The prime minister of Singapore is the highest-paid leader in the world, according to USA Today. Lee Hsien Loong receives $1,610,000 in a year. He‘s followed by the chief executive of Hong Kong, Carrie Lam, and the president of the Swiss Confederation, Ueli Maurer.The president of the United States came in fourth place with $400,000USA today gathered the annual salaries from country’s websites, International Monetary Fund, and the CIA World Factbook.

　The number of foreigners who arrived in South Korea jumped by 12.4 percent in March from a year earlier due to higher numbers of Chinese and Japanese tourists on incentive tours, the local tourism promotion agency said.　A total of 1.54 million foreigners arrived here last month, compared with 1.36 million a year ago, according to the Korea Tourism Organization.　The number of Chinese tourists shot up 20.9 percent last month from a year earlier to some 488,000, due to an increase in both independ

　The number of foreigners visiting South Korea for medical reasons rose last year, said the Health Ministry. 　According to the ministry, 378,967 foreigners visited the country for medical services in 2018, up 17.8 percent from 321,574 the previous year. It was the highest annual figure since 2009, when foreigners began to be allowed to receive medical treatment here.

　South Korean people are increasingly going cashless, relying on credit cards and digital payment, according to a triennial survey by the Bank of Korea. 　Korean households had an average of 78,000 won ($68.60) in cash in their wallets at any given time in 2018, down 33 percent from three years ago. 　People in their 20s had an average of 54,000 won, compared with 67,000 won for those in their 30s, 91,000 won for those in their 40s and 105,000 won for those in their 50s.　

　Nearly half of all South Koreans registered as having disabilities are over 65 years old, a government report showed.　The annual report on disabilities by the Ministry of Health and Welfare found that as of last year, 2.59 million people, or 5 percent of the 51.83 million people living in the country, suffered from a debilitating condition.  　Of those registered as disabled, 46.7 percent were over 65 years old, up from 41.4 percent in 2014 and 38 percent in 2011.

　Executions fell worldwide by nearly a third last year to their lowest levels in at least a decade, but several countries recorded a rise, Amnesty International said.　Use of the death penalty dropped in Iran -- by an eye-popping 50 percent, following a change to its anti-narcotics laws -- Iraq, Pakistan and Somalia, the rights group found in its annual review.　But it rose in Belarus, Japan, Singapore, South Sudan and the United States, while Thailand resumed executions for the first time in a de

　The number of South Koreans in the agrofisheries sector fell in 2018, government data showed, amid rapid aging and urbanization trends across the country.　The number of households in the farming business totaled 1.02 million in 2018, down 2 percent from 1.04 million tallied a year ago, according to data compiled by Statistics Korea.　The number of farmers dropped 4.4 percent on-year to 2.31 million.　In the fishing sector, the number of families fell 2.5 percent on-year to 51,500 last year, with

　Inflation that’s projected to reach an eyeball-popping 8 million percent this year has left Venezuela saddled with the title of the world’s most miserable economy.　The embattled South American nation topped the rankings of Bloomberg’s Misery Index, which sums inflation and unemployment outlooks for 62 economies, for the fifth straight year.　Joining Venezuela in the most-distressed crowd are Argentina, South Africa, Turkey, Greece and Ukraine -- each of which retained the same rank as last year,

　South Korea’s defense technology ranked ninth in the world last year, with 80 percent of US levels, a state-run military research agency said.　According to the triennial report published by the Defense Agency for Technology and Quality, the comparative level of Korea’s overall defense technology was tied with Italy, among 16 major countries. 　The US topped the list, followed by France, Russia, Germany, and Britain. China was sixth, and Japan and Israel came next.

　BTS is set to make history as the boy band is on course to have its third No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 album chart for the week ending April 27.　While the group’s “Map of the Soul: Persona” is the latest K-pop record to top the high-profile chart, it’s worth nothing there were other South Korean artists who had a crack at the US market and left their mark.　In 2009, BoA became the first K-pop singer to enter Billboard’s albums chart with her self-titled US debut album, which peaked at No. 12

　The Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris is not the only heritage site to have been damaged by fire. Other heritage sites around the world have also been completely or partially destroyed by fires. 

　Only 1 in 10 single people in South Korea believes a wedding is essential for a married couple, a survey said.　According to the poll of 2,464 unmarried people -- 1,140 men and 1,324 women aged between 20 and 44 -- carried out by the state-run Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs, only 10.8 percent of female respondents said they believed a wedding ceremony was essential.　Another 34.4 percent of women said they “generally” wanted weddings, according to the poll conducted by the institut

　Global life expectancy grew by 5.5 years between 2000 and 2016, the World Health Organization said, warning though that unequal income and access to health care translates into far shorter lives for many.　The UN health agency also stressed significant gender differences in life expectancy worldwide.　On average, a child born in 2016 can expect to live 72 years, up from 66.5 in 2000, according to the annual World Health Statistics report.

　South Korea ranked second among the 36 members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation last year in terms of the cost of dismissing workers, a local think tank said.　In 2018, Korean companies shouldered the second-highest burden when dismissing employees, the equivalent of 27.4 weeks’ salary on average, the Korea Economic Research Institute said in a statement. Only companies in Turkey paid more, with its workers entitled to 29.8 weeks’ wages upon dismissal.  　The OECD average, in contrast

　Seven in 10 artists in South Korea earn less than 1 million won ($880) a month, well below the average for all trades, a government report said.　According to the report from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the average annual income for domestic artist households was 42.25 million won in 2017, compared with the nation’s average household income of 57.05 million won.　The average annual income for individual artists was 12.81 million won in 2017, up 260,000 won from three years ago, t