More residents in South Korea‘s capital appeared to be concerned about the new coronavirus pandemic lasting longer here following the recent outbreak traced to nightspots in Itaewon, a poll showed. A combined 53.3 percent of respondents in a recent survey projected the pandemic would end in December or later, nearly doubling from 27.4 percent tallied in mid-April, according to the Seoul Metropolitan Government. Of the total, 19.8 percent said they expect the pandemic to end by

North Korea is estimated to have spent $620 million on its nuclear weapons program last year, an international anti-nuclear weapons group said. The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, a Nobel Peace Prize-winning organization, made the estimate in a report about the expenditures that nine countries, including the North, made on nuclear development. The figure was drawn based on a South Korean think tank’s estimate that the North spent 35 percent of its gross national incom

　Three-quarters of South Korean students received private tutoring in 2019, for which they spent 6 1/2 hours a week on average, a new survey showed. 　The annual survey conducted by the national Statistics Korea and Ministry of Gender Equality and Family on the country’s youth population aged 9-24, found that 74.8 percent of those surveyed got private education outside public school. In 2016, the figure was 67.8 percent. The survey included elementary school students (fourth-sixth grade

　The number of pay TV subscribers in South Korea reached 33.6 million last year, up 1.1 million, or 3.4 percent, from the previous year, data showed. 　The figure includes pay subscribers to system operators, satellite broadcasting services and internet protocol television service providers, according to the Ministry of Science and ICT. 　Fixed-line and telecom operator KT ranked No. 1 in market share with just under 22 percent, or over 7.3 million subscribers, followed by SK Broadband with

　Apple again commanded a majority share of the smartwatch market in the first quarter, when the COVID-19 outbreak encouraged health tracking and drove a 20 percent rise in shipments. 　Global smartwatch shipments reached 13.7 million units in the first three months of this year, defying a worldwide slump in consumer electronics arenas such as mobile phones. Apple’s share inched up a percentage point to 55.5 percent, according to Strategy Analytics. 　Samsung Electronics was second with

　The UN children’s agency said an estimated 46 million people - 19 million of them children - fled violence and conflict last year but remained in their home countries, and millions more were displaced by disasters. 　A UNICEF report said there has been a steep increase in the number of internally displaced people as a result of conflict and violence, from 25 million a decade ago to more than 40 million in the last five years. And last year more than 40 percent of the displaced were un

　Global 5G smartphone shipments grew to 24.1 million in the first quarter. 　Samsung Electronics was the top vendor of 5G smartphones, shipping 8.3 million units globally in the first quarter this year, according to market tracker Strategy Analytics. 　Huawei Technologies came in a close second, shipping 8 million 5G smartphones, as Vivo, Xiomi and OPPO rounded out the top five. 

　More Americans are now spending less each month than at any time since the Great Recession, a new Gallup survey showed. 　When asked about money habits compared to previous months, 51 percent said they're now spending less - an increase from 32 percent last year. It’s the highest figure since 2010, when 57 percent said they were spending less. 　More Americans are being careful with money as the coronavirus crisis has taken a toll on the global economy. More than 30 million adults in

　Some 47.5 percent of South Korean workers saw their income fall due to the coronavirus outbreak that has infected more than 10,000 here, a survey showed. 　Among those on temporary work contracts, 66.3 percent suffered an income loss, while the corresponding figure was 35 percent for permanent employees, according to the survey of 1,000 workers conducted by labor rights groups Gabjil 119 and Public Workers Solidarity Foundation. 　The survey showed that low-income workers in service industr

　The number of Catholics in South Korea rose slightly last year as the religion has experienced a slowdown in its growth in recent years, data showed. 　According to data by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Korea, 5.91 million Koreans were registered with 16 dioceses in the country as of end-2019, up 0.8 percent, or 48,000, from a year earlier. 　The on-year growth has been hovering around 1 percent for the past decade and dropped to a 0.9 percent gain in 2018. Only in 2014, when Po

　The number of moviegoers in South Korea dropped to an all-time low in April, data showed, as people refrained from visiting crowded places amid the new coronavirus pandemic. 　A total of 972,447 people went to the cinema last month - the first time the figure fell below the 1 million threshold since the data was first compiled in 2004, according to the Korean Film Council. 　It marked a drastic drop from a whopping 13.3 million posted a year earlier. (Yonhap)

　Global military expenditure saw its biggest uptick in a decade in 2019, researchers said, marking the first year two Asian countries were among the top three spenders. 　The world’s nations spent a combined $1.9 trillion on their militaries in 2019, according to a report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. 　Compared with 2018, that represented annual growth of 3.6 percent, the highest increase since 2010. (AFP)

　South Korean duty-free stores saw their sales drop sharply in March due to the spread of the new coronavirus, industry data showed. 　Combined sales of local duty-free shops shrank 1.3 percent on-month to 1.8 trillion won ($1.5 billion) last month, according to the data from the Korea Duty Free Shops Association. The number is down 46.2 percent from January, the data showed. 　The number of visitors at duty-free outlets came to 587,879 last month, also down from 1.75 million in February, wi

　According to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Tourism Organization, walking tours are gaining popularity among South Koreans, especially those in their 20s and 30s. 　It was conducted with 4,000 people aged between 15 and 79 across the country from December 2018 and November 2019. 　The survey showed 37 percent of the respondents went on a walking tour during the period, up 6.1 percentage points from a year earlier. (Yonhap)

　South Korea’s exports of coronavirus test kits jumped on-year in the first 20 days of this month, data showed. 　Exports of test kits stood at $131.9 million in the 20-day period, compared with $7.25 million for the same period last year, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service. 　So far this year, Korea has exported test kits to a total of 106 nations. 　Brazil, the top buyer, imported $19.2 million worth of test kits from Korea. Next were the United States and Italy.