As South Korea began “living with COVID-19” on Monday, lifting curfews on restaurants and cafes, major shopping events and discount coupon programs also kicked off in hopes of unleashing pent-up consumer demand. This year’s annual Korea Sale Festa, supported by the central government and 17 local governments, will involve over 2,000 companies -- the largest number since the first event in 2016, ...

Korean Air has received an “integrated A grade” for its ESG efforts from the nonprofit ESG rating agency Korea Corporate Governance Service. The national flag carrier achieved the marks for the second year running, a recent ESG rating report by KCGS revealed. When broken down by category, the airline received an A for corporate governance, an improvement from last year. The higher score was t...

Pay gaps between occupations grew wider amid the COVID-19 pandemic as wages in the tech and TV broadcasting industries saw some of the biggest growth while workers in the aviation and tourism sectors took a hit, new data has revealed. According to new data released Sunday by the Korea Economic Research Institute, jobs at web portal, data processing and web hosting companies saw their pay grow by...

Shinsegae Group heir and vice chairman Chung Yong-jin has reportedly purchased a mansion worth 22.5 billion won ($19.2 million) in Beverly Hills, California. According to online US real estate media outlet Dirt, Chung has “purchased a lavish home in the affluent Flats neighborhood of Beverly Hills.” The seller was Aan Sinanta, an Indonesian coal mining tycoon, who paid $12.6 million for the pro...

South Korean low-cost carrier AeroK says it is hiring flight attendants and forgoing any hair and makeup requirements. The Cheongju-based airline, which launched its first scheduled flight earlier this year, said there are also no requirements in terms of academic background, appearance and age in its recent job postings. “We will not be asking for a photo during the document screening process ...

Technology plays a key role in a nation’s economic security, which is gaining ground as a new force behind the shifting world order, Seoul National University professor Lee Jeong-dong said Tuesday. “Defending a country was the basic concept of military security. However, with supply chains spanning across the globe now, it is only possible with economic security. And at the core of economic secu...

Consumers are expected to spend more money during the year-end season this year amid growing excitement over the government’s gradual plan to live with COVID-19, a new survey has found. The survey, conducted on e-commerce platforms Gmarket and Auction earlier this month, showed consumers are willing to spend some 641,000 won ($546) on average during the platforms’ annual shopping event “Big Smil...

Innisfree, a cosmetic brand under Amorepacific, was forced to alter its eco-friendly “paper bottle” packaging earlier this year after a customer’s complaint about plastic usage and the “misleading” label went viral online. Though the label covering the bottle reads, “Hello, I’m Paper Bottle,” the product in question is a plastic bottle wrapped in paper. Following the backlash, the brand has hur...

Korean Air said on Friday it has signed a memorandum of understanding with Insitu, a Boeing subsidiary, for technical cooperation to develop a lightweight and modularized tactical vertical takeoff and landing aircraft, also known as a VTOL. The cooperation will see the companies combine their core technologies -- Korean Air’s expertise in unmanned aerial vehicle development and production and In...

Korean Air said Wednesday it would resume flights to Hawaii starting Nov. 3 while Hawaiian Airlines announced plans to expand flights on the route to four times a week. Korean Air’s operation on the route was suspended in April last year due to COVID-19. The Incheon-Honolulu KE053 flight will operate three days a week, departing from Incheon International Airport every Wednesday, Friday and Sun...

South Korean low-cost carriers are preparing for a spike in international travel amid growing signs of travel confidence. Air Seoul, one of two budget airlines owned by Asiana Airlines, announced Tuesday it would resume flights between Incheon and Guam after a suspension of some 660 days. Flying twice a week starting late December, the airline said it marks the first air travel route to be resu...

Rising fuel prices and a weak local currency are dampening the mood for South Korea’s aviation industry, which has pinned hopes for recovery on travel bubbles and the easing of social distancing rules. The jet fuel price stood at $94.60 per barrel, as of Oct. 8, up 5.8 percent compared to the previous week, according to the latest data from the International Air Transport Association. Averaging...

Travel and leisure platform operator Yanolja said on Thursday that it will acquire a 70 percent stake in Interpark, one of South Korea’s first e-commerce platforms, for 294 billion won ($248 million). Following the announcement of the deal, Yanolja said it would enter the global tourism market with the new “growth engine.” “The international tourism market has been dominated by foreign platform...

Hyundai Engineering said on Thursday it has launched a new project to build e-learning infrastructure in the city of Balikpapan in Indonesia. The three-year Hello E-Dream Project will see the company team up with the Indonesian government and non-government organization Good Neighbors to improve the educational environment in the city. Marking the 11th project from Hyundai Engineering’s series ...

Foreign-invested firms say technical regulations along with fair trade and labor laws are some of the biggest management challenges, the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry said on Wednesday. Nearly 1 in 2 foreign-invested firms based in South Korea said technical regulations such as certification, tests and inspection were the biggest challenge facing their business, according to a survey co...