Hanwha Solutions CEO Kim Dong-kwan attended the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, as the only entrepreneur among President Yoon Suk-yeol’s delegation, the energy-to-material firm said Thursday. During the four-day forum which started Monday, Kim met with Daniel Yergin, vice chairman of S&P Global, and discussed the Russia-Ukraine war’s impact on the energy industry and geopolitical dyn...

With Millennials and Generation Z -- those born from the 1980s onward -- emerging as major players in the luxury industry, South Korea ranked No. 10 in high-end fashion transactions last year, a report showed Wednesday According to Samjong KPMG, a Seoul-based consulting firm, the country’s luxury goods market size soared on-year by 29.6 percent to $5.8 billion in 2021. By 2024, it is projected t...

South Korean retail giant Lotte Group said Tuesday it is poised to inject 38 trillion won ($30 billion) over the next five years in the new growth-engine sectors -- health and wellness, mobility, and sustainability -- and core industry segments including chemical, retail and travel business. Following its recent announcement to enter the biomedical contract development and manufacturing organiza...

For the next three years, South Korean tech giant Kakao and SK Square, the ICT arm of conglomerate SK Group, will be banned from expanding their designated driver service business to make room for small and midsized enterprises entering the market, the Korea Commission for Corporate Partnership said Tuesday. Other large corporations seeking to start chauffeur services are prohibited from enterin...

Moda Moda, the South Korean producer of the world’s first coloring shampoo using the browning reaction in stale bananas, is seeking a breakthrough in overseas markets to sidestep cumbersome regulations at home. The company is revamping overseas operations to extend its sales network connecting the US, China and Japan. Korean beauty products are increasingly popular in these countries, riding hig...

Zigbang, a South Korean proptech startup, said Thursday it will launch a global metaverse office platform that allows closer virtual interaction among staffers working for companies in the world. Soma is named after the ‘South of Market’ neighborhood in San Francisco, the home ground of Twitter and Airbnb. Zigbang has high hopes to build a business complex in the metaverse for innovative global ...

For instance, Trader Joe’s, a US-based grocery chain, only provides 4,000 types of food product specifically targeting those with a higher education background, medium income level and appetite for exotic food. But the company logs almost 3.5 times higher sales revenue than Kroger, one of the biggest supermarket chains in the country. “In order to create a long-term relationship with your custom...

Patricia Chun, general manager of WeWork Korea, said Tuesday that the company is considering launching its premium office service in the global market, driven by soaring demand for worker-friendly and customized official rental services. Launched on May 1, the WeWork premium service is available at its Seoul Square, Gangnam, Yeoiudo and Gwanghwamun branches. The firm plans to export the service ...

South Korean researchers have added new evidence that mRNA vaccinations can prevent severe symptoms in breakthrough infections of omicron and other variants of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, the Institute for Basic Science said Monday. The research team led by Shin Eui-cheol, professor at KAIST graduate school of medical science and engineering, has analyzed the bloodwork of participants ...

Even 100 days after South Korea’s new industrial safety law has come into effect, almost 7 out of 10 companies here say they still cannot fully understand the law and face difficulty complying with it, a survey showed Sunday. According to a survey on 930 local companies by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, 68.7 percent said they still have a hard time coming up with countermeasures to ...

Despite rapid digital transformation shaking up industries from manufacturing to finance, South Korea still lacks companies that can provide digital solutions to business challenges, a tech chief executive officer of retail and food giant CJ Group said Wednesday. “It’s the ugly truth that although it is crucial to use cutting-edge digital technologies to improve business operations and satisfy c...

SK Shieldus, the South Korean security service subsidiary of SK Group’s ICT arm SK Square, said on Friday that it has scrapped its plans for market debut, citing dampened investor sentiment. “We have submitted a delisting notice to the Financial Supervisory Service because the recent demand forecasting, which decides initial public offering prices, showed that our corporate value may not be well...

Aiming to become a next Coupang, e-commerce platform 11st said Wednesday that it would work on raising its corporate value before its market debut slated for next year. “Based on our premium e-commerce service and joint membership service with SK Telecom, we will expand our business, boost sales and garner traction within the market this year,” said Ha Hyung-il, CEO of 11st. Ha said the company...

With digital technology becoming the key drivers for growth across industries, South Korea’s tech behemoths Naver and Kakao are going all-in to win the tech war using artificial intelligence through AI-powered search engines and logistics solutions businesses. Naver announced Tuesday it has made upgrades to its AI search engine, called “Airsearch,” now offering more optimized search results for ...

With the growing buzz around the metaverse driven by every sector of industry around the world, The Korea Herald and the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) in Korea are co-hosting a forum on Monday to discuss what the hyper-interactive virtual world holds for the future. The two-hour forum, held from 1 p.m. at Four Seasons Seoul, has invited a number of business leaders and experts, who are l...