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Seoul prepares for first major military parade in ten years
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Opposition leader Lee attends arrest warrant hearing at Seoul court
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[Korea Beyond Korea] Early Koreanists 'on verge of extinction overseas'
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Young swimmer enjoys self-fulfilling prophecy in gold medal-winning race
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Is S. Korea dangerous for women?
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S. Korea holds rare military parade, warns NK against nuclear attack
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Chief justice seat at top court left vacant amid Assembly chaos
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S. Korean fencer Oh Sang-uk wins gold in men's individual sabre
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[Herald Interview] S&P economist tells Korea to brace for worst-case scenario with China
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Trilateral talks open on Korea-Japan-China meeting
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South Korea's farmland area contracted 2.1 percent in 2016 from a year earlier due to construction of buildings and other facilities, government data showed Friday.
The total area of South Korea's rice paddies and fields came to 1.64 million hectares -- about half the size of Maryland -- in 2016, compared with 1.68 million hectares in 2015, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea.
South Korea's farmland accounted for 16.4 percent of the country's total land areas in 2016, down from 16.7 percent in the previous year.
The decline in farmland came amid a chronic supply glut of rice and dwindling rice consumption in South Korea.
For decades, rice consumption of South Koreans has been declining steadily due mainly to changes in diet and eating habits.
Per capita, rice consumption reached 62.9 kilograms per year in 2015, down from the 128.1 kilograms tallied in 1985, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. (Yonhap)
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