The amount of Korean household waste has fallen sharply over the past 20 years thanks to the introduction of a new disposable system, a report showed Wednesday. Since 1995, the government has implemented a volume-rate disposal system which requires residents to purchase and use special trash bags. The price of the trash bag is proportional to its volume. As of 2013, Koreans threw out about 49,000 tons of waste each day, which is 16.2 percent lower than before the system was introduced. The dail

The negative effect of the Middle Eastern respiratory syndrome on Korean companies is expected to hit home in the third quarter of this year, data suggested Monday.According to financial investors and market data company WISEfn, the combined operating profit of 117 listed firms for the third quarter is expected to be 28.9 trillion won.That would be a 6.36 percent decrease from the 30.9 trillion won estimated on May 30, at the beginning of the MERS outbreak.The hotel and leisure industry estimate

The government has announced a new set of approaches to cope with this summer’s surge in electric power demand. According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy on Tuesday, this summer’s demand for electric power is forecast to peak at 80.9 million kilowatts, a 4.85 million kW increase from last year. The demand will most likely to occur during the second and third weeks of August. The country’s maximum electric power supply is expected to increase up to 88.3 million kW, the number increa

The number of expatriates residing in South Korea as of last year reached 1,797,618, marking 3.57 percent of the total population, statistics from the Justice Ministry showed this week.It marked a sharp increase from 2005, when a total of 747,000 foreigners were living here, 1.55 percent of the population then.A total of 14.3 million foreign nationals entered the country, more than double the 6 million recorded 9 years ago.By nationality, the largest group who entered Korea were Chinese at 44 pe

The average Korean spent more time sleeping and eating, and less time studying, compared to five years ago, survey results showed Monday.The time use poll on 12,000 households showed that compared to 2009, people spent 21 more minutes on sleeping and eating in 2014, clocking in at 11 hours and 14 minutes of off-time.Time spent studying fell by 17 minutes and commuting by five minutes compared to 2009, while time for wage-generating work and household chores was largely steady, increasing by just

The average age of the nation‘s major companies was 28.3 years old, data showed Monday.The Korea CXO Institute examined the top 2,000 listed and nonlisted companies and found their average ages by industry, excluding those from the financial sector.The textile industry had the highest average age at 51.5 years old. The textile industry includes a number of textile companies that are over 60 years old.The average ages of the food and drink manufacturing industry and the construction industry were

The Korean government lowered its economic growth forecast for 2015 from 3.8 percent to 3.1 percent.Presenting its economic policy direction for the second half of the year, the Ministry of Strategy and Finance said it cut the growth forecast due to falling exports and the effect of the Middle Eastern respiratory syndrome outbreak on spending and tourism.The ministry also cut its forecast of the employment rate for the year, from 66.2 percent to 66.0 percent.The expected consumer inflation rate

The number of people who moved in May was the lowest in 40 years, data showed Wednesday.According to Statistic Korea, 606,000 people moved last month, a 1.2 percent decrease from the same time period last year.Data showed that this is the lowest number of people moving in May since 1975 (480,000 people).Experts suggest that the decrease in population movement is due to decreased domestic migration for school and work.A spokesperson from Statistics Korea said that different regions in Korea have

Nearly half of the 129,688 South Koreans who had registered with the Korean Red Cross to have a chance to reunite with their loved ones in the North are deceased.The actual number of separated families is thought to be much higher when including those who did not report due to fears of any negative impact it would have on their families across the border.Of the 66,843 surviving families here, the majority, or 42.5 percent, are in their 80s, while 27.2 percent are in their 70s. Some 12.1 percent

South Korea’s technology level in its chosen growth engines is 3.8 years behind that of the United States, a ministry report found Tuesday.According to the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning, there are 13 new growth engines that it would focus on developing, including 5G mobile communications, smart cars, intelligent robots, smart disaster safety management systems and the Internet of Things.However, when the ministry compared Korea’s technology in these sectors are compared to that of