SEJONG – The most recent employment rate was the highest among male residents in Sejong and female residents in Jeju Province, according to a state agency’s analysis of figures from 17 major regions, eight cities and nine provinces, in South Korea. Data from Statistics Korea showed that the nation’s employment rate for people aged 15-64 posted 60.4 percent as of June 2021 (the latest statistics available), in which a wide gap between men and women is seen -- 70 percent for men

SEJONG -- South Korea saw the portion of employed men working as part-timers exceed the 10 percent mark in 2020, a first since the nation started compiling relevant data in 1989. Further, since 2016, Korea has been No. 1 in the growth of male part-time workers among members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. According to the OECD, part-timers accounted for 10.43 percent of all employed men last year. The figure was an increase of 3.67 percentage points from 2016. Af

SEJONG -- South Korea placed eighth among 10 major economies in employment rate in the third quarter of 2021, which suggests that the country would still lag behind most members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in the hiring sector. The OECD has compared the figures for nine members -- which have publicized the third-quarter employment rates among the total 38 members -- and one nonmember, Russia. Korea posted a 66.8 percent employment rate for the working-age popu

SEJONG -- Recent employment data has raised the possibility that nonregular employees could make up the majority of salaried female workers in South Korea as soon as 2022, should current trends continue. According to Statistics Korea, nonregular employees -- such as temporary workers and part-timers -- accounted for 4.49 million of South Korea’s 9.47 million salaried women in August. The state-run agency publicizes the yearly data each August. The data shows job security for women has qu

SEJONG -- The population gap between Seoul and neighboring Gyeonggi Province has continued to grow in recent months and years, with the province having 4 million more residents than the capital in October, government data showed. These are the top two populous regions among 17 major cities and provinces in South Korea. According to the Ministry of Interior and Safety, the population of Seoul posted 9.53 million, which is down 9,828 from a month earlier. The figure for Gyeonggi reached a record

SEJONG -- South Korea has become one of the several countries among the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s 38 members to see household debt exceed more than double its disposable income. Further, Korea was the fastest member in terms of growth of outstanding household debt in 2020, recent data showed, as well as the fastest for the 2016-2020 period. According to the Paris-based organization, Korea’s outstanding household debt was equal to 201 pe

SEJONG -- The number of deaths outstripped that of births in 22 of the past 23 months in South Korea, which could signal mid and long-term risks in terms of national competitiveness due to a shrinking workforce. A continuous decline in the working age population, those aged between 15-64, is likely to undermine national competitiveness in the coming years and decades. Of the entire population, the size of the working age population has dipped to the lowest in 25 years at 71.1 percent. Accordi

SEJONG -- There is a possibility that the outstanding mortgages in the nation will surpass 1,000 trillion won ($856 billion) for the first time as early as in the first half of next year, given the current growth pace. The outstanding mortgage loans -- issued to households for home purchase by financial services firms or state-run agencies -- reached the record-high of 948 trillion won as of June, according to the Bank of Korea and Statistics Korea. This was a 27 percent, or 207 trillion won,

SEJONG -- Land owned by foreigners in South Korea has reached an all-time high in terms of combined size, amid their active purchases of apartments or sites for business, such as manufacturing and leisure facilities, government data showed. According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, foreigners owned 253.3 million square meters of land as of December 2020, which is the latest figure available. Though this accounts for less than 0.3 percent of the nation’s entire terri

SEJONG -- US nationals are likely to make up the largest proportion of inbound foreign visitors this year, overtaking Chinese visitors, who have held the No. 1 position for more than a decade. According to the Korea Immigration Service, the total number of foreigners who visited South Korea posted 747,813 for the first nine months of the year. Data showed that almost 1 in 4 of the non-Korean visitors were US nationals: They made up 24.2 percent of the 181,558 people who visited Korea during t

SEJONG -- Housing prices in Seoul have continued to renew their all-time highs this year, in addition to a surge over the past few years since the mid-2010s. Many apartment complexes in the capital have recorded a 100-150 percent increase in price between 2016 and 2020. According to KB Kookmin Bank and Naver.com, the average trading price of homes in Seoul reached 39.33 million won ($33,100) per 3.3 square meters as of Oct. 15. This posted a 7.3 percent increase in just five months from&n

SEJONG -- Seoul has the smallest number of people per household, on average, among the eight major cities across the nation. The average population per household in Seoul fell to an all-time low of 2.16 -- 9.52 million people in 4.42 million households -- as of September, according to the Ministry of Interior and Safety. The average household size of the capital posted a noteworthy slide in the last five years, falling from 2.38 in September 2016 and 2.44 in September 2011. Further, the pace

SEJONG -- South Korea’s gasoline prices climbed to the highest in almost seven years, in line with a spike in international crude prices over the past month amid steeply rising demand for petroleum worldwide. The situation, which could worsen further, is expected to pose a tough burden to some manufacturers and households, as long as oil producers choose not to increase output. According the Korea National Oil Corp., gasoline prices reached 1,695.98 won ($1.42) per liter on Thursday. Th

SEJONG - South Korean hiring is showing signs of recovery, though it is hard to say that the uncertainty has been lifted amid the ongoing pandemic situation. A small rebound in the employment index could be seen in recent figures for the portion of “unemployed plus underemployed” of the economically active population. According to the Supplementary Index III for Employment, compiled by Statistics Korea, the portion of unemployed or underemployed -- known as the “de facto&rdqu

SEJONG -- The 40-and-older population in South Korea has surged by nearly 10 percentage points in a decade in terms of their percentage of the entire population, government data showed. According to the Ministry of Interior and Safety, the number of those aged 40 or above posted 29.67 million as of September. This took up 57.4 percent of the total population of 51.66 million. This was a 9.6 percentage point increase from the 47.8 percent in September 2011 for the age groups -- from those in th