per capita GNI to rise from $20,000 to $40,000. South Korea reached $20,000 in 2006.This is longer than the OECD average, which was 13.6 years. Among the G7 nations, Japan, Italy and Britain took eight, 13

South Korea looks to be finally approaching an end to its spread of Middle East respiratory syndrome as it reported no additional cases for the 21st consecutive day on Sunday, with the number of patients remaining unchanged at 186.No additional fatalities from the disease were reported for the past 14 days, leaving the country’s death toll unchanged at 36, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said.Of the 186 people who have contracted the disease, 12 are still being treated while the remaining 138

The number of those killed in car accidents on highways surged last month, police said Thursday, suggesting that the decrease in sobriety testing conducted in the month due to the Middle East respiratory syndrome outbreak appears to have affected the rise.The National Police Agency said 25 people were killed on Korean roads in June, a 50 percent increase from 18 deaths a year ago. The number of overall casualties during the first half of this year, however, decreased, with 109 people having been

Public support for Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has fallen sharply amid the controversy over his push to expand the role of the military.Recent media polls put support for his Cabinet at the 35-40 percent range, the lowest since he took office in December 2012.In a survey published in the conservative Sankei Shimbun newspaper, his government’s support rate dropped 6.8 percentage points to 39.3 percent while the disapproval rate rose 10.2 percentage points to 52.6 percent.The disapproval ra

South Korea has relatively low unemployment, but its young workers have the biggest comparative disadvantage to their middle-aged peers of any country in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, a report showed Monday. In its report on youth employment, the Bank of Korea said the nation’s youth (aged 15-29) unemployment rate reached 8.0 percent in 2013. This figure was lower than in major European economies. The youth unemployment rate was 42.4 percent in Spain, 29.6 percent in

South Koreans consume the most calories on Saturdays, mostly by eating more instant noodles and fried chicken, a government study showed Monday. The study, which surveyed 2,308 Koreans from 2009 to 2013 on their calorie consumption, discovered that Korean men and women both consumed higher calories on weekends than weekdays. A Korean man on average consumed 2,587.1 kcal on Saturdays, which was higher than the weekly average of 2,418.1 kcal. A Korean woman, on the other hand, consumed 1,792.2 kca

Major economic indicators show that the economic gap between South and North Korea is widening.According to data released by the Bank of Korea in Seoul last week, North Korea’s nominal gross national income came in at 34.2 trillion won ($29.8 billion) last year, which is roughly 2.3 percent of South Korea’s 2014 GNI of 1,496.6 trillion won. North Korea’s nominal GNI per capita also stood at 1.39 million won, meaning an average North Korean individual produces approximately 4.7 percent of what th

The smoking rate among South Korean men has dropped by 5.8 percentage points, partly because of the 80 percent hike in cigarette prices which took effect in January, government data said. According to the study, which surveyed 1,262 Korean men aged 19 or older from May to June, 78 of them said they had quit smoking within the past year. Among them, 48 of them said they had quit because of the price increase. Currently, 35 percent of Korean men are smoking, the study said.However, as this was the

As economic sanctions are expected to be lifted as a result of the settlement of the Iranian nuclear issue, Korean industries anticipate their overseas business will be revitalized.According to the Korean International Trade Association, South Korea-Iran trade reached its peak in 2011 as Korea exported $6.1 billion to Iran and imported $11.4 billion.However, the trade volume has halved since the economic sanction led by the United States was launched.But as the U.S.-Iran relationship warms and t

Foreign remittance sent to Korea surpassed money going abroad, data showed Tuesday. 　According to data from KB Financial Group and World Bank, the amount of money wired from abroad to Korea in 2014 was $6.48 billion, eclipsing the $5.8 billion wired out of the country.By country, the most money was wired to Korea from the United States with $2.96 billion, followed by Japan with $1.71 billion. The two countries made up 71.3 percent of all money being wired to Korea.The next three countries in ter

Six South Korean banks are on the list of the world’s top 100 banks, data showed Sunday.KDB Financial Group, KB Financial Group, Shinhan Financial Group, Hana Financial Group, Woori Financial Group and NongHyup Financial Group made the top 100 global bank list, according to British-based financial industry tracker The Banker.The highest-ranked Korean bank was KDB Financial Group at 62nd place, up 16 notches from last year. KB Financial Group followed in 65th place.Shinhan Financial Group ranked

An Airbus electric plane has crossed the English Channel from Britain to France, claiming the record for the first such crossing, but the event was marred by controversy over the cancellation of a rival flight.Test pilot and designer Didier Esteyne landed Airbus Group‘s E-Fan 1.0 plane in the French port of Calais on Friday after flying the 74 kilometers from Lydd in southeast England in 37 minutes, setting a “milestone for the all-electric aircraft technology,” the company said.Airbus‘ all-elec

South Korea saw its proportion of young people to the total population sink to an all-time low this year due to the effect of low birthrates, data showed Wednesday.According to Statistics Korea, the number of people under age 14 made up 13.9 percent of the total population.It is lower than 14.3 percent recorded in 2014 and 21.1 percent in 2000, making it the lowest-ever figure.Korea’s fertility rate, or the average number of children that would be born to a woman over her lifetime, stood at 1.21