South Korea ranked lowest among OECD member countries in social welfare spending in 2014, according to data compiled from the Korean government and OECD reports.Of the 28 OECD members (six were excluded for lack of data), South Korea took last place, with a social welfare expenditure to GDP ratio of 10.4 percent.This is less than half the OECD average (21.6 percent), and not even a third of the countries at the top of the list such as France (31.9 percent) and Finland (31 percent).This indicates

Executives in the nation’s top 10 conglomerates serve their position for about five years and usually retire before they hit 55, a report said Wednesday.According to the report released by CEO Score, the average retirement age of executives in the big firms was 54.5, and average tenure in the top office was 5.2 years. The business news site specializing in chaebol surveyed 271 executives in the big firms who retired and sold their treasury stocks in 2015.The conglomerate with the youngest retire

The number of high school graduates who were employed surpassed the 10 million mark for the first time last year.According to a government report, 10.1 million high school graduates were found to have jobs in 2014, a 2.7 percent increase from 2013.High school graduates also made up 39.5 percent of total number of people hired in 2014, a 0.3 percent increase compared to 2013. The number of high school graduates has increased since 2009, while the number of college entrants has been dropping since

The number of people receiving benefits from the national health insurance program without paying premiums has increased by 28 percent over the past decade, heralding severe problems in the nation’s health care budget in the coming years.Some 20.5 million people were registered as non-paying beneficiaries, according to National Health Insurance Service, which went up from 16 million in 2003. During the same period, the total number of people insured increased by just 6.5 percent.Korean law allow

Imports of coffee hit an all-time high last year despite the nation’s economic slowdown.In 2014, Korea imported 139,764 tons of coffee beans and powder-based materials, a 14 percent increase from 2013. The total value of imports was $595 million.The import rate staggered a bit after the price of coffee beans rose in 2011, but has increased again since 2012.The increase is due to the ever-growing demand for coffee in Korea with an increase in coffee shops, as well as a drop in coffee prices after

The number of illegal foreign residents in the nation again exceeded the 200,000 mark in 2014, the highest level in seven years.According to the Ministry of Justice, there were 208,778 illegal immigrants at the end of last year, up 14 percent from 183,106 in 2013.After peaking at 223,464 in 2007, the figure slid from 200,489 in 2008 to dip below 200,000 from 2009 to 2013.

The majority of the world’s rich ― the top 1 percent ― reside in the United States, Japan and France, reports said.About 18 million out of the 47 million wealthy people with more than $798,000 each in assets are living in the United States, according to the BBC and the Credit Suisse 2014 Annual Report. The U.S. was followed by Japan (4.04 million rich people), France (3.52 million), Britain (2.9 million) and Germany (2.75 million).Meanwhile, South Korea had 448,000 people who were in the world’s

The average per capita income tax in Korea increased 25 percent in five years, the fourth-highest increase rate among OECD member countries. The amount increased from $5,051 in 2008 to $6,314 in 2013.However, the nation’s income tax per person and rate of tax revenue to gross domestic product were comparatively low.According to the OECD report on Monday, Korea’s per capita income tax in 2013 ($6,314) was the sixth-lowest among the 29 OECD members. The OECD average was $15,634, about 2.5 times hi

Apple is rapidly catching up with Samsung Electronics in South Korea’s smartphone market, following the launch of the U.S. tech company’s iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus in the country in November last year.Samsung’s Galaxy smartphone series had been dominating with a market share of about 60 percent in the local smartphone market, with its close rival Apple at only 15 percent.The launch of the new products pulled up Apple’s Korean market share to 33 percent, knocking Samsung’s share below 50 percent

South Korean companies have dropped in profitability from last three years, according to industry data released on Monday.The ratio of net income to sales at South Korean businesses from 2012-2014 fell 2.9 percentage points. It stood at 5.5 percent on average in 2014, far lower than the world’s average (7.9 percent) and emerging countries (average 5.9 percent). Meanwhile, the global average ratio from 2012 to 2014 rose by around 0.24 percentage point.Japan marked the highest rise of 1.3 percenta

The global supply of smartphones has outnumbered that of PCs for the first time.According to the “2015 Mobile Trend Prospects” report published by KT Economic Research Institute, the global supply of smartphones stood at 24.5 percent of the population, surpassing that of the PCs (20 percent) and conquering the 40-year-old market within just four years of its release.While the supply of smartphones has been rising ― from 5.2 percent in 2012 to 19.8 percent in 2013 ― PCs’ penetration rate has stal

The ratio of domestic oil consumption to gross domestic product is expected to fall to its lowest rate this year since 1970, data showed Tuesday. Analysts said the expected drop in the ratio would boost corporate earnings and domestic consumption.The report, compiled by Yonhap using data from the IMF, Korea Energy Economics Institute, and KB Investments and Securities, said that, excluding reexports, the ratio of oil consumption to the nation’s GDP was expected to be around 1.71 percent.The rati

Fewer Koreans are having meals with their families, according to government data.Less than 50 percent of 7,000 Koreans surveyed last year said they had breakfast with their family members. The number has been declining since 2005, from 62.9 percent to 53.7 percent in 2010, and to 46.1 percent last year.Meanwhile, only 64.1 percent of the surveyed Koreans said they had dinner with their families. In 2005, 76 percent of Koreans were reported to be eating dinner with their families.The growing numb