Taiwan, Mexico and Costa Rica have been ranked as the top spots to live and work abroad in 2021, based on their cost of living, ease of settling in and overall quality of life. 　The US was ranked only 34th out of 59 places, largely because of how expats viewed quality of life in America, according to a new survey published. 　Taiwan topped the charts for the third year in a row in the survey of 12,420 expats conducted by InterNations, a Munich-based expat network with about 4 million memb

　The average income of farming households reached a record high of 45 million won ($40,300) in 2020 on the back of the government’s subsidies, the Agriculture Ministry said. 　The amount marks a 9 percent rise from 41 million won tallied in 2019, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. It also marked 20 percent growth from 2016. 　The growth apparently came as the country expanded the amount of direct subsidies to local farmers.

　Around 30 percent of stray pets protected by animal shelters found new homes in 2020, data showed, amid the growing popularity of raising pets in South Korea. 　The number of pets rescued by animal shelters came to 130,401 in 2020, down 3.9 percent from 135,791 posted in the previous year, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. 　The data showed 29.6 percent of the rescued animals in 2020 were adopted, up 3.2 percentage points from a year ear

　Samsung Electronics maintained its status as the world‘s leading TV vendor with a record market share in the first quarter, a report showed, as the tech giant posted robust growth on the back of its QLED and large TVs. 　Samsung represented 32.9 percent of the global TV market in terms of sales revenue in the January-March period, its largest share for a first quarter, according to data from industry researcher Omdia. 　Samsung was followed by its South Korean rival LG Electronics wit

　Financial damage caused by cryptocurrency-related crimes has totaled more than 5.5 trillion won ($4.9 billion) since 2017, a lawmaker said, citing data from police. 　According to Rep. Yun Chang-hyun of the main opposition People Power Party, the National Police Agency estimated the damage to be 467 billion won in 2017, 169 billion won in 2018, 764 billion won in 2019, 214 billion won in 2020 and 92 billion won from January to April this year. 　The NPA also said in documents sent to Yun th

　South Korea rose one spot to rank as the fifth best place to be during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Bloomberg’s COVID Resilience Ranking. 　New Zealand regained the top position it held for five consecutive months until April, with COVID-19 all but wiped out in the island nation, allowing its people the freedoms of pre-COVID-19 life - except for international travel. 　The COVID Resilience Ranking uses a wide range of data to capture where the pandemic is being handled most eff

　South Korea’s personal computer market expanded to its largest in 10 years in the first quarter of 2021, industry data showed, due to robust demand for online education and remote working amid the pandemic. 　Domestic PC shipments stood at 1.89 million units in the January-March period, up 30.7 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from market researcher IDC Korea. 　This was the largest PC shipment volume in Korea since the first quarter of 2012, when it recorded 1.94

　A total of 6,705 native Koreans have joined the Roman Catholic priesthood in the 237 years of Catholic history in the country, a report showed. 　According to the 2021 directory published by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Korea, the list of ordained priests includes Father Andrea Kim, who became the first-ever Korean Catholic priest in 1845, and Father Yoon Hong-min, who most recently received his priesthood in February. 　Among those, 5,515 were still active. A total of 645 have

　Nearly 7 out of 10 South Koreans are willing to take vaccine shots to combat the coronavirus, a poll showed. 　According to the survey conducted from April 25-27 jointly by the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, 69.2 percent of 912 unvaccinated respondents said they would like to get vaccinated, up by 7.8 percentage points from a month ago. 　About 16.1 percent answered they would not take vaccine shots, while 14.7 perce

　More than 40 percent of the members of the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong plan to or are considering leaving the financial hub, with most citing discomfort with a sweeping national security law as one reason, a survey showed May 12. 　The legislation imposed by Beijing in 2020, which punishes secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces with up to life in prison, has further strained relations between the United States and China. 　The AmCham survey, to whic

　Older people were more likely to have suffered a decrease in income due to the coronavirus pandemic, a survey showed. 　In the survey conducted on 16,244 workers in 537 professions from August to November, 35.8 percent said they earned less in 2020 due to the economic fallout from the pandemic, according to the Korea Employment Information Service. 　Only 2.9 percent said they saw their income increase. 　The survey showed that the proportion of people who lost income grew almost in line

　South Korea’s homegrown craft beer has gained popularity in recent years, industry data showed, as local brewers offer a wider range of flavors at competitive prices. 　The local craft beer market was valued at 118 billion won ($105.6 million) as of 2020, sharply up from 43.3 billion won in 2017, according to data from the Korea Craft Brewers’ Association. 　Local craft brewers have expanded their presence in the market as craft beers have become more widely available at conv

　Over half of South Koreans positively evaluated last week’s summit meetings between President Moon Jae-in and US President Joe Biden, a poll showed. 　In the Realmeter poll of 2,004 adults conducted nationwide May 24-25, 56.3 percent said the Moon-Biden summit meetings went “well.” Of the positive reviews, 29.6 percent described them as going “very well,” it said. 　On the other hand, 31.5 percent gave it a thumbs-down. Among those who had a negative assessment

　China’s population growth slowed, with the nation becoming older and more urbanized, reshaping the economy’s demographic landscape. 　There were 1.412 billion people in China last year, the National Bureau of Statistics in Beijing said in its once-a-decade census report. In 2017, the government forecast a population of 1.42 billion by 2020, peaking at 1.45 billion in 2030. The annual average growth of 0.53 percent in the past decade was the slowest since 1953. 　China’s po

　South Korea ranked ninth among 44 countries on a 2020 measure of global entrepreneurship, six notches up from a year earlier, the government said. 　Asia’s fourth-largest economy won 5.49 points out of a maximum of 10 on the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor’s National Entrepreneurship Context Index, up from 5.13 in 2019, according to the Ministry of SMEs and Startups. 　Korea ranked first in the internal market dynamics category with 7.9 points, but came in 29th in the profession