According to Statistics Korea, food and beverage prices surged 1.6 percent in June from a year earlier, outpacing the 1.0 percent increase in overall consumer prices. Officials speculate that the extended heat wave may have contributed to the growth.

According to the Bank of Korea, the producer price index, a barometer of future consumer inflation, edged down 1.4 percent from a year earlier mainly due to a drop in farm and fisheries production. It marked a decline for the ninth consecutive month.

According to a recent survey conducted by Job Korea, an online job portal, working hours per day for Korean workers averaged 9 hours and 26 minutes, a decrease of about 40 minutes from the 10 hours and 6 minutes found in a similar poll in 2008.

According to the Bank of Korea, the number of bank notes and checks issued in Korea has decreased since the introduction in 2009 of the 50,000 won note, the country’s highest denomination bill.

According to a report released by the Bank of Korea in Seoul last week, North Korea’s nominal gross national income amounted to 33.5 trillion won ($29.8 billion) last year, which is equivalent of 2.6 percent of South Korea’s 2012 GNI of 1,279.5 trillion won.

According to the Korea Customs Service, the United States and China have been emerging as major destinations for South Koreans seeking to launder money or stash away their wealth overseas.

Global shipments of high-end smartphones priced at $300 or above are likely to suffer a slowdown in the coming years, according to a report released by Hi Investment & Securities on Wednesday.

South Korea is seeking to sharply increase its investment in science and technology, setting a 92.4 trillion won ($80 billion) budget to finance research and development in new growth sectors by 2017.

The average global economic growth outlook for this year provided by 11 foreign investment banks in June was 2.9 percent, a 0.2 percent decrease from the 3.1 percent previously estimated at the end of last year. Korea’s growth forecast was reduced to 2.7 percent from 3.0 percent. The figure was compiled by Yonhap News based on data from financial institutions.

According to a survey conducted by Incruit, an online job portal, Samsung Electronics topped the list of companies at which university students would like to work most after graduation. It surveyed 747 university students across the nation.

Child abuse cases increased by 7.9 percent on-year in 2012, with more than 80 percent committed by parents at home, according to a survey by the Ministry of Health and Welfare.

The number of people moving to and from Korea totaled 1.28 million last year, a 4.4 percent increase from a year earlier, according to Statistics Korea. But net migration, the difference between the numbers of immigrants and emigrants, fell to just 7,000 people.

Korea’s exports dropped for the first time in four months in June, indicating that the nation still faces external economic uncertainty amid the global slowdown. (Source: The Trade Ministry)

Statistics Korea said Monday that the proportion of younger people in Korea’s total working population has dropped sharply over the past three decades, raising concerns that the decline could undermine the country’s overall growth potential. (Source: Statistics Korea)

According to Brandstock, a brand consultancy in Korea, Samsung Electronics’ Galaxy smartphone series topped the list for brand power for the second half of this year. Also noteworthy was mobile messenger Kakao Talk jumping to 15th, from 28th in the first half of the year.