South Korea has the third-highest ratio of youth “not in education, employment or training,” or NEET youth, among members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, a report showed. The average monthly number of NEET people aged 15-29 in the country is estimated at 1.56 million in the January-October period, according to the report from the Korea Employment Information Servi...

South Korea's new coronavirus cases fell below 4,000 for the first time in 28 days Tuesday due partly to antivirus restrictions and fewer tests over the weekend, but the number of critical cases remained high. The country added 3,865 new COVID-19 infections, raising the total caseload to 615,532, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). The figure marked the first ti...

South Korean shares opened lower Tuesday, bucking the overnight advance on Wall Street amid concerns over the spread of the omicron variant. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 5.20 points, or 0.17 percent, to 2,994.35 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. US shares advanced on optimism that the global economy can ride out the COVID-19 pandemic and tightening monet...

The government will buy 200,000 tons of locally produced rice this year to help stabilize the market price of the staple grain, the ruling party said Tuesday following a meeting with agriculture authorities. "Of the surplus amount of 270,000 tons of rice, the government will isolate 200,000 tons from the market in the near future," said Rep. Park Wan-joo, the chief policy maker of the ruling Dem...

South Korea's consumer sentiment index dropped for the first time in four months in December due to concerns over the resurgence of the coronavirus, central bank data showed Tuesday. The composite consumer sentiment index (CCSI) came to 103.9 in December, down 3.7 points from the previous month, according to the data from the Bank of Korea. This marked the first decline since August when the in...

President Joe Biden on Monday signed into law a US defense budget bill that calls on his administration to maintain the troop level of US Forces Korea (USFK) at the current level. The National Defense Authorization Act was signed into law, less than two weeks after the Senate approved it in a 89-10 vote. The House of Representatives had also approved the bill earlier this month. "On Monday, De...

“Spider-Man: No Way Home,” Marvel‘s latest Spider-Man film has sold 4,825,696 tickets in South Korea since its release on Dec. 15, becoming the most popular film of the year. During the Christmas holiday (from Dec. 24-26), Jon Watts’ hero film sold 1,299 627 tickets, according to box office figures released by the Korean Film Council. “Spider-Man: No Way Home“ depicts the story of Spider-Man af...

Public debt has soared since the 2008 financial crisis, and especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the International Monetary Fund, the ratio of public debt to GDP in advanced economies increased from around 70 percent in 2007 to 124 percent in 2020. But the fear that rising public debt will fuel future financial crises has been subdued, partly because government bond yields have b...

As omicron cases rise rapidly, there are urgent questions about how aggressively we should respond. At one extreme are reactions like that of the Netherlands, which has moved into full lockdown mode to blunt the variant’s spread. Another possibility is simply to not do very much, whether out of pandemic fatigue or uncertainty over the best approach. But the sudden surge in cases has given fresh ...

South Korea‘s electricity demand set a new wintertime high Monday, as the country was gripped by the coldest weather so far this season, the Energy Ministry said. Peak power demand had reached 90,708 megawatts as of 5 p.m., as lower-than-normal temperatures led to increased electricity use for heating, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. This season’s first cold wave warni...

Late former President Chun Doo-hwan described a military document recommending a crackdown on the 1980 pro-democracy uprising in the southwestern city of Gwangju as a “good idea,” a fact-finding panel said Monday. Marking the second anniversary of its launch, the May 18 Democratization Movement Truth Commission released interim results of a probe into the clampdown that led to the deaths of ...

South Korea‘s military approved a plan Monday to locally develop and deploy a reconnaissance and surveillance drone by 2031 to better defend the country’s northwestern border islands, the state arms procurement agency said. The Defense Project Promotion Committee endorsed the project worth 570 billion won ($479 million) for the drone designed to be operated aboard Navy warships and by Marine Cor...

One of the most electrifying performances of the night was the unit performance. Jihyo, Sana and Dahyun opened with “Push & Pull.” Their high-energy performance involved a sofa and handkerchiefs as stage props. Then Nayeon, Momo and Chaeyoung took the baton with “Hello.” The girls appeared in head to toe pink driving a pink van, looking like chic cowgirls. Despite Jeongyeon’s absence, Mina and ...

Local performance planning agency Mast Media has announced the lineup for its upcoming concerts in the next year. A total of 18 scheduled performances featuring globetrotting artists is expected to give hope to audiences. “The Great Pianists Series” will kick off with a show from Polish pianist Krystian Zimerman, which is scheduled to take place at Lotte Concert Hall on Feb. 14 and 15. The conce...