SouthKorea

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  Online secondhand market Joonggonara and 7-Eleven officially launches safe offline trading service SEOUL -- Joongonara, South Korea's largest online secondhand market platform operated by Eugene Asset Management, and convenience store franchise 7-Eleven have kicked its safe offline secondhand trading service into full gear. The service was tested in the southern Seoul district of Gangnam earlier this month. According to the Korea Internet & Security Agency, South Korea's internet watchdog, the country has an online secondhand trading market standing at about 24 trill 2023-01-30
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  National pension fund to be depleted in 2055, two year earlier than previously predicted SEOUL -- South Korea’s national pension fund for salaried workers is expected to be depleted completely in 2055, 14 years after it begins to record a deficit, according to a committee evaluating the financial soundness of the fund. The finding said that the depletion will come two years earlier than the committee’s previous calculation conducted five years ago, if the current pension scheme remains unchanged. The panel, affiliated with the Ministry of Health and W 2023-01-27
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  ​S. Korea to invest $215 mln into five-year development project for AI technologies for everyday environments SEOUL -- South Korea will invest some 265 billion won ($215 million) for a five-year project that aims to develop artificial intelligence technologies that can be utilized by people in their everyday environments. AI used in various sectors including the administrative, legislative, judicial, and public sectors will eventually help boost the country's AI technology capability. Prime Minister Han Duck-soo held the second National Data Policy Committee meeting on January 25 and r 2023-01-27
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  ​Unclaimed Lotto prizes top $33.54 billion won last year SEOUL -- Unclaimed Lotto prizes were estimated at 41.31 billion won ($33.54 million) last year, according to a report submitted by the Ministry of Economy and Finance to Rep. Kim Ju-young of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) on January 26. The sum offered by Lotto, the most popular lottery ticket in South Korea, included one of last year’s top prizes that was valued at 2.37 billion won, 23 cases of second prizes with 1.24 billion won, and 1,421 cases of thir 2023-01-26
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  Autonomous vehicles to be deployed in southern city to provide paid shuttle service SEOUL -- A fleet of autonomous vehicles will be deployed to a self-driving car demonstration zone in Daegu some 249 kilometers (149 miles) south of Seoul to offer paid shuttle service. The self-driving cars will carry passengers on a circulation route through an industrial techno-valley area. South Korea's first paid shuttle service using autonomous vehicles was launched in western Seoul in December 2021. 42dot, a domestic self-driving technology startup, operated three autonom 2023-01-26
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  Number of Korean language learners steadily increases on state-run online learning service SEOUL -- The number of foreigners learning to speak Korean through an online classroom platform called "Online King Sejong Institute," run by the state-run King Sejong Institute, has reached 61,337, up 7.7 percent on-year. English speakers accounted for the largest portion with 11,683. Using PC or a mobile phone, anyone can take Korean classes after taking a level test through the online platform. Students can receive personal advice from their online instructors. For tho 2023-01-25
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  Seoul's surrounding province to install more than 76,000 EV chargers in 2023 SEOUL -- In a bid to speed up the distribution of electric cars, more than 76,000 electric vehicle chargers will be installed in Gyeonggi Province, that surrounds Seoul, this year. The number of registered electric cars in the province stood at 77,648 as of December 2022, but there were only 48,520 chargers. South Korea is striving to achieve net-zero carbon dioxide emissions by 2050 by promoting the use of renewable energy and clean fuels. As of the third quarter of 2022, about 34 2023-01-24
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  S. Korea records $760mln in exports of Ramyeon in 2022 SEOUL -- Exports of Ramyeon, South Korean instant noodles, reached $765.4 million in 2022, up 13.5 percent from a year ago, the state customs statistics showed. According to data released by the World Instant Noodles Association, a South Korean person consumes an average of 73 packs of instant noodles per year. South Korean Ramyeon products started to gain attention in 2015 thanks to K-pop and K-dramas. Various companies sought to grab instant noodle fans worldwide. Shinsegae, Sout 2023-01-23
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  Seoul's northern satellite city reveals blueprint to reduce CO2 emissions by 40 percent in 7 years SEOUL -- Uijeongbu City, a northern satellite city of Seoul, has revealed a blueprint to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases by 40 percent until 2030. At the current rate, the environment ministry predicted that Uijeongbu's annual emission of greenhouse gases will reach about two million tons in 2030. The northern satellite city with a population of some 463,700 used to be the largest bed town of Seoul until the late 1990s. Uijeongbu located in the center of Gyeonggi Provin 2023-01-23
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  South Korea to scrap mask mandate for most indoor places January 30 SEOUL -- South Korea plans to lift the mask mandate for most indoor places from January 30 as part of efforts to return to normal life three years after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said on January 20 that the mask guidelines will be eased from “mandatory” to “optional” except for some vulnerable indoor facilities as the daily caseload of coronavirus infections continues to fall. He added that the mask mandate, howe 2023-01-20
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  Seoul becomes world's first city to provide metaverse-based administrative services SEOUL -- Seoul became the world's first city to provide administrative services using metaverse, a virtually created world accessible using smart devices or PCs, in various sectors including economy, education and tax. Seoulites can communicate with their mayor regarding public policies by creating avatars in the virtual world. The municipal authorities unveiled its scheme in November 2021 to provide metaverse-based services in every administrative sector by 2026 through a 3. 2023-01-17
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  Marine ministry to promote migration of young people to fishing villages via support program SEOUL -- In an effort to encourage young city people to migrate to under-populated fishing villages, the marine ministry will roll out a promotion program that will include various government-funded supports such as a fishing boat rental service, house rental service, and the operation of incubation curriculums of fishermen. According to the state statistical information service, South Korea's fishermen population is decreasing rapidly. There were about 121,700 people working i 2023-01-17
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  Elderly lone diners more prone to accelerated frailty and aging: study SEOUL -- Old people who eat alone are more likely to show a higher frailty scale than those who eat with others, a joint study by South Korean doctors showed. Doctors said the feeling of social isolation felt during meal times affected the aging process by causing depression and malnutrition. The term frailty normally refers to an aging stage that could develop into elderly diseases. The clinical frailty scale is decided by measuring the functional status of the body and mind of 2023-01-17
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  ​Convenience store GS25 targets "home-aloners" with Lunar New Year festival gourmet menu SEOUL -- South Korean convenience store franchise GS25 has released a premium lunchbox menu for "home-aloners," single-person households who chose to stay at their homes rather than to visit their families in their hometown. The premium meal box consists of traditional Korean menus including Tteokguk, a rice cake soup consumed during the Korean Lunar New Year holidays called "Seol." Seol, a three-day festival that celebrates the Lunar New Year, is the largest tr 2023-01-16
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  Southern port city to operate incubation programs to beef up workers' big data capability SEOUL -- The southern port city of Busan will kick-start an incubation program for its workers to improve their capability to understand and utilize big data in their administrative work processes. South Korea has been collecting public data from various sectors for the last decade. Big data is a collection of data sets that is too large for conventional tools or methods to process. While the vast amount of information has extremely high statistical power, it could also have a high 2023-01-16
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  Busan to create smart indoor gardens to purify air in multi-purpose areas SEOUL -- To help urbanites heal their mind and take a break from busy life, smart gardens with plants capable of removing indoor air pollutants will be established in South Korea's southern port city of Busan. The small-sized indoor gardens with automatic water supply systems will be provided to multi-purpose areas such as welfare centers and educational service centers. Using internet of things (IoT) technology, smart gardens control air quality, wind speed, and water distri 2023-01-13
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  Southern port city to invest $4 mln to create urban forests in 22 areas SEOUL -- The southern port city of Busan will invest five billion won ($4 million) to create urban forests over 22 areas that are equivalent to some four football fields. Busan, South Korea's second-largest city, has a population of 3.4 million over an area of 770 square kilometers. However, about 47 percent of the city consists of mountains, making the city very cramped with a small number of green areas that are easily accessible by citizens. The port city famous for it 2023-01-12
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  ​Seoul to utilize drones to monitor tile roofs of traditional Hanok buildings SEOUL -- Seoul will adopt a safety inspection service using drones to manage traditional Korean houses called "Hanok." The drone safety inspection service will check the condition of tiled roofs instead of having human inspectors climb up the old buildings. Any Hanok residents in Seoul can request the city government for a drone inspection service if they find maintenance issues such as water leaks. Seoul currently has about 8,000 Hanok buildings. According to the city, 2023-01-12
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  Rare ginseng worth some $545,000 found in S. Korea SEOUL -- An extremely rare ginseng which is estimated to be about $545,000 has been found in a mountainous area in South Korea's southwestern region by a mountain hiker. The ginseng weighing some 0.9 pounds has a high proportion of Rg3, a biological component used to treat cancer. Rg3 is a type of saponin that inhibits the growth of cancer cells, improves blood circulation and lowers blood pressure. Rg3 is easily absorbed in the body compared to other saponin substances. The 2023-01-11
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  S. Korea reveals fishing boat capacity reduction plan for nearshore fishermen SEOUL -- Due to the decreased catch affected by climate changes and overfishing, South Korea will carry out a nearshore fishing boat capacity reduction program. A total of 39 boats will be reduced in 2023 and subsidies will be provided in form of tax returns and reimbursements for estimated salvage values of boats and fishing equipment, and up to six months of salary for fishermen who lost their jobs because of the fishing boat reduction program. The reduction of fishing boat capac 2023-01-11