Israel’s war with Hamas resumed after a weeklong truce to allow hostages to be released broke down on Friday. In Israel, sirens warned of incoming rockets at several communal farms near Gaza, a sign that militants had also restarted attacks. The renewed hostilities heightened concerns for Palestinians - many of whom have been displaced by the war - as well as about 140 hostages who remain in Gaza, after more than 100 were freed during the truce. By Wednesday, Hamas had released 97 hostages

World News Dec. 5, 2023

Global wine production has fallen this year to its lowest level since 1961 as vineyards were pummeled by extreme weather events, the International Organization of Vine and Wine said. Output reached 244.1 million hectoliters, down 7 percent from last year, the intergovernmental body said as it presented its first estimates. A number of major producers in the southern hemisphere had significant drops in production. Australia, Argentina, Chile, South Africa and Brazil all saw output drop between 10

World News Dec. 1, 2023

South Korea’s rice output fell 1.6 percent this year due mainly to a decrease in cultivation area, data showed. Rice production came to 3.70 million metric tons in 2023, compared with 3.76 million tons a year earlier, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. This year’s decline came as the combined size of rice paddies slid 2.6 percent on-year to a record low of 708,012 hectares. The government has been implementing measures to balance supply and demand of rice, such as gi

Food Nov. 30, 2023

Almost half of Russians want President Vladimir Putin to open talks to end the war in Ukraine, according to a survey. Some 48 percent of respondents agreed it was time to negotiate a peace deal, with 39 percent in favor of pressing on with the war, the telephone poll of 1,611 people by the Russian Field company found. The proportion favoring talks was the highest since the company began monitoring attitudes to the war in April last year. Russian President Vladimir Putin has shown no willingness

World News Nov. 29, 2023

Eco-friendly cars accounted for one-third of all new vehicle purchases made here in the first nine months of 2023, government and industry data showed. According to data from the Transportation Ministry and the Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association, the rate of car purchasers who bought eco-friendly models, including hybrid and electric units, between January and September, stood at 32.1 percent of all new vehicle customers. It marked the first time for the portion of new eco-friendly model

Market Nov. 28, 2023

South Korea’s beer imports from China plunged more than 40 percent last month from a year earlier following the release of a viral video showing a man urinating into a tank at Tsingtao Brewery, the customs office said. The amount of beer imports from China fell 43 percent on-year to 2,281 metric tons in October, and the value of beer purchases from the neighboring country declined 38 percent to $1.93 million, according to the Korea Customs Service. The video released on Oct. 19 shows a uni

World Business Nov. 27, 2023

South Korea’s exports of beverages reached a record high during the first nine months of 2023 in line with the popularity of Korean food and the overall culture, the customs agency said. The export value of beverages, excluding alcoholic drinks and mineral water, amounted to $529 million during the January-September period, up 6.3 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service. It is the highest level ever for a nine-month tally. Last year, the country lo

Market Nov. 24, 2023

The amount of drugs smuggled into South Korea through the country’s main gateway has risen since international travel increased following the lifting of pandemic travel restrictions, an opposition lawmaker said. The amount of narcotics smuggled into South Korea through Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, rose from 129,362 grams in 2020 to 538,241 grams in 2022, Rep. Maeng Sung-kyu of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea said, citing data from the Korea Customs Service. F

Social Affairs Nov. 23, 2023

Japan came in last in a global ranking of employee well-being, measured by assessing workers’ physical, mental, social and spiritual health, the results of a survey conducted by the McKinsey Health Institute showed. Employee well-being in Japan was at 25 percent in the poll of more than 30,000 workers across 30 countries, according to the study. Turkey ranked the highest at 78 percent, followed by India and China. South Korean employee well-being came in below the average at 48 percent to

World News Nov. 22, 2023

South Korea’s Hyundai Motor Group stands as the second-largest player in the US market for electric vehicles despite concerns surrounding Washington’s protectionism policy, data showed. Hyundai Motor took up 4.8 percent of the US EV market in the January-September period, with its smaller sister Kia accounting for 2.7 percent, according to US magazine Automotive News. Their combined market share came to 7.5 percent, taking up the second-largest slice of the US EV market following Tes

World Business Nov. 21, 2023

The number of non-wage workers, such as the self-employed, in South Korea rose 0.56 percent on-year in 2023, data showed. There were 6.72 million non-salaried workers as of August, up by 38,000 from the same period in 2022, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. The number accounts for 23.4 percent of all employed people in the country, down 0.1 percentage point over the cited period. Of the total non-wage workers, one-man operations, which do not hire workers, inched up 0.8 percent

Social Affairs Nov. 20, 2023

South Korean Ryu Hae-ran has clinched the LPGA Rookie of the Year award with one tournament left this season. Since the rise of superstar Pak Se-ri more than two decades ago, Korean female golfers have become an international force to be reckoned with in women’s professional golf tournaments. This trend has been marked by a consistent stream of LPGA Rookie of the Year awards going to Korean women every few years. Fourteen of the past 26 rookies of the year (including this year’s) hav

Golf Nov. 17, 2023

Opium poppy production in Afghanistan, previously the world’s top supplier, has plummeted since the Taliban administration banned the cultivation of narcotics last year, a United Nations report said. The UN Office on Drugs and Crime said opium cultivation fell throughout the country to just 10,800 hectares in 2023 from 233,000 hectares the previous year, slashing supply by 95 percent to 333 tons. This was putting pressure on farmers in the war-torn country, where most people depend on agri

World News Nov. 16, 2023

Two-thirds of residents in Gyeonggi Province are opposed to the proposal to incorporate satellite cities near Seoul into the capital, a poll showed, amid the ruling party’s push for a megacity project. The survey, conducted by Realmeter from Nov. 2-5 on 3,004 Gyeonggi residents, showed that 66.3 percent oppose the idea, while 29.5 percent are in support of it. By region, opposition was highest among residents in Uiwang, south of Seoul, with 73.5 percent, followed by Paju, Yangju and Hwaseo

Social Affairs Nov. 15, 2023

Sales of smartphones continued to shrink globally in the recently-ended quarter as consumers watched their spending, market tracker Counterpoint reported. Smartphone sales fell 8 percent, marking the ninth consecutive quarter of decline in year-over-year comparisons, according to research by Counterpoint's Market Pulse service. The decline was “largely due to slower-than-expected recovery in consumer demand,” the group said in its findings. Samsung continued to lead the smartpho

Market Nov. 14, 2023