Lifestyle - The Korea Times

Childbirths hit record low in November; deaths rise to highest in 37 years

GettyimagesbankThe number of babies born in South Korea hit a new record low in November last year, data showed Wednesday, underscoring the country's chronic low birth rate.The number of deaths rose to the highest in 37 years, leading to the population declining for the 13th straight month, according to Statistics Korea.The data showed that 20,085 babies were born in November, down 15.3 percent from a year earlier.It marked a record low for the month of November since 1981, when the statistics agency began compiling related data.It also marked the sharpest on-year fall for any November since 2001, when the number of newborns dropped 18.4 percent on-year.In the first 11 months of last year, the number of newborns came to 253,787, down 9.8 percent from a year earlier.South Korea is struggling with a decline in childbirths as many young people delay marriage or give up getting married or having babies amid a prolonged economic slowdown.The country's total fertility rate ― the average number of children a woman bears in her lifetime ― hit a new record low of 0.92 in 2019, marking the sec

Jan 27, 2021

Childbirths hit record low in November; deaths rise to highest in 37 years

Koreans spend over $10.9 billion on food delivery services in 2020

GettyimagesbankSouth Koreans likely spent more than 12 trillion won (US$10.9 billion) on the country's top two food delivery services, Baedal Minjok and Yogiyo, last year amid the stay-at-home trend driven by the pandemic, data showed Tuesday.Total credit card and mobile transactions on the delivery services reached an estimated 12.2 trillion won last year, up 75 percent from 6.95 trillion won in 2019, according to the data from industry tracker WiseApp.Combined transactions on the two services last month reached a monthly record high of 1.44 trillion won, WiseApp added.The data tracker said South Koreans' total spending on food delivery services last year is likely much higher as its data excludes those of other major food delivery services, such as Coupang Eats.Baedal Minjok users reached 13.73 million last month, followed by Yogiyo at 7.17 million and Coupang Eats at 2.58 million, according to WiseApp. South Korea's food delivery industry has experienced rapid growth in recent years, leading Germany's Delivery Hero, which owns Yogiyo, to sign a $4 billion deal in 2019 to acquire W

Jan 26, 2021

Koreans spend over $10.9 billion on food delivery services in 2020

Korea's gender equality index rises for 5th year in 2019: report

GettyimagesbankSouth Korea's national gender equality level improved for the fifth straight year in 2019, as more women were appointed to senior government posts and committees, a government report showed Thursday.The country's gender equality index stood at 73.6 out of 100 in 2019, inching up 0.5 points from the previous year, according to the report by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family. The index measures gender equality in eight major categories: family, welfare, health, economic activities, decision-making, education and job-training, culture information and safety. The biggest on-year increase came in the decision-making category, rising from 36.2 in 2018 to 38.1 in 2019. The ministry attributed the on-year increase to a growing number of women in senior government posts and committees.The percentage of women at government committee posts rose 1.1 percentage points on-year to 43 percent in 2019, while the percentage of public servants of level 4 or higher posts rose 2.1 percentage points to 19.3 percent.The safety category also saw a rise from 64.9 in 2018 to 66.7 in 20

Jan 21, 2021

Korea's gender equality index rises for 5th year in 2019: report

Yoido Full Gospel Church's pastor stresses Martin Luther King's nonviolence amid COVID-19

Lee Young-hoon, the Yoido Full Gospel Church's senior pastor during a special service held to honor the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in Atlanta, Ga., in this Jan. 15, 2018 file photo. Courtesy of Yoido Full Gospel Church Lee Young-hoon, the Yoido Full Gospel Church's senior pastor, speaks during a special service held online to honor the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Monday, local time. / Screen captured from the King Center YouTube channel By Park Ji-won Lee Young-hoon, the Yoido Full Gospel Church's senior pastor during a special service held to honor the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in Atlanta, Ga., in this Jan. 15, 2018 file photo. Courtesy of Yoido Full Gospel Church A special service named the Beloved Community Com

Jan 19, 2021By Park Ji-won

Yoido Full Gospel Church's pastor stresses Martin Luther King's nonviolence amid COVID-19

Holographic performances of dead stars welcomed, with caution

Deceased singers brought back through technologyBy Park Han-solIn the early 1990s, Choi Eun-soon did not know much about the songs of Korean folk rock singer Kim Kwang-seok despite his immense popularity. Now, at the age of 51, she often enjoys listening to his sentimental melodies and poetic lyrics.“With him gone forever, it was heartbreaking to realize that I would never be able to listen to his voice in person. But the fact that I can see him and listen to his music through artificial intelligence (AI) technology brought back all those wonderful feelings,” Choi said. For fans like Choi, holographic re-creation technology is a blessing. In December 2020, cable music channel Mnet presented AI-generated holographic performances of the late singers Kim Hyun-sik (1958-90) and Turtleman (1970-2008), who both died tragically young in their 30s. It was part of Mnet's music project “One More Time.”The same month, a hologram of rocker Shin Hae-chul (1968-2014) appeared on stage alongside K-pop stars in Big Hit Labels' “2021 New Year's Eve Live” concert. A

Jan 17, 2021By Park Han-sol

Holographic performances of dead stars welcomed, with caution

'Pandemic worsened gender inequality,' says Korea Image Awards winner Delphine O

Delphine O, left, the secretary general of the United Nations Generation Equality Forum, received the Korea Image Stepping Stone Bridge Award at the 2021 Korea Image Awards held at InterContinental Seoul COEX, Thursday. Courtesy of Corea Image Communication Institute (CICI)By Dong Sun-hwaThe protracted COVID-19 pandemic has aggravated gender inequality across the globe, according to Delphine O, the secretary general of the United Nations Generation Equality Forum, who won a prize at the 2021 Korea Image Awards, Thursday. Born to a French mother and a Korean father, O took home the Korea Image Stepping Stone Bridge Award for promoting Korea with her contributions to generation equality. During a press conference held at InterContinental Seoul COEX prior to the award ceremony, O pointed out that the global health crisis has triggered a “shadow pandemic” of gender disparities and violence against women, which has gone mostly unnoticed by the public. “A lot of countries implemented lockdowns to curb the spread of the virus and this has forced women to stay at home and p

Jan 15, 2021By Dong Sun-hwa

'Pandemic worsened gender inequality,' says Korea Image Awards winner Delphine O

Gov't to fund billions in pandemic-struck culture, sports, tourism industries this year

Culture Minister Park Yang-woo speaks during a virtual sports ministers' meeting with his Japanese and Chinese counterparts in Seoul, Dec. 24. / Courtesy of Ministry of Culture, Sports and TourismBy Park Han-solThe government will create funds worth a total of 298.5 billion won ($271 million) this year on aid to the culture, sports and tourism industries that have been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, the culture ministry announced Thursday.With the Korea Fund of Funds, where the government funding for local small and medium-sized enterprises aims to encourage private sectors' investment, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism will target its budget on businesses heavily affected by the coronavirus, and move up its execution by a month to support their speedy recovery.The ministry will create a fund worth of 215 billion won on four main pillars of the content industries: a venture capital investment fund (150 billion won); broadcast and over-the-top (OTT) content (30 billion won), aid to affected productions (25 billion won); and content value assessment (10 billion won).A new

Jan 14, 2021By Park Han-sol

Gov't to fund billions in pandemic-struck culture, sports, tourism industries this year

Number of hallyu fans around the world surpasses 100 million

The Korea Foundation said Thursday that the success of Korean music, TV dramas and movies, including the Oscar-winning film “Parasite,” contributed to the growing popularity of hallyu last year. Courtesy of CJ ENMBy Dong Sun-hwaHallyu, or the wave of Korean pop culture across the globe, has seen its number of fans worldwide exceed 100 million for the first time, the Korea Foundation said Thursday.There were 1,835 hallyu fan clubs with 104 million members in 98 countries as of last September, the public diplomacy organization said in its annual report, “Global Hallyu 2020” published in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The foundation estimated there were 99 million hallyu fans in 2019.“Global Hallyu 2020” / Courtesy of Korea Foundation (KF)“Hallyu made great strides despite the COVID-19 pandemic last year, thanks to the success of various content such as the Oscar-winning black comedy Parasite and K-pop boy band BTS' song Life Goes On, which overcame language barriers and reached a global audience,” it said. “The ri

Jan 14, 2021By Dong Sun-hwa

Number of hallyu fans around the world surpasses 100 million

Sharp criticism pits columnist against 'Moon fanatics'

Hong Sai-hwa, author of the 1995 best-seller “I am a Paris-based Cab Driver” and columnist of the liberal newspaper Hankyoreh / Korea Times fileBy Kang Hyun-kyungHong Sai-hwa, author of the 1995 best-seller “I am Paris-based Cab Driver” and columnist of the liberal newspaper Hankyoreh, is a critic from within the liberal camp. In his sharp-tongued style, Hong, 73, has written columns harshly criticizing President Moon Jae-in for his mismanagement of the economy, failure of policies to stabilize real estate and home prices, and worsening social policies among others.His criticisms were also directed at President Moon's deputies and his fandom. He blamed loyal Moon supporters, widely known by the slang term “Moon-ppa” or “Moon fanatics” for having “spoiled” their leader and causing him to lose his sense of direction in major policy areas due to their unconditional support for the political leader, despite a slew of policy failures. Hong's harsh criticism has pitted him against hardcore Moon supporters. “It's true that I

Jan 12, 2021By Kang Hyun-kyung

Sharp criticism pits columnist against 'Moon fanatics'

Korean studies diversify, expand, thanks to hallyu

By Kwon Mee-yooGlobal superstar boy band BTS not only captivated fans in Korea and abroad, but also brought about fresh attention to Korean studies around the world. It is not difficult to find academic papers on the boy band as seen in papers like "'You Can't Help But Love Them': BTS, Transcultural Fandom, and Affective Identities" by Courtney McLaren and Jin Dal-yong and "Performed intermediality and beyond in the BTS music video 'Idol': K-Pop idol identities in contemporary Hallyu" by Yeogeun Yonsue Kim.As hallyu or the Korean wave breaks through more than ever before with the dual success of K-pop and Korean cinema abroad, the number of schools offering courses on Korea is on the rise. Scholars' research fields have expanded and diversified into various other aspects of the country. The Korea Foundation provides financial support for Korean studies scholars and departments around the world. As of December 2020, 1,411 universities in 107 countries offer Korean studies courses. The number has grown substant

Jan 8, 2021By Kwon Mee-yoo

Trends