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Yoon Ja-young

Korea Times AI content 1 team Reporter

Yoon Ja-young is in charge of articles translated by a generative AI system and edited by The Korea Times. She is interested in improving the newspaper through AI.

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Economy

Rowenta, Miele, Siemens rated top vacuum cleaners

By Yoon Ja-youngThere are a variety of vacuum cleaners in the market and consumers are advised to examine noise, maximum absorption power, and fine dust release when choosing a model, according to a consumer group.Korea Consumer Agency said it tested and compared the quality and safety of 14 popular vacuum cleaners in the market in terms of noise, maximum absorption power and fine dust release.Among the 14 products tested, those by Rowenta, Miele and Siemens were rated as excellent in terms of noise, along with those by Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics.Meanwhile, Dirt Devil, Dongbu Daewoo, Philips, Hoover and AEG were all rated as “ordinary.”There was also huge discrepancy between the cleaners in terms of maximum absorption power.The cleaner by Samsung Electronics had 2.4 times the amount of maximum absorption power than the Rowenta model. However, the consumer agency explained that all products were powerful enough for ordinary cleaning.The consumer agency also examined the amount of fine dust released by the cleaners. While vacuum cleaners are supposed to get rid

Dec 21, 2014By Yoon Ja-young
Economy

Investors shifting toward safe assets

Sales of gold bars have doubled in the last three months as investors shift to safe assets amid concern over the global economy. / Korea Times fileBy Yoon Ja-youngConcern over the global economy, triggered by plunging oil prices and Russian instability, is pushing investors to seek gold, bonds and other safer assets.Both affluent and ordinary investors are buying gold and deposits at banks despite historically low interest rates.“As the media continues talking about deflation, our customers seem to find gold as the only attractive investment that can survive the economic crisis,” said Chris Kim, who runs a gold and jewelry shop in Jung-gu, downtown Seoul.According to the Korea Gold Exchange, sales of gold bars reached 160 kilograms in the past two weeks, with the December figure expected to reach a record 250 kilograms, twice the sales of September.It is notable that seven out of 10 gold investors are small-sum investors, who seek either 37.5-gram gold bars or 10-gram gold bars, instead of the 1kg gold bars that affluent investors usually invest in.This reflects the fact

Dec 21, 2014By Yoon Ja-young
Economy

Regulation on household debt to toughen

Calls growing for steps to curb household debtBy Yoon Ja-young The steep increase in household debt is prompting the government to give a second thought to the deregulation of loans, amid warnings that maintaining the viability of debt should come before boosting the real estate market.As a first step, the government is planning to control household loans by mutual financing companies.The Financial Services Commission (FSC) held a meeting Wednesday to discuss how to control household loans from mutual financing companies such as cooperatives.The total household loans by mutual financing companies, including Nonghyup, credit cooperatives and community credit cooperatives, stood at 139.1 trillion won as of September, up 8.8 percent from a year ago.The FSC showed concern over the high ratio of mortgages at these cooperatives, as they will be directly affected by an economic downturn.The government decided to maintain a loan-to-value (LTV) and a debt-to-income (DTI) ratio at mutual financing companies. It will also limit the amount of loans a community credit cooperative can offer p

Dec 11, 2014By Yoon Ja-young
Economy

New residential office in downtown Suwon

Classity Yeongtong, an officetel building by Changsung Engineering and Construction, is expected to attract office workers in Suwon.In Korea, there is a category of building called an “officetel,” a portmanteau of “office” and “hotel,” which is a small-sized studio-apartment that can be used as an office or a residence. As they are clean and fully furnished, officetels are popular especially among young people.Yeongtong District in eastern Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, is dubbed as the “Gangnam” of Suwon, but over 70 percent of the officetels in the region are over 15 years old. Hence, there has been demand for a brand new officetel.Classity Yeongtong, an officetel building by Changsung Engineering and Construction, meets this need.A three-minute walk from Yeongtong Station on the Bundang subway line, it is located next to Gureum Plaza in the central commercial area of the district. The 15-story-building comprises commercial facilities from the first to the fourth floors, and 341 officetels from the fifth to the 15th floors.The biggest attr

Dec 10, 2014By Yoon Ja-young
New residential office in downtown Suwon
Economy

Weak emerging currencies threatening Korea

By Yoon Ja-youngThe nation’s economy is exposed to greater external risks involving a stronger dollar and weakening of emerging market currencies, coupled with falling international oil prices, analysts said Wednesday.“The appreciation of the dollar against the backdrop of divergent monetary policies may, if persistent, have a profound impact on the global economy. A continued depreciation of the domestic currency against the dollar could reduce the creditworthiness of many firms, potentially inducing a tightening of financial conditions,” the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) said in its latest report. Strong dollar, weak emerging currencies With the United Sates being the only major economy recovering since the global financial crisis, the dollar has been turning strong.Falling international oil prices are also leading to a preference for the dollar, making the currency gain more value as well as boosting the U.S. economy itself. International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde said early this month that lower energy prices will help the U.S. e

Dec 10, 2014By Yoon Ja-young
Economy

Cigarette smuggling faces crackdown

By Yoon Ja-youngThose who buy more cigarettes than allowed at duty free shops will face inspections by the customs office.This is part of a plan to tackle the problem of cigarette hoarding ahead of a planned price hike.The Korea Customs Service said Monday that it will strengthen monitoring on cigarette smuggling by travelers and peddlers.Currently, the customs office allows 10 packs of cigarettes per person as duty-free. If a traveler is found bringing in an excessive amount of cigarettes without declaring them, the customs office confiscates them.Cho Bong-gil, an official at the customs office, said that those who bring in too many cigarettes despite short stay overseas will be the focus of monitoring.“For instance, those who buy 200 packs of cigarettes despite a short trip will be the target, not ordinary travelers with good intentions,” he said.The measure comes amid expectations that cigarette smuggling will increase significantly ahead of the next year’s cigarette price hike.The government plans to raise cigarette prices to 4,500 won per pack from 2,500 won. A

Dec 8, 2014By Yoon Ja-young
Economy

Real income growth stangant

Gross national income up 0.3%, lowest in two and half yearsBy Yoon Ja-young The country’s real income grew at the weakest pace in two-and-a-half years, economists said Thursday, due to the economic slowdown and sluggish investment. They advised the government to focus on increasing the income of the households to boost the economy.According to the Bank of Korea, the real gross national income (GNI) increased by 0.3 percent in the third quarter from the previous quarter, the smallest increase since the first quarter of 2012. The real GNI grew 1.9 percent in the second quarter of last year, but the growth rate fell to 1 percent in the third and fourth quarters and to 0.5 percent in the first quarter of this year. It picked up to 1.1 percent in the second quarter, but fell to 0.3 percent in the third quarter.Unlike real gross domestic income (GDI) that focuses on economic activities within the country, the real GNI shows real purchasing power of the income earned by Koreans both inside and outside the country.The central bank attributed the fall in the real income to the wors

Dec 4, 2014By Yoon Ja-young
Economy

Small-sum credit card payments surge

By Yoon Ja-young Seoul office worker Kim Seong-chan does not carry a wallet anymore because he pays for everything with a credit card.For example, he often buys yogurt, which costs 1,100 won, at a convenience store on his way to work, and pays with a card.According to KB Financial Group Research Institute, more people are using credit card, even for small amounts.Individuals’ aggregate credit card spending at coffee shops is estimated at 3.7 trillion won this year, 5.5 times more than five years ago.“It is true that coffee consumption itself has increased,” said researcher Jung Hoon. “But it is more attributable to the wide use of credit cards, even for small payments. People are using more credit cards at coffee shops.”He also pointed out that more people were using credit cards at places where they usually had paid cash, such as billiard halls, locksmiths and public saunas.Credit card spending at Chinese restaurants and fast food cafeterias is expected to reach 2.7 trillion won this year, up 143.2 percent from five years ago.“Among the optio

Dec 4, 2014By Yoon Ja-young
Economy

Korea Testing Laboratory attends Asian forum

Lee Won-bok, second from right on center table, president and CEO of Korea Testing Laboratory, participates in the 15th Asia Network Forum in Chengdu, China, Wednesday. / Courtesy of Korea Testing LaboratoryBy Yoon Ja-youngThe Korea Testing Laboratory said Wednesday that it is participating in the 15th Asia Network Forum in Chengdu, China, that runs through Friday.Hosted by the China Quality Certification Center, the general meeting of testing and certification organizations in Asian countries will have around 60 technology policy experts participating, including representatives from the Korea Testing Laboratory, China Quality Certification Center, Japan Quality Assurance Organization, the Electronics Testing Center in Taiwan, and Quality Assurance and Testing Center 3 in Vietnam.At the meeting, the main topics of discussion will include acknowledging test results among the member countries and technological standards on lighting and batteries.The forum was launched in 2000 for the exchange of information and human resources among Asian testing and certification organizations, as wel

Dec 3, 2014By Yoon Ja-young
Economy

Life in Korea grows longer

By Yoon Ja-youngThe life expectancy of babies born last year was 81.9 years, the highest ever. The life expectancy gap between men and women fell to 6.5 years as males have come to take better care of their health.Statistics Korea said Wednesday that the life expectancy of babies born in 2013 was 81.9, which is 0.5 year more than 2012 and 20 years longer than in 1970.Baby boys can expect to live 78.5 years, and baby girls 85.1 years.Korean males’ life expectancy is one year longer than the OECD average, while females can expect to live 2.2 years longer.Among the OECD countries, Iceland has the longest life expectancy of males ― 81.6 years. Japan has the longest life expectancy of females ― 86.4 years.The life expectancy gap is decreasing between men and women.Baby girls born in 2013 can expect to live 6.5 years longer than baby boys. The gap has been narrowing since 1985 when it was 8.4 years.“Unlike in the past, males have started taking good care of their health. It is helping to narrow the life expectancy gap,” explained the director of Statistics Korea

Dec 3, 2014By Yoon Ja-young
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