According to Statistics Korea, the number of newborns in South Korea dropped to a new record low last year.　The number of babies born in 2017 reached 357,700, down 11.9 percent, or 48,500, from 2016.　The figure marked the lowest number of newborns since the statistics agency started to compile such data in 1970.　The total fertility rate, or the number of babies that a woman is projected to have during her lifetime, fell to 1.05 last year from 1.17, also marking a record low, the report showed.

Switzerland and the US are the most secretive major financial centers in the world, according to a global ranking compiled by a group campaigning for more transparency. The Tax Justice Network’s study found Switzerland to be the “global capital of bank secrecy.” The US ranked second because its share of global offshore financial services has increased steadily. The study, which is published every two years, looks at countries using several criteria including how much information they provide abo

　South Korea’s science and technology capabilities ranked seventh last year among the 34 member states of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, according to a state-run think tank.　The Korea Institute of S&T Evaluation and Planning said the evaluation was based on five categories: research environment; support from both public and private sectors; the quality of work carried out by scientists and engineers; the results of research; and overall network capabilities.　The US ca

　International tourist arrivals grew by a remarkable 7 percent in 2017 to reach a total of 1,322 million, according to the latest UNWTO World Tourism Barometer. This strong momentum is expected to continue in 2018 at a rate of 4-5 percent.　Based on data reported by destinations around the world, it is estimated that international tourist arrivals (overnight visitors) worldwide increased 7 percent in 2017. This is well above the sustained and consistent trend of 4 percent or higher growth since 2

　Each year, some 2.6 million babies do not survive their first month.　The UN children’s agency has singled out Pakistan as the riskiest country for newborns, saying that out of every 1,000 children born in Pakistan, 46 die at birth. 　The report is part of UNICEF’s new campaign, launched last week, to raise awareness to bring down neonatal mortality rates. 　UNICEF says that after Pakistan, the Central African Republic is the next riskiest country for newborns, and Afghanistan is the third. (AP)

　Two gold medals are at stake in men’s and women‘s hockey. Teams of 20 players line up with six players typically on the ice for each team at any one time. Two referees and two linesmen officiate. Players attempt to fire a hard rubber puck into a small goal while skating at high speeds swathed in extensive padding and helmets to protect them from injury.

　Nordic combined brings together cross-country skiing, with its demand for strength and endurance, and ski jumping, which requires technical mastery and audacity. There are two individual events for men -- normal hill jumping with a 10-kilometer competition, and large hill jumping, also with a 10-kilometer race. The team events feature large hill jumping with a 4x5-kilometer relay.

　Competitors launch themselves from a takeoff ramp in an effort to fly as far as they can before touching down in the landing zone. 　Five judges mark competitors for distance and style. The four events are: men's normal hill individual, women's normal hill individual, men's large hill individual and men's team.

　Bobsleigh is an event in the Winter Olympic Games where a two-or four-person team drives a specially designed sled down an ice track, with the winning team completing the route with the fastest time.　For bobsleigh, the track length is 1,200 to 1,500 meters long with an average slope of 8 to 15 percent while the curve radius is minimum 20m. The bobsleigh reaches an average maximum speed of 135 kilometers per hour. 

　Three gold medals are up for grabs in curling at the 2018 PyeongChang Games: men’s team, women’s team and mixed doubles. 　A curling team is composed of two or four athletes, and each team takes turns launching the nearly 20-kilogram curling stone. When the curling stone is thrown, athletes follow the movement of the stone and sweep the ice surface using brooms to control the direction and speed of the stone. Having started from the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics, mixed doubles have been introduced

　Competitors ride a small flat sled in single or two-person format and accelerate feet first and face-up down a sharp gradient on an ice track measuring 1,000 to 1,500 meters. Maximum average speeds reach 140 kilometers per hour - faster than bobsleigh and skeleton. Medals are awarded in men’s singles, women’s singles, doubles and team relay.　The course includes left curves, right curves, hairpin curves, S-shaped curves, and a labyrinth. The track has a U-shaped groove, and the walls on both sid

　Eleven gold medals (five for men, five for women, one mixed) are on offer in biathlon.　Biathlon is a sport that combines cross-country skiing and rifle shooting, two events that are very different from each other. Athletes strap the guns on their backs, ski for a certain distance, and then stop to shoot at a designated target. For the shooting, there are two types of the shooting positions. One of these is shooting while lying face down, and the other is shooting while standing up. The final ra

　Skeleton competitors ride a small lightweight sled head first down an ice course while lying flat on their stomachs. The sport was once considered too dangerous for the Olympics. Two gold medals are on offer, for men’s and women’s singles. Unlike the luge, there are no doubles or team events. 　Skeleton was reintroduced to the Olympic program for the Salt Lake City Games in 2002, with a woman’s event added. Sliders speed down ice tracks 1,200 to 1,500 meters long.

　South Korea ranks 10th among major economies in the world in terms of the autonomous vehicle readiness index, a report showed.　According to the recent report from global accounting and consulting giant KPMG International, South Korea has received a total score of 20.71 points in the index, the 10th highest among the 17 other major countries.　The index measures which countries are most prepared for self-driving cars and covers four categories -- policy and legislation, technology and innovation,

　According to new survey results, those in their 20s and 30s in South Korea are less happy than other age groups.　The Center for Happiness Studies at Seoul National University and KakaoTalk, the country's top mobile messaging service provider, unveiled the results of their joint survey conducted on the Mind Weather website, which opened in September. 　In the combined Happiness Index, respondents in their 20s and 30s tied for the lowest score of 52 on a scale of 1 to 100.　Children under the age o