Korean people with HIV still face rampant discrimination, over 30 years since the first case was discovered here, a study released Thursday by UNAIDS has found.According to initial findings from the People Living With HIV Stigma Index in South Korea, 37 percent of respondents reported suicidal thoughts, and a similar proportion had cut themselves off from family and friends.In addition, 71 percent of people with HIV said they had been insulted or threatened because of their status. (123RF)Althou

Nearly half of South Korean workers paid no income tax in 2015, a state-run think tank‘s report showed Tuesday.According to the report by the state-run Korea Institute of Public Finance, 46.5 percent of 17 million wage earners were exempted from paying income tax in the year, jumping from 32.2 percent in 2013. The increase was attributed to the government’s change of income tax deduction programs in 2014 to allow higher deduction rates to low income earners.The proportion in Korea wa

The prices of major fruits sold in South Korea hit the highest level in four years last month, data showed Tuesday. According to data compiled by Statistics Korea, the index of the prices of 15 major fruits, including apples, pears, grapes, strawberries and tangerines, surged to 118.15 in May, the highest since May 2013 when the figure stood at 118.18, data by Statistics Korea showed. The index is calculated by comparing the prices with a base figure of 100 set in 2015.

The landslide victory of President Emmanuel Macron’s party in the second round of the French parliamentary elections on Sunday -- and the defeat in several Italian local elections of the anti-Europe Five Star Movement party a few days earlier -- raises an intriguing question for global investors. Could the eurozone finally become a truly economically unified area? If so, producers in the region will be better able to take advantage of economies of scale that are already created by free trade wit

The presidential office on Wednesday said that President Moon Jae-in is seeking the United States’ cooperation on resuming Seoul-Pyongyang talks, but not its permission.“The re-opening of talks with North Korea should go through a prior consultation with the US, but does not necessarily require the US’ permission,” Kwun Hyuk-ki, head of Cheong Wa Dae’s press center, told reporters.The comment came in the wake of controversies on Moon’s televised interview with US news outlet CBS on the previous

President Moon Jae-in expressed hopes for a resumption of dialogue with North Korea within this year, while denouncing the communist regime over the death of Otto Warmbier, the former American detainee in the North. In his interviews with the Washington Post and CBS, President Moon underlined that his gesture to bring the North back to the negotiating table, however, did not imply at tolerance for its nuclear armament. President Moon Jae-in (Cheong Wa Dae)“To resolve the issue we have to add dia

South Korean workers in the capital spend an average of 1 1/2 hours commuting daily, data showed Wednesday.According to big data analysis conducted by the nation’s No. 2 mobile carrier KT, the average daily commuting time in Seoul, its surrounding Gyeonggi Province and the western city of Incheon, was 89.4 minutes.The study, conducted in April, was based on an analysis of Long-Term Evolution signals of some 420,000 subscribers to the company‘s high-speed internet connection services who are aged

Kia Motors’ small SUV Stonic is unveiled in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Hyundai Motor GroupKia Motors, South Korea’s No. 2 automotive company, has unveiled the small sport utility vehicle Stonic in Europe, the company said Wednesday.“In Europe 1 in 10 vehicles sold will be SUVs in the B-segment, which the Stonic is part of, by 2020,” said Michael Cole, the chief operating officer of Kia Motors Europe, at a media preview in Amsterdam.“The new SUV Stonic was created on Kia Motors’ quality, design

South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha and her Japanese counterpart agreed on the need to cooperate in North Korean issues in a telephone conversation, Seoul’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Wednesday. Kang and Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida spoke over the phone, during which the Japanese top diplomat congratulated Kang on her inauguration earlier this week, according to the official. According to Seoul’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the two ministers discussed pending issues in

South Korea voiced strong protests Wednesday against Japan's latest claims to its easternmost islets of Dokdo in an education manual.The foreign ministry also said that it called in Katsuro Kitagawa, a minister for political affairs at the Japanese embassy, to lodge complaints about what it sees as "repeated" and "unjustified" territorial claims."We strongly protest Japan's repeated and unjustified claims to our own territory, Dokdo, and demand its immediate withdrawal," the ministry said in a s

A man has helped a group of ducklings trapped in a building reunite with their mother, after he accidentally stumbled upon the cheeky flock.Aaron Brown was passing by a building in Daegu Science College when he heard the baby birds crying out for help. He began to trip over himself, trying not to step on the ducklings who were spread out, causing havoc and running up and down a staircase into various rooms. Though he had no way of knowing, Brown had a hunch their mother would come back to find t