[Photo News] K-street fashion

Japanese models pose for a photo after wearing fashion items from South Korean street fashion brand Nerdy at Rakuten GirlsAward 2022 in Tokyo, one of the three largest fashion events in the city. Nerdy was invited as a special brand for the show’s finale.

Oct. 20, 2022

Plastic bag ban at convenience stores begins late November

Use of plastic bags at convenience stores will be banned from Nov. 24, two years after they were removed from hypermarkets as part of eco-friendly efforts. Like in the large supermarkets, customers will have the option of purchasing standard user-pay trash bags or paper bags at convenience stores to carry what they bought. If a store is found to have used regular plastic bags, it will be slapped with fines of up to 3 million won ($2,086). Convenience store chains such as GS25 and CU have already

Oct. 17, 2022

[Breaking] Fire at Kakao data center causes servers to go down

A fire Saturday at a Kakao data center in Pangyo, south of Seoul, has led to a server outage affecting the KakaoTalk messenger app, along with other apps such as Kakao T, Kakao Map, Kakao Metro, Kakao Webtoon, Kakao Bank, Kakao-owned portal Daum and music streaming service Melon. The internet connection for the apps has been unavailable since 3:30 p.m. "There has been a fire at SK C&C data center since 3:30 p.m. Work has begun to put down the fire, but we are uncertain when the fir

Oct. 15, 2022

[Photo News] Kimchi for everyone

An advertising campaign video for kimchi, co-produced by South Korea's leading kimchi maker Daesang and Seo Kyung-duk, an expert in promoting Korea overseas, plays in New York's Times Square on Monday. Under the slogan, "Taste the original," the campaign aims to promote Korea as the originator of kimchi as well as customer awareness worldwide.  

Oct. 12, 2022

BAT says Glo contains less toxicants

A study has found that heated tobacco product Glo contained less toxicants than traditional cigarettes, and could help reduce potential harm of smoking-related diseases, the Seoul branch of its manufacturer BAT Group said Tuesday. “Our recent one-year clinical trial found that our flagship heated tobacco product Glo showed 90-95 percent less toxicants contained in aerosol compared to cigarette smoke,” said Sharon Goodall, head of Regulatory Science at BAT Group, during a press conf

Oct. 11, 2022

Amid weakening won, US cross-border shopping less attractive to Koreans

With the Korean won falling sharply against the US dollar, cross-border shopping on US platforms has become less attractive to Korean shoppers in a peak season that includes Black Friday in the US, sources said Monday. According to Statistics Korea data, transaction volume of cross-border shopping from the country to the US increased on-year by a mere 6.4 percent to 512.3 billion won ($358.9 million) in second quarter. Last year, the figure had spiked 25.7 percent compared to 2020. Noting that l

Oct. 10, 2022

Korean duty-free shops strive to reduce reliance on China

Korean duty-free shops, hit hard by protracted COVID-19 lockdowns in China, are seeking to reduce their reliance on Chinese sales, turning their eyes to alternative markets like Southeast Asia. Before the pandemic, China’s deep-pocketed tourists and resellers used to be their key revenue sources that made up more than 80 percent of their sales. With the resumption of international travel around the world, local retailers, especially the top two Lotte and Shinsegae, had pinned high hopes

Oct. 7, 2022

Five Guys burger chain coming to S. Korea

Hanwha Galleria, the retail arm of Hanwha Solutions, will open the first branch of US fast food chain Five Guys in Seoul early next year, the company said Thursday, a day after its executive publicized it through his personal social media account. On Wednesday, Kim Dong-sun, head of strategic management at Hanwha Galleria, uploaded a photo of himself on Instagram shaking hands with William Peecher, director of international expansion at Five Guys Enterprise, with a hashtag that translates to &ld

Oct. 6, 2022

Hyundai Department Store to compensate staff, partners for Daejeon outlet fire

Hyundai Department Store said Wednesday it would compensate staff and partner companies suffering from a business void at Daejeon Hyundai Premium Outlet that caught fire last week that left seven deaths. The company will give 2.5 million won-3.5 million won ($1,760-$2,470) to around 1,000 managers and salespeople whose work has been suspended due to the post-fire shutdown. Refusing to disclose the exact number of staff and managers, a Hyundai Department Store official said “we will come up

Oct. 5, 2022

Sales of instant noodles surge to W1.3tr

  As time spent at home increased during the coronavirus pandemic, domestic sales of Korean instant noodles surged to 1.3 trillion won ($917 million) as of August, data showed Wednesday. According to data from market tracker Nielsen IQ Korea, combined sales of four local ramen makers -- Nongshim, Samyang, Ottogi and Paldo -- jumped 4.6 percent from last year’s 1.2 trillion won between January and August. In terms of market share, Nongshim sat atop with 55.7 percent, followed by Ottogi

Oct. 5, 2022

3 more Paris Baguette branches open in Paris

SPC Group has opened three more Paris Baguette stores in Paris this year to expand its business in the European market, the South Korean food and beverage giant said Tuesday. The latest Paris Baguette store is set to open in Montparnasse, a major commercial district in the southern part of Paris on Tuesday, local time. The opening of Paris Baguette Montparnasse branch follows two branch openings in February in other parts of the French capital -- in Boieldieu and Corolles. With a floor area of 1

Oct. 4, 2022

Retail industry looks offline to drive customer experience: report

  As Korea transitions to the endemic stage of the COVID-19 pandemic, the online-focused retail industry is shifting toward offline stores to enhance customer experience, a report showed Tuesday. Although the vacancy rate rose in commercial districts during the pandemic, retail brands are eyeing prime spaces to open pop-up or flagship stores, according to a report from commercial real estate platform Cushman & Wakefield Korea. For instance, Apple opened its second store in a new buildin

Oct. 4, 2022

Luxury home spa brand LBB issues NFTs for premium care service

La Boutique Bleue, a premium home spa care brand that launched in South Korea in 2021, introduced a non-fungible token certification service, the company said Friday. According to LBB, it has offered VIP membership cards in the form of NFTs to participants that took part in the launch event of the Italian luxury golf wear brand Filippo Piana in Seoul. LBB had collaborated with Filippo Piana in hosting the launch event by showcasing its newest product, Golden Camellia All Day Care Lotion, and off

Oct. 4, 2022

SPC's Paris Baguette ranked 25th among best franchise brands in US

South Korean food giant SPC Group said Sunday its coffeehouse-to-bakery brand Paris Baguette has ranked 25th among the best franchise brands evaluated by the US-based magazine Franchise Times. According to the Franchise Times Top 500, an annual ranking of the largest franchise brands by sales in the US, Paris Baguette's ranking jumped 13 spots from last year's 38th. Its ranking is the highest among Korean brands in the list this year. “Our 77 years of baking know-how, efficient bakery mana

Oct. 3, 2022

Lotte’s overseas spending exceeds W7tr this year

South Korean retail-to-chemical giant Lotte Group said Thursday its overseas investment has exceeded 7 trillion won ($4.9 billion) this year. So far, the largest overseas project is Lotte Chemical’s Line Project, a $3.9 billion megasized petrochemicals production complex in Banten, Indonesia. It aims to produce 1 million metric tons of ethylene, 520,000 tons of propylene, 250,000 tons of polypropylene and other petrochemical products by 2025. The chemicals unit also plans to build its f

Sept. 29, 2022

Korean businesses show greater appetite for vegan foods

With fast-growing interest in eco-friendly lifestyles, South Korean food companies are expanding plant-based menu items and restaurants to cater to the growing global vegan population of some 180 million. Nongshim, the country’s leading instant noodle maker, said Thursday it has launched eight kinds of plant-based "cup rice" (rice bowl with toppings), and porridge, in partnership with vegan restaurant Doosoogobang. Instead of spicy meat, cup rice comes with toppings such as na

Sept. 28, 2022

Thailand's Line Man Wongnai snaps ups $265m in funding

Global messaging app provider Line Corp. said Tuesday that Line Man Wongnai, its delivery platform operated in Thailand, has raised $265 million in a funding round led by Line Corp. and Singapore's sovereign wealth fund GIC. Other investors in the Series B funding include BRV Capital Management, PTT Oil and Retail Business Public Co., Bualuang Ventures and Taiwan Mobile. With the new investment, Line Man Wongnai's value topped $1 billion, becoming Thailand's largest tech startup unicorn. The

Sept. 27, 2022

Kolon FnC to launch upcycled bags featuring BTS stage outfits

South Korean textile company Kolon Industries FnC said Wednesday it will launch an upcycled bag collection featuring pieces of stage outfits worn by BTS, through its fashion brand Re;cod, on Sept. 28. Upcycling refers to the creative reuse of old products to create new merchandise of greater quality or value. The limited edition collection includes three types of bags made from white industrial airbags. Each bag is attached with a piece from a concert outfit one of the seven BTS members wore. Th

Sept. 21, 2022

S. Korea to see surge in milk price amid worsening inflation

Dairy product prices are likely to go up again as the price of locally produced milk is expected to increase as much as 500 won ($0.36) per liter, industry sources said Tuesday. Korea Dairy Committee, a private organization that oversees fair distribution of raw milk, carried out the first meeting between dairy farmers and dairy companies on Tuesday to negotiate the price of raw milk for this year. Even before the negotiation, the price of milk was widely expected to jump 300-500 won to 2,700-3,

Sept. 20, 2022

Inflation fears loom large as kimchi-making season nears

South Korean households are feeling the inflation pinch as they brace for the annual kimchi-making season later this year. The average price for 10 kilograms of cabbages, the key ingredient for kimchi, surged on-year by 116.6 percent to 32,940 won ($23.7) as of Sept. 16, data from the state-run Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corp. showed. The price of 20 kg of white radish, which are fermented in spicy sauce and other flavorful seasoning, skyrocketed by 146.1 percent to 28,460 won in the

Sept. 19, 2022