The world has marked the first rise in child labor in two decades and the coronavirus crisis threatens to push millions more youngsters toward the same fate, the United Nations said. In a joint report, the International Labor Organization and the UN children’s agency UNICEF said the number in child labor stood at 160 million at the start of 2020 - an increase of 8.4 million in four years. The hike began before the pandemic hit and marks a dramatic reversal of a downward trend that h

More than 42 percent of 30-somethings in South Korea remained unmarried last year, census data showed, underscoring the trend in which many young people delay or give up on marriage, amid a prolonged economic slowdown. Out of 13.7 million single people aged 15 and older, 2.82 million people were in their 30s last year, up from 2.68 million five years prior, according to the 2020 census by Statistics Korea. The percentage of unmarried people in their 30s reached 42.5 percent last year, up 6.2 p

　South Korea has clinched the top spot in Asia in a United Nations agency’s global innovation rankings, coming in fifth globally. 　In the World Intellectual Property Organization’s Global Innovation Index 2021, Korea was ahead of Singapore, Japan and China. It was behind Switzerland, Sweden, the United States and the United Kingdom. 　Korea, Asia’s fourth-biggest economy, was in 10th place last year. (Yonhap)

　South Korea has imported twice as many cats and dogs this year compared with two years ago, as people spend more time at home amid the protracted COVID-19 pandemic, customs data showed. 　According to the data by the regional customs office in Incheon, a main gateway for trade located about 40 kilometers west of Seoul, the number of cats and dogs brought in to the country via air carriers reached 10,241 in the January-August period this year, including 7,961 canines and 2,280 felines. 　Th

　Traffic accidents involving personal mobility devices, such as electric scooters, quadrupled from 2018 to 2020, government data showed, raising alarm over the safety of riders. 　According to the data from the National Police Agency, disclosed by Rep. Huh Young of the Democratic Party, the number of traffic accidents involving electric scooters and other personal mobility devices came to 897 in 2020, up nearly fourfold from 225 in 2018. 　During the same time period, the annual number of in

　South Korea was the world‘s second-largest spender on chip equipment in the second quarter of the year, a report showed, amid a global semiconductor shortage. 　South Korea, home to major memory chip producers Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, invested $6.62 billion in chipmaking equipment in the April-June period, up 48 percent from a year ago, according to quarterly billings data from SEMI, a global industry association representing companies in the electronics design and manufactu

　Manchester United forward Cristiano Ronaldo has reclaimed the top spot in the list of the world’s highest-paid soccer players from Lionel Messi, according to Forbes. 　Forbes said Ronaldo, among the world’s most popular athletes with over 500 million followers across Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, is set to make $125 million before taxes in the 2021-22 season, with $70 million coming from salary and bonuses at United. 　The rest will come from endorsements and partnerships wit

　The United Nations warned that weather-related disasters have skyrocketed over the past half-century, causing far more damage even as better warning systems have meant fewer deaths. 　A report from the UN‘s World Meteorological Organization examined mortality and economic losses from weather, climate and water extremes between 1970 and 2019. 　It found that such disasters have increased fivefold during that period, driven largely by a warming planet, and warned the upward trend would

　South Korea's top cosmetics maker AmorePacific has the highest ratio of female employees among major local firms, a corporate tracker said. 　AmorePacific had 8,117 female workers as of the end of December last year, which accounted for 74.8 percent of its total workforce at 10,800, according to Korea CXO Institute.  　The institute attributed AmorePacific’s high percentage to its business catering mainly to women.  　Hana Bank came next with 60.5 percent, followed by hom

　Sales of high-end imported cars spiked nearly 66 percent in the first eight months of the year amid the popularity of big-ticket eco-friendly models among local motorists and a post-lockdown shopping spree, industry data showed. 　A total of 45,042 imported vehicles with price tags of 100 million won ($85,700) or higher were sold in South Korea in the January-August period, up 65.5 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea Automobile Importers and Distributors Associ

　Animal farming accounts for twice as many greenhouse gas emissions as plants grown for consumption, according to a study published that mapped agricultural activities worldwide. 　What humans eat accounts for a major chunk of the emissions behind climate-change - transportation, deforestation, cold-storage and the digestive systems of cattle all send polluting gases into the atmosphere. 　Researchers looked at carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide released by food production and consum

　South Koreans‘ overseas card spending jumped 80 percent on-year in the second quarter as many nations eased lockdown rules following the COVID-19 pandemic, central bank data showed. 　The amount of money spent overseas by South Koreans with cards, including both credit and debit cards, totaled $3.37 billion in the April-June period, compared to $1.87 billion for the same period last year, according to data from the Bank of Korea. 　Compared with three months earlier, overseas card sp

　The number of medical tourists to South Korea tumbled nearly 77 percent in 2020 from a year earlier, amid the coronavirus pandemic, data showed. 　Roughly 117,100 foreign patients visited South Korea last year, down a whopping 76.5 percent from some 497,500 a year earlier, according to data from the local medical community. 　The data is based on statistics gathered by the Korea Health Industry Development Institute. 　Seoul Asan Medical Center, one of South Korea‘s five major hospita

　The number of delivery workers in South Korea swelled nearly 12 percent in the second half of last year to hit a record high amid the coronavirus pandemic, government data showed. 　Asia’s fourth-largest economy had 390,000 carriers as of the end of December last year, up 11.8 percent from a year earlier, according to data from Statistics Korea. 　The tally covers mail carriers, door-to-door couriers, food delivery workers, newspaper delivery workers and carriers of milk and other bev

　The total number of students in kindergartens and elementary, middle and high schools in South Korea has fallen below 6 million for the first time, government data showed, amid the nation's declining birthrate. 　According to data from the Ministry of Education, there were 5,957,000 students enrolled in kindergartens and elementary, middle and high schools nationwide as of April 1, marking a decline of 0.9 percent from a year earlier. 　Student population decreased for all except middle sch