Anchor: New data indicates unpaid housework is a huge, but hidden, part of South Korea's gross domestic product. It's the first time the country has tried to calculate officially the value of such work. 
Our Bae Joo-yon has the details. 

Report: Statistics Korea unveiled on Monday that as of 2014, the economic value of unpaid housework amounted to 360-point-seven trillion won. That’s equivalent to 24-point-three percent of nominal gross domestic product. 

Nearly 63 percent of unpaid housework was taken up by managing a household, including cooking meals, washing clothes as well as tending to pets and plants. Caring for family members, including babysitting and caring for parents in their old age, accounted for some 26 percent of such housework. 

The agency found that 75-and-a-half percent of unpaid work at home was done by women while 24-and-a-half percent was done by men. 

The statistical office also found that compared to five years ago, the value of unpaid housework by men grew 38-and-a-half percent while the corresponding value for women climbed nearly 32 percent, demonstrating that more men are taking part in house chores. 

The value of unpaid household chores per person was estimated at roughly seven-point-two million won as of 2014, up 29-and-a-half percent from 2009. 

The statistics agency said it calculated the latest value by applying corresponding wages to the average hours spent on household chores. 

An agency official said it is significant that the government, for the first time, officially gauged the value of unpaid housework. 

The agency hopes the figures will help the government enhance income statistics and devise welfare policies. 
Bae Joo-yon, KBS World Radio News.