The number of South Koreans who indulge in excessive alcohol consumption has gone up by 14 percent on-year,the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety said Tuesday.According to the survey conducted by the ministry on 2,000 adults across the nation in July, men consumed an average of 1.3 liters of beer per session while women consumed 940 ml.The World Health Organization recommends an average of 1.1 liters of beer on one occasion for men and 560 ml for women.By age, 86.7 percent of those in their 20s ha

The average person in Korea consumes more instant ramen noodles than any other place in the world, a recent report showed.Each resident eats about 74.1 servings of ramen per year, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs said. Officials cited last year’s data from the World Instant Noodle Association, which studied ramen consumption in 15 countries. The report put Vietnam and Indonesia at a distant second and third place with 60.3 and 57.3 servings, respectively.In terms of overall co

What the opposition parties are calling “Chung Yoon-hoi gate” has engulfed the political arena from the National Assembly to the presidential office, overshadowing issues now for weeks. The prosecution has been digging for the truths in the convoluted case, but little has been determined conclusively, with those involved making more accusations and denying those raised against them as the investigation pans out. Those whom the prosecution point to as the culprits have claimed innocence ― one wit

Amid the rise of Islamic State, or IS, the Jihadist militant group that has seized large swathes of Syria and Iraq, it was revealed that a significant number of IS fighters are neither Iraqi nor Syrian. The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency estimated that more than 12,000 foreign nationals from at least 81 countries are a part of the radical Islamist group. Most of the foreign IS fighters come from North Africa and the Middle East, with Tunisia (3,000) being the biggest exporter of the extremists

South Korea’s nominal gross national income has increased about 30,000-fold in 60 years from 48.3 billion won ($44 million) to 1,441 trillion won, according to the adjusted national accounts released by Bank of Korea on Monday.The GNI per capita has gone up about 400-fold from $67 to $26,205.The results showed that the proportion of households in GNI has been gradually decreasing from 79 percent in 1975 to 61 percent last year, while that of corporations jumped from 9 to 26 percent.Meanwhile, th

The number of debtors and their loan balances from local banks are projected to hit record highs this year amid rising household debt, industry data indicated Monday.Some 10.5 million people took out loans from commercial banks as of the end of June, data showed, totaling 487.7 trillion won ($442.6 billion). The figure peaked at 10.45 million people in 2012 and dipped to 10.44 million in 2013.The loan total translates to individual debtors owing 46.41 million won each on average.Market watchers

South Korea is witnessing a surge of mobile shoppers on the strength of the solid broadband network and consumers’ preference for faster and easier shopping experiences on the go. The ratio of consumers who use their smartphones to shop online rose to nearly 60 percent this year, sharply up from 24 percent in 2012. The increase in mobile shopping is largely attributed to the growing number of smartphone users in the country. The Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning said the number of Kor

South Korea and Vietnam announced Wednesday that they had substantially concluded a free trade deal meant to boost bilateral trade by removing barriers in Busan ahead of a special summit to be hosted by Park for leaders of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations.The agreement covers 17 areas, including products, services and investment, but the two sides agreed to exclude rice, a key staple food for Koreans, according to Park’s office.Vietnam is South Korea’s ninth-largest trading p

South Korea’s birthrate last year declined for the first time in four years, according to data released by the Health Ministry.The country’s fertility rate fell to 1.19 children per woman last year, which is equivalent to that in 2008. The rate fell even lower in 2009, which was 1.15. However, the number rose from 2010 to 2012, from 1.23 to 1.24 to 1.30. It fell back to 1.19 last year. The ministry said the nation’s fertility rate last year falls short of the replacement level ― 2.1 children per

Humanitarian aid to North Korea fell sharply over the past decade as nuclear saber rattling and consequent sanctions worsened the international perception of the country, a report by a state-run think tank said Tuesday.In the first 11 months of this year, the amount of aid reaching the communist country stood at $28.3 million, a tenth of the more than $301 million that flowed into the North in the early 2000s, the Korea Development Institute’s monthly North Korean report showed. The report is ba

The number of elderly households suffering from poverty has doubled in the last seven years, the Korea Economic Research Institute said Monday.An elderly household refers to a household comprised only of those aged 65 and above.The number of elderly, mother-and-son and single-person households accounted for 69.1 percent of the entire poverty population in 2013, up from 50 percent in 2006.According to the KERI, the number of elderly households whose living costs are funded by the government stood

The number of South Korean students studying in higher education institutes outside the country has decreased for the third straight year, the Ministry of Education said Sunday.As of 2014, a total of 219,543 college and post-graduate students were studying overseas, marking a 3.3 percent drop from 227,126 in 2013. United States, China and the United Kingdom were the three countries with the most Korean students.Australia was among the countries that saw the most drastic decrease in Korean studen

Average petrol prices in South Korea have dropped to a little below 1,700 won ($1.53) per liter, according to data by Opinet, an online service provider of oil prices run by the state-run Korea National Oil Corp.Opinet said Thursday that this was the first time in four years that the nation’s average gas prices have dropped below 1,700 won. The agency attributed the latest fall to a decline in international oil prices triggered by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries’ unwillingn

The National Assembly passed the government’s 2015 budget bill Tuesday, meeting the legal deadline for the first time in 12 years.The bill calls for increasing the government budget by 5.51 percent to 375.4 trillion won ($338 billion) next year from 355.8 trillion won this year.It is hoped that the increase will stimulate the economy, government officials said.The three sectors with the biggest budget increase were welfare, including health and job creation; general and local administration; and