Microsoft’s Satya Nadella was named the best CEO of 2018, according to compensation, culture and career website Comparably.　Other big names in the top 10 include Home Depot’s Craig Menear, Google’s Sundar Pichai, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos and Saleforce’s Marc Benioff.　Comparably asked employees to rank their CEOs using a numerical scale and received nearly 10 million ratings from employees at more than 50,000 US companies, the report said. 

　The level of economic participation and opportunity of South Korean women is well below the world average, ranking the country No. 115 out of 149 countries in terms of gender equality, according to a report from the World Economic Forum.　The forum‘s Global Gender Gap Report 2018 said South Korea’s gender gap index was 0.657, compared to 0.673 for China and 0.662 for Japan, which ranked Nos. 103 and 110, respectively.　The annual report uses the Global Gender Gap Index to see how countries compar

　South Koreans spent an average of around 287,000 won ($253) each on cultural activities this year, according to a recent survey commissioned by a KBS radio program. 　The survey of 800 respondents between 15 and 69 years old was conducted by World Research & Consulting from Dec. 1-9. 　It found that 93,211 won was spent on books, 86,855 won on watching movies and 72,246 won on attending music concerts or performances.　In addition, 51.5 percent said they spent a similar amount on cultural activiti

　South Korea’s performing arts market rebounded in 2017, apparently reflecting greater political and social stability after the presidential election in May that year, officials said.　According to data released by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Arts Management Service, the nation’s performing arts market grew 8.7 percent from the previous year to 813.2 billion won ($721 million) last year.　It is the first time that the domestic performing arts market has exceeded 800 b

　Russia has overtaken Britain to become the world’s second-biggest arms producer, surpassed only by the United States, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute said in a recent report.　Russia had 10 companies on Sipri’s 2017 Top 100 list, which identifies the world’s leading arms-producing and military services companies. The 10 companies’ sales totaled $37.7 billion, Sipri said, 9.5 percent of arms sales by all countries on the list.　That put Russia in second place, a position previ

　South Korean tourists’ interest grew the most for Portugal and Hungary over the past year, although Japan, Vietnam and other nearby Asian nations remained steady picks, according to a travel fare website.　Skyscanner analyzed internet searches of travel destinations from October last year to September this year and found that searches for Portugal increased 93 percent compared to the previous period of the same months. Searches for Hungary were up second most, jumping 74 percent.　Other increases

　A civil servant position is the most sought-after job among South Korean adults, though most of them aim to take jobs as office workers for practical reasons, a poll showed.　Of 1,143 job seekers and salaried people questioned, the largest portion - 26.7 percent - said they wanted to work for the government or a public institution regardless of the reality, according to the survey conducted by online job portal Saramin.　Another 16.2 percent said they hoped to run a restaurant or other independen

　According to Ad Age’s list of the world’s 100 largest advertisers, Samsung pumped $11.2 billion into its advertising and sales promotion in 2017, up 13 percent from the previous year.　Industry insiders say the increased spending was aimed at improving the company’s image after the highly publicized recall of the Galaxy Note 7 in 2016 due to battery explosions. It is the first time that Samsung has topped the list. 　Consumer goods corporation Procter & Gamble ranked second, spending $10.5 billio

　South Korea is expected to import less coffee this year for the first time in six years, as demand for the beverage has been hit by sluggish economic growth, according to market watchers here. 　In the January-October period, total imports of coffee stood at 121,019 tons, down 1,031 tons from a year earlier. This is the first on-year decrease since 2012.　Asia’s fourth-largest economy imported 82,446 tons of coffee in the same period in 2012. 

　German Chancellor Angela Merkel has been named atop the list of the 100 most powerful women in the world for 2018 for an eighth year in a row. Her streak since 2006 has been broken only by Michelle Obama in 2010. South Korea’s Hotel Shilla CEO Lee Boo-jin also ranked 86th on Forbes’ list.　British Prime Minister Theresa May ranked as the second most powerful woman, followed by International Monetary Fund Chief Christine Lagarde and General Motors CEO Mary Barra.　The business magazine’s list dete

　About 1 in 4 South Korean adults owns a pet, and they spend an average of around 100,000 won ($89.95) per month on their companion, a report by KB Financial Group showed.　According to the report by the financial conglomerate, 25.1 percent of 1,700 South Koreans aged over 20 responded that they currently have at least one pet, with 39.2 percent saying they had one in the past. 　Dogs were found to be most popular by accounting for 75.3 percent of pet-owning households, followed by cats and goldfi

　Scientists monitoring Earth’s climate and environment have delivered a cascade of grim news this year, adding a sense of urgency to UN talks starting next week in Poland on how best to draw down the greenhouse gases that drive global warming.　The 2015 Paris Agreement calls on humanity to block the rise in Earth’s temperature at “well below” 2 degrees Celsius compared to preindustrial levels, and 1.5 C if possible.

　South Korean babies born in 2017 are expected to live more than 82 years on average, government data showed. 　　According to data compiled by Statistics Korea, the average life expectancy in 2017 was 82.7 years. In 1970, the average life expectancy of Koreans was 62.3 years.　The life expectancy of women was 85.7 years while that of men was 79.7 years in 2017. 

　South Korea is making progress in reducing the gap between rich and poor through its policies on social spending, tax and labor rights, aid agency Oxfam said in a report.  　Oxfam and Development Finance International Group, a nonprofit research group, issued a survey ranking 157 countries in the three policy areas deemed critical to reducing inequality, based on data available as of the end of 2017.　Korea, Indonesia and Georgia were hailed for taking positive steps, while the governments of Nig

　A United Nations report said global efforts to reduce the effects of climate change are way off track, with global carbon dioxide emissions rising again in 2017. 　　China ranks top with annual carbon dioxide emissions at 12.3 million metric tons.　US emissions remain a source of debate, as the second-largest global polluter recently withdrew from the Paris Agreement despite current figures stating an output of 6.3 million tons per year. 　According to figures unadjusted for population size, the to