Fraudulent insurance claims increased 2 percent in terms of payments last year, partly due to a rise in minor fraud as the COVID-19 pandemic hit the economy, the financial regulator said. 　According to the Financial Supervisory Service, insurance cheaters took a record 898.6 billion won ($808.2 million) through wrongful filings last year, up 11.7 billion won from a year earlier. 　The regulator identified 98,826 suspects in 2020, up 6.8 percent from a year earlier. 　Fraud not involving

　South Korea’s exports of cosmetics shot up 15 percent in 2020 from a year earlier, data showed, on the back of growing demand from the United States and from other Asian countries. 　Outbound shipments of cosmetics reached $6.12 billion last year, according to the data compiled by the Korea Customs Service and the Korea Cosmetic Association. 　Korea’s imports of cosmetics fell 10.7 percent on-year in 2020 to $1.07 billion. 　Exports to China soared 24.6 percent, with shipments to J

　Online sales accounted for nearly a fifth of all retail turnover last year as lockdowns to combat the spread of the coronavirus pandemic fueled a boom in e-commerce, a United Nations study showed. 　Online sales accounted for 19 percent of all retail sales in 2020, up from 16 percent a year earlier, according to estimates from the UN Conference on Trade and Development based on national statistics offices in major economies. 　South Korea reported the highest figure at 25.9 percent, up from

　The US birth rate fell 4 percent last year, the largest single-year decrease in nearly 50 years, according to a government report being released. 　The rate dropped for moms of every major race and ethnicity, and in nearly age group, falling to the lowest point since federal health officials started tracking it more than a century ago. 　Births have been declining in younger women for years, as many postponed motherhood and had smaller families. 　The CDC report is based on a review of more

　More than half of South Koreans support taxing capital gains from the trading of cryptocurrencies, a poll showed. 　The government plans to impose taxes on gains from investment in virtual assets starting next year. 　A poll by Realmeter showed 53.7 percent of respondents back the plan while 38.3 percent are opposed. The survey, commissioned by the news channel YTN, was conducted on 500 people aged 18 or older across the country April 29. (Yonhap)

　Global food prices increased for the 11th consecutive month in April, hitting their highest level since May 2014, with sugar leading a rise on all the main indices, the United Nations food agency said. 　The Food and Agriculture Organization's food price index, which measures monthly changes for a box of cereal, oil seeds, dairy products, meat and sugar, averaged 120.9 points last month versus a revised 118.9 points in March. 　The March figure was previously 118.5 points. 　The Rome-based

　Nearly 70 percent of South Koreans believe that the use of a vaccination passport, which proves that a person has been fully vaccinated against the virus, will help the economy, a poll showed. 　The poll from the Federation of Korean Industries, a major business lobbying group here, showed 67.4 percent expect the adoption of the passport will vitalize the economy. 　With the passport, 36.4 percent said they would like to take trips overseas, with 41.2 percent of them pointing to Europe as

　Consumption expenditures in South Korea's tourism and leisure sector decreased by more than 20 percent last year due to the coronavirus pandemic, a state-funded think tank said . 　In particular, foreigners’ spending in the domestic tourism and leisure sector plunged by nearly 80 percent and the travel industry was hit hardest among the relevant industries, the Korea Culture and Tourism Institute said. 　Last year, consumption expenditures in the nation's tourism and leisure industrie

　Three South Korean electric vehicle battery makers accounted for 31 percent of the global market in the first quarter, but their market share has slipped since last year in the face of tougher competition from Chinese rivals, a market research firm said. 　The trio - LG Energy Solution, Samsung SDI and SK Innovation - supplied a combined 47.8 gigawatt-hour equivalents of EV batteries in the January-March period, up 127 percent from a year earlier, according to the data by SNE Research. 　

　One hundred days have passed Tuesday, since the generals made their power grab and detaining civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Feb. 1. 　In recent weeks, protests against the coup spread across the country and the military’s response has become increasingly brutal. 　Around 780 civilians have been killed, as security forces have sought to suppress near-daily protests with brutal crackdowns and live rounds.

　South Korean automaker Hyundai Motor slipped to second place in the fuel cell electric vehicle market in the first quarter as Japanese rival Toyota clinched the top rank with the release of a new model, industry data showed. 　Global FCEV sales jumped 89.2 percent on-year to hit a record of nearly 4,000 units in the January-March period, mostly driven by strong sales of Toyota‘s second-generation Mirai model, according to the data by SNE Research. 　Toyota sold about 2,000 FCEVs in t

　The average age of heads of household in Seoul was 51.8 last year, up 2.9 years from five years ago, a survey by the city government showed. 　The annual survey of citizens‘ lives conducted from September-October also showed the average size of households shrank to 2.33 members from 2.64 in 2015. 　One-person households accounted for 33.4 percent of the total, followed by two persons with 25.8 percent, three persons with 20.6 percent and four persons with 15.8 percent. (Yonhap)

　The number of North Korean defectors coming into South Korea dropped 77 percent to 31 in the first quarter this year as the North’s anti-coronavirus border closures remained in place, a Unification Ministry official said. 　During the same period last year, 135 North Korean defectors entered the South. 　The ministry official cited the North’s border closure as one of the reasons for the sharp decline. (Yonhap)

　South Korea continues to have the lowest birthrate in the world this year amid fast growth of its elderly population, a United Nations report showed. 　The country’s total fertility rate per woman amounted to 1.1 in 2021, unchanged from a year earlier, according to the report from the UN Population Fund. 　The fertility rate refers to the average number of children each woman is expected to give birth to over her lifetime. 　South Korea’s rate is the lowest among all 198 countri

　South Korea’s exports of autos grew 31.4 percent on-year in the first quarter on the back of brisk shipments of sedans and eco-friendly vehicles, data showed. 　The country’s outbound shipments of cars came to $11 billion in the January-March period, compared with $8.37 billion the previous year, according to the data compiled by the Korea Customs Service. 　Imports of autos rose 21.8 percent on-year to $2.9 billion, the data showed. 　Overseas shipments of sedans and eco-friend