According to the competitive industrial performance index released by the U.N. Industrial Development Organization last week, Japan has the strongest competitiveness in the manufacturing sector, followed by Germany, the U.S., Korea and Taiwan. Korea has maintained fourth position since 2005.

South Korea‘s life expectancy stood at 81.1 years in 2011, one year above the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development average, according to the health data from the OECD.

OECD revised down its global economy outlook for this year from 3.1 percent to 2.7 percent and next year from 4.0 percent to 3.6 percent, expecting lower economic growth in emerging markets. The Paris-based club of advanced countries also revised downward Korea’s 2014 economic growth outlook from 4 percent to 3.8 percent.

Samsung Electronics’ sales of tablet PCs in the third quarter reached 10.5 million units, accounting for 20.2 percent of the global market share, according to a report from Strategy Analytics. Samsung narrowed the gap with front-runner Apple, which shipped 14.1 million units in the same period.

Korean Air, the nation‘s flag carrier, holds six civilian helicopters, topping the list of the number of company-held choppers for private use, according to the Transport Ministry. Samsung Techwin, a defense equipment maker, came in second with four helicopters.

Myeong-dong in central Seoul was ranked ninth on a list of the world’s priciest shopping districts in terms of real estate, according to a survey conducted by Cushman & Wakefield, a global real estate consulting firm. The district’s monthly rental prices posted an average of 750,000 won per square meter. The world’s most expensive retail address was Hong Kong’s Causeway Bay.

The amount of aids includes assistance in cash, relief goods and cost of dispatching relief workers

Korea’s game makers earned $680 million in royalties from overseas in 2012, an increase of 19.3 percent from a year earlier, according to data from the central bank.The income accounts for 87 percent of the total earnings from hallyu-related intellectual property.

South Korea ranked 20th in a composite index on health and welfare among the 34 member states of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in 2010. The survey conducted by the state-run Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs analyzes data on more than 26 areas, including health, life expectancy, employment, suicide, economic growth and the environment.

Apple Inc. topped the world’s most valuable brands list selected by Forbes magazine with a brand value of $104 billion. With a $29.5 billion brand value, Korea’s tech giant Samsung Electronics came in ninth, becoming the only Asian company in the top 100

Korea had a 22.4 percentage point gender gap in workforce participation rates last year, the fourth-widest in the OECD, according to a report from the Paris-based club of rich countries. Korea’s male economic participation rate was 77.6 percent and the female rate was 55.2 percent. Turkey had the biggest gender gap, with 43.5 percentage points, while Finland had the smallest, with 4.0 percentage points.

The portion of regional patients visiting five major hospitals in Seoul exceeded 60 percent last year, indicating a deepening imbalance in medical care nationwide.

Secret 2007 documents of the U.S. National Security Agency released by The New York Times showed that South Korea was designated as one of the focus areas for its wiretapping mission, called SIGINT, on the subjects of foreign policy, foreign intelligence and counterintelligence.

About two-thirds of Seoul’s weapons imports were brokered by private dealers, according to data from the Defense Acquisition Program Administration. The government purchased foreign weapons systems worth 16.7 trillion won ($15.7 billion) in total from 2007-12. Of the total, weapons worth some 11.41 trillion won, or 66.1 percent, were purchased through private dealers, while the rest were acquired through government-to-government transaction programs.