The Korea-China free trade pact, concluded on Monday after more than two years of negotiations, is expected to significantly boost the countries’ annual trade with China to $300 billion in 2015, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. The number of items included in the Korea-China FTA is relatively small, compared to free trade deals with other major economies, but this FTA is set to have a great impact on both countries’ economic development. The reason for the inclusion of sm

Over the past decade, the export-driven South Korean economy has favored bilateral free trade pacts in a bid to expand trade volume. As of March in 2014, Korea had signed 12 free-trade agreements with its key trade partners ― nine of which are effective and four that are pending ― covering almost 73 percent of the world’s markets. Starting from the country’s first FTA deal with Chile, which went into effect in 2004, Korea has been actively working to secure bridgeheads for bilateral economic coo

The world’s fastest elevator is to be installed in a skyscraper currently under construction in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou.The elevator at the CTF Financial Center, to be completed in 2016, will ascend at 20 meters per second, allowing it to reach the 95th floor in just 43 seconds. The second-fastest lift will be in China’s 121-story Shanghai Tower, which will travel at 18 meters per second. The building is to open in 2015. Before Chinese elevators stole its crown, the elevator in th

South Korean school children were the least happy among those in OECD countries, a recent survey showed.In the latest survey, the subjective happiness index of South Korean children was 60.3 percent, which was the lowest among the OECD countries.Some of the major reasons behind the statistics include lack of leisure time and hobbies, as well as stress over academic obligations.South Korea’s schoolchildren were found to be the unhappiest in the OECD in previous years, with 64.3 points in 2009, 65

Korea was the 25th most prosperous country in the world this year, moving up one notch from last year, according to a global index.The annual prosperity index, compiled by the Legatum Institute, ranks nations on eight indicators, including wealth, health, education and personal freedom. Korea’s ranking of 25th overall made it the fifth most prosperous country in Asia following Singapore at 18th, Japan at 19th, Hong Kong at 20th and Taiwan at 22nd. Norway topped the list for the sixth consecutive

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warns that greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels must be eliminated almost entirely within the century to prevent irreparable environmental impact. According to the IPCC, the Earth’s average temperature has risen by 0.85 degrees Celsius over the past 133 years, while the sea level has risen 19 centimeters over the past 110 years. With greenhouse gases from fossil fuels seen as the key component in the changes, emissions must be cut by as much as

The number of South Korean subscribers to mobile communication services provided by three telecom companies stood at 50,700 on average per day last month, according to the ICT Ministry and the Korea Communications Commission.It dropped more than 24 percent from the previous month’s daily average of 66,900 following a new law governing the distribution of mobile devices and their subsidies, which took effect in October.The two agencies, however, said the mobile communication market was showing si

South Korea achieved record-high tourism income in September, due to an increase in the number of Chinese visitors, according to data by the Bank of Korea and the Korea Culture and Tourism Institute.The nation’s total tourist income reached $1.76 billion last month, exceeding $1.7 billion for the first time and marking a 35 percent leap from the same period in the previous year. Also, related businesses turned net profits for the first time in 28 months.The gain was mostly attributed to the grow

The number of temporary workers in South Korea has exceeded 6 million this year for the first time, according to government figures Wednesday. As of August, there were a total of 6.07 million temporary workers here, Statistics Korea said. The figure was up by 131,000 people compared to a year earlier. Among the different types of temporary workers, the number of part-time employees working for designated periods of time grew the most, increasing by 148,000 to reach 2.03 million, the figures show

Investors are increasingly facing difficulty in finding appropriate investment instruments to park their money for decent returns amid a bearish run on the local stock market and lingering economic uncertainties, data showed Tuesday.The country’s short-term funds, including currency in circulation, all financial products with a maturity of less than six months, and money parked for stock investment, amounted to a record 757.4 trillion won ($720 billion) as of the end of August, a sharp increase

U.S. Forces Korea Commander Curtis Scaparrotti said Friday that North Korea was thought to have the capability to miniaturize a nuclear warhead. His remarks escalated concerns that Pyongyang is getting close to weaponizing its nuclear capability by placing it atop a missile, which could pose a threat not only to South Korea but also to the U.S. The North conducted nuclear tests in 2006, 2009 and last year, and experts say Pyongyang might have accumulated the technology to build nuclear warheads

Alan Eustace, a senior vice president of Google, has broken the world altitude record for a parachute jump that was set just two years ago. The 57-year-old jumped from near the edge of the stratosphere in a specially-designed spacesuit over the southern New Mexico desert. The American hit a top speed of 1,321 kph during a freefall that lasted four minutes and 27 seconds. He exceeded the speed of sound, setting off a small sonic boom.He set off from a runway in Roswell, New Mexico, connected to a

Roughly 1 in 7 male students in middle and high school smoke, a recent report by the state-run Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed.The study on 80,000 students across Korea showed that the 14 percent of teenage boys smoked at least once a month. However, the smoking rates for girls have fallen steadily, from 8.9 percent in 2005 to 4 percent in 2014.The report also showed that students are consuming more fast food, soft drinks and an increasing number are skipping breakfast, w

The amount of coffee imported to Korea is expected to reach a record high this year amid burgeoning demand, according to statistics from the Korea Customs Service.The agency said coffee ― including green beans and roasted beans ― imported during January to September this year weighed 99,372 tons. The figure was up 18.7 percent compared to the 83,693 tons in the same period last year. It surpasses the previous high of 92,040 tons recorded in 2011, the largest amount since 1990.The value of the im