Poland-Korea cooperation is flourishing and Poland is ready to accommodate more Korean investments, Polish Charge d’Affaires Arletta Brzozowska said during her opening remarks at the second edition of The Korea Herald’s Global Business Forum on May 11 in Seoul. The forum, a 13-week event held every Wednesday, is aimed at sharing and enhancing knowledge of the international community, and for exploring overseas investment opportunities and expanding business networks. “Poland

More South Korean conglomerates relying heavily on manufacturing and retail networks for growth are turning to the bio and health care industries to secure future growth engines and expand areas of business. Retail and confectionary giant Lotte Group officially announced that bio and health care businesses will be its new growth engine at the shareholders’ meeting last month. Lee Dong-woo, CEO of Lotte Holdings, said the firm plans to directly invest in the bio and healthcare businesse

  Lotte Group has hired Kim Sang-hyun, former vice president of market rival Homeplus, to lead Lotte Shopping, which controls all the group’s retail business, officials said Thursday. The group’s hotel department will be led by Ahn Se-jin, former CEO of the Korean restaurant chain Nolboo. Kim Gyo-hyun, former head of Lotte Chemical, was promoted to vice president in recognition of his achievements in restoring the fortunes of the group’s chemical business to pre-pandemic

Morgan Stanley Capital International announced Wednesday that it has added four South Korean stocks -- HMM, Hybe, SKC and GC Pharma -- to its global and regional equity index, as part of May rebalancing. The US company also removed seven listed firms -- Hyundai Marine & Fire Insurance, Hanwha, GS Retail, Samsung Card, Lotte Corp., Korea Gas Corporation and Ottogi -- from the MSCI Korea Index. As a result, the regional equity index’s constituents of large- and mid-cap stocks fell to

Fila Korea is staying silent on the ongoing controversy surrounding Xinjiang cotton after its Chinese unit vowed to continue using the fabric. When asked about Fila China’s statement on Chinese social media platform Weibo last week confirming its support for Xinjiang cotton, a representative of the company acknowledged the existence of backlash but refused to comment. In a statement on Weibo last week, FILA China said it “has always purchased and used cotton produced in China inclu

The number of South Korean companies that have suffered credit rating downgrades has reached its highest level since 2016 as the COVID-19 pandemic has taken a toll on their finances this year, industry data showed Monday. The debt ratings of 39 companies have been cut down by more than one of the three local credit rating agencies -- Korea Investors Service, NICE Investors Service and Korea Ratings Corporation -- as of Thursday, according to data compiled by Yonhap Infomax. In 2016, the figur

When the novel coronavirus made its appearance across the world earlier this year, optimistic market observers anticipated that “revenge spending” would eventually rebound to counter the damaging effect of the initial outbreak. South Korea, which had successfully retained its domestic virus spread in the first half of the year, had hopes for a while of seeing its domestic market get back on track within the year. But with a third wave of infections here and the stronger social dist

A Seoul court ruled Friday in favor of Shin Kyuk-ho, the late founder of retail giant Lotte Group, in a lawsuit he filed against the tax authority over hundreds of billions of won of gift taxes. The Seoul Administrative Court ordered a district tax office to revoke 212.6 billion won (US$196 million) of gift taxes imposed on the honorary chairman of the nation's fifth-largest conglomerate, who died in January at the age of 99. The taxes were levied after the prosecution charged Shin with tax e

Morgan Stanley Capital International announced Wednesday that it has added three large- and mid-cap South Korean stocks -- SK Biopharmaceuticals, SK Global Chemical and Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction -- to its global and regional equity index, as part of November rebalancing. As anticipated by market watchers, the Geneva-based MSCI added the three, but didn’t invite the South Korean novel drugs developer Hanmi Science to the club. It also removed Amorepacific preferred, BNK

SK Biopharmaceuticals and SK Global Chemical are likely to be included on the MSCI Korea Index next month, market watchers said Thursday. But Big Hit, the local entertainment agency behind K-pop sensation BTS, is seen as unlikely to make the cut. The Geneva-based MSCI is set to announce the results of its semiannual index review Nov. 11. Other South Korean companies, including Hanmi Science, Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction and Genexine, could also join the index, while Posco Interna

South Korea’s leading duty-free operators are considering an exit from Incheon International Airport as the number of international passengers plunged 97.8 percent on-year in the second quarter. According to Korea Civil Aviation Association Sunday, South Korea’s nine airlines witnessed international flight passengers plummet to 328,345 from 15.2 million people, a 97.8 percent decline on-year, in the second quarter. Korean Air saw a drop of 96.2 percent to 190,458 from 5 million

Be it a business-to-business or business-to-consumer trade, the revenue of a company is deeply associated with the power of its brand. 　 Brand power refers to the influence the name holds over the spending behavior of consumers, which can also be used to predict future spending patterns. 　 The power of a brand can be measured in terms of statistics, and also in reference to consumer cognition. It can thus be detrimental for a business in its daily, monthly and yearly operations as well as in e

The bidding for duty-free store licenses at Incheon International Airport failed to attract tenders to fill all of the cosmetics and apparel sections, the airport operator said Friday, the first time . According to Incheon International Airport Corporation, the operation licenses for two of the eight airside sections in the airport’s Terminal 1, DF2 and DF6, failed to attract bids. DF2 is designated for perfumes and cosmetics, and DF6 for apparel. IIAC opened the bidding on Wednesday,

South Korea’s business figures and political leaders joined relatives on Monday to mourn the death of Lotte Group founder and Honorary Chairman Shin Kyuk-ho, a first-generation founder of one of the country’s biggest conglomerates.Shin passed away at around 4:20 p.m. on Sunday, at the age of 97.At the funeral altar at Asan Medical Center in Seoul, influential figures from various circles came to pay their respects. On Monday, Shin’s second son, Shin Dong-bin, the chairman of Lo

South Korea’s food and entertainment conglomerate CJ Group has promoted or appointed 58 executives, including a new chief to lead major affiliate CJ Cheiljedang, the group said Monday. Vice President Kang Shin-ho, 58, was appointed as the new leader of the group’s food unit CJ Cheiljedang. Kang was credited with accelerating the spread of the company’s Korean cuisine brand Bibigo in the global market since 2018, the group said. Vice President Cha In-hyok, 53, was tapped to