Cosmetics giant Amorepacific will sell its office building in Nonhyun-dong, within Seoul’s Gangnam district, for 160 billion won ($131.25 million), according to the company’s regulatory filing Wednesday. The company decided to sell the building to secure liquidity and to improve solvency, the report said. The company added that it planned to sell it by April 29 this year. The target price accounts for about 2 percent of the cosmetic firm’s total assets as of end-2018. The

Samsung, Hyundai Motor, SK hynix, CJ expected to use e-voting

Netmarble said Wednesday it plans to introduce a new game title with Marvel at PAX East in the US. Due to the coronavirus scare in South Korea, only Netmarble’s US office employees will attend the game show. The PAX East 2020 is being held at Boston Convention and Exhibition Center in Massachusetts, from Thursday through Sunday. Netmarble’s will showcase its latest game on the last day of the show, in a session called “Marvel Mystery,” in the presence of Shim Cheol-mi

South Korea’s biggest food delivery service in terms of market share, Baedal Minjok, will provide financial support for its riders if they have to go into self-quarantine for COVID-19, the company announced Wednesday. For delivery riders who have to miss work due to a suspected case of COVID-19, Baedal Minjok will pay the minimum wage of 820,000 won ($673) for two weeks. Normally, the company’s riders work eight hours a day, six days a week. The minimum wage in Korea is 8,590 won

Celltrion’s autoimmune disease treatment Remsima SC was approved to treat rheumatoid arthritis in South Korea, the company announced Wednesday. Remsima SC is a biobetter of Johnson & Johnson’s Remicade (infliximab), and is the world’s first subcutaenously injectable form of infliximab that comes in a prefilled syringe called an autoinjector. However, while intravenous Remsima is authorized for treatment of psoriatic arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, ulcerative colitis,

Incheon International Airport Corp. began taking bids for existing airport duty-free operations on Wednesday, accepting proposals from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., industry sources said Wednesday. Eight duty-free operators including Shilla, Lotte, Shinsegae and midsized operators like SM which currently operate business over 11,645 square meters in the duty-free zone need to submit proposals including the bid price, if they wish to continue to operate. Their contracts end in August.  Beyond the bi

South Korea-based internet-of-things firms posted revenue of over 10 trillion won in 2019, up 16.2 percent on-year, according to the ICT Ministry on Tuesday. This is the first time for IoT companies have crossed the revenue milestone since the ministry began collecting relevant figures in 2014. Domestic sales accounted for 89 percent with 9.7 trillion won. Exports accounted for the remaining 1.2 trillion won. Exports have shown an average annual increase of 46.3 percent from 2015-19, the min

Nexon Korea said Tuesday it has donated 2 billion won ($1.6 million) to Korean Red Cross for crisis management amid ongoing COVID-19 spread. Its subsidiary Neople has also joined the effort. The donation will be used to prevent the further spread of COVID-19 infections, through emergency medical and relief aid. Nexon allocated 500 million won from the donation for Jeju Island, where the Neople headquarters is located. KRC President Park Kyung-seo expressed his gratitude to Nexon and pledg

Consumer sentiment in South Korea has dropped noticeably since the outbreak of COVID-19, according to data released by the Bank of Korea on Tuesday. The index, however, was calculated before the rapid increase in the number of infections here, meaning sentiment has probably fallen lower since then. The consumer composite sentiment index totaled 96.9 in February, down 7.3 points from a month ago. A similar drop was seen in June 2015, when Middle East respiratory syndrome was in the news. The s

KogeneBiotech, Seegene and PCL produce real-time PCR test kits that can detect infections in six hours

Samsung, SK, LG, SK, KT, CJ, Kakao allow flexible working hours, remote work　

Phillip Morris Korea said Tuesday that it had appointed Paik Young-jay, formerly global director of Google Korea, as its new managing director. Paik, who has a doctorate in cultural anthropology from Yale University, has worked in various industrial sectors over the past 20 years, according to the company. He started his career at McKinsey & Company Korea in 2000 and joined South Korea’s CJ Group in 2003. He also led Blizzard Entertainment Korea as country managing director from 2011

The South Korean government has decided to restrict the export of face masks until April 30, amid concerns that supplies are running short as COVID-19 spreads nationwide.  Manufacturers will be allowed to export up to 10 percent of the masks they produce each day.  The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety said Tuesday that the measure is authorized under Article 6 of the Price Stabilization Act, which stipulates that regulations can be adjusted in emergency situations. Mask manufacture

Samsung Electronics Co. retained the top spot in the domestic smartphone market in the fourth quarter of last year, but its market share fell sharply as its archrival Apple Inc. doubled its presence in South Korea, data showed Tuesday. Samsung had a 57 percent market share on its home turf in the last three months of 2019, down 14 percentage points from three months earlier, according to market researcher Counterpoint Research. Apple was the No. 2 player with a 28 percent share in the fourth

LG Electronics Inc. on Tuesday unveiled a new budget smartphone in South Korea, hoping that the latest handset can help its struggling mobile business. The LG Q51 will come with a price tag of 319,000 won ($260) and a 6.5-inch screen, according to LG. The mobile device will go on sale in South Korea on Wednesday. The LG Q51 sports a 13-megapixel (MP) main camera, along with a 5-MP ultra-wide lens and a 2-MP depth sensor, on the back. It also has a 13-MP selfie camera on the front. The pro