Most Popular
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Blinken calls on China to press N. Korea to end its 'dangerous' behavior
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New celebrity-endorsed therapy for face contouring requires only a pair of rubber bands
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[Weekender] How DDP emerged as an icon of Seoul
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Tensions heighten ahead of first president-opposition chief meeting
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Doctor group's incoming head renews call for govt. to scrap medical school quota hike for dialogue
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Seoul to provide housing subsidy to married couples with newborns
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[Music in drama] An ode to childhood trauma
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Rapper jailed after public street fight with another rapper
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'The Roundup: Punishment' becomes fastest 2024 film to top 2 mln admissions
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New head of doctors' association vows war in case of disadvantage to medical professors
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Untamed food prices eclipse Seollal
A better-than-expected inflation report for January bolstered hopes that price hikes is near its end -- but consumers are still wary as the cost for some food items for Lunar New Year ceremonies continues to soar. “I have visited two different discount stores and searched online shopping platforms to compare prices and buy cheaper fruits and other food items that I need for family gatherings during the Lunar New Year holiday,” Lee, 63, a woman living in Gyeonggi Province said. Among
Feb. 9, 2024
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Korean dietary supplements makers eye Chinese market
South Korean dietary supplements manufacturers are accelerating their entries into the growing Chinese market as the number of elderly people continues to increase in the country, according to industry sources on Sunday. On the back of an aging population, the Chinese dietary supplements market grew 3 percent on-year to reach around 73 trillion won ($54.5 billion) in 2022, according to a report released by the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency. Among Korean companies, Korea Ginseng Corp.,
Feb. 4, 2024
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Goodbye to ‘mayak gimbap’? Mixed reaction to limits on 'drug' marketing
Gwangjang Market, a traditional market in central Seoul, is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the capital, offering a wide range of local foods and snacks. If you google the market, almost nine out of 10 reviews are about a petite-sized gimbap, or seaweed rice roll, with the intriguing name, “mayak gimbap.” "Mayak" means “narcotics” in Korean. Of course, nothing advertised as "mayak gimbap" actually contains any restricted drugs. The name
Jan. 30, 2024
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CJ Olive Young, Kolmar team up on skin care
South Korean health and beauty retailer CJ Olive Young’s derma skin care brand Bioheal Boh and cosmetics and health care goods manufacturer Kolmar Korea have signed a business agreement to collaborate on microbiome skin care products. Under the recent agreement, the two companies will establish a new research lab, dubbed Probio Lab, to accelerate research and development of microbiome-based skin care products. “The latest business agreement is to combine Bioheal Boh’s specialti
Jan. 25, 2024
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Beer sees steepest price hikes since 1998 financial crisis
Beer prices at restaurants saw the steepest price hikes last year since the 1998 financial crisis, according to the Korean Statistical Information Service on Tuesday. The consumer price index for beer products at restaurants increased to 114.66 points last year, up 6.9 percent from a year ago. The growth rate was the highest since the 1998 financial crisis when the CPI for beer soared by 9.7 percent. In the meantime, the prices of beer products sold at discount or convenience stores saw 2.9 perc
Jan. 23, 2024
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Japan tops Korea's beer imports in five years
Japan reclaimed the top spot in South Korea’s beer imports in 2023, five years following the start of the Tokyo-Seoul trade dispute, data showed Wednesday. According to data from the Korea Customs Service, imports of Japanese beer products reached $55.51 million last year, a 283.3 percent increase from the previous year. The figure was the highest since $39.75 million was posted in 2019, the year Japan imposed new restrictions on the export of three key semiconductor materials to Korea. Th
Jan. 17, 2024
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How high can you go? Luxury brands hike prices, again
Another wave of price rises planned by luxury brands in South Korea has stirred up questions about whether their high price tags will indeed see consumers in the world’s biggest luxury goods market continue to open their wallets. Hermes, one of the highest-priced fashion brands, kicked off the new year by raising its prices, with many other brands expected to follow suit this month. The French luxury fashion house's Oran sandals now cost 3.52 million won ($2,685), up 44 percent from l
Jan. 10, 2024
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[Graphic News] Exports of gim, cooked rice hit record high: data
South Korea’s exports of dried seaweed - “gim” in Korean - and cooked rice reached an all-time high during the first 10 months of this year on brisk overseas demand accompanying the popularity of Korean culture and food, the Korea Customs Service said. Outbound shipments of gim came to a record high of $670 million in the January-October period, up 20.4 percent from a year earlier, according to the data by the customs agency. In terms of volume, gim exports rose 17.3 perc
Dec. 21, 2023
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[Contribution] It’s time for Korea to rethink its liquor laws
By Olivia Widen Since the COVID-19 pandemic started, almost every industry has seen exponential growth in e-commerce, and the liquor market is no exception. Despite the overall return of consumption patterns to pre-pandemic levels, online sales of alcohol are forecast to show steady growth. In its 2022 Global E-commerce Strategic Study, the International Wine & Spirit Research (IWSR) predicted that online alcohol sales in 16 key global markets would reach nearly $40 billion by 2026. Mark
Dec. 17, 2023
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[Weekender] Korea's elderly poverty reveals itself in heart of Seoul
The streets of Nakwon-dong behind Tapgol Park in central Seoul are often referred to as a place for older adults, in particular, those living on limited means. “Here, a 10,000 won ($7.58) bill is enough to make your day," said Kim, 74, at a small restaurant in Nakwon-dong. "A bowl of hot soup with rice costs only 3,000 won, and you can even get coffee for an additional 200 won. If you want a haircut, it costs only 6,000 won. That's the reason why people like me, who are down
Dec. 16, 2023
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Koreans will 'freeze to death' for iced Americanos even in winter
"I always drink iced Americano, even in winter," said Kim, an office worker in her 30s who identifies as an "eoljukah" person. Eoljukah is a portmanteau of the words for "Even if I freeze to death, iced Americano!" It refers to people who are die-hards for the espresso topped off with water and ice, no matter how cold the weather is. The eoljukah trend has steadily grown among Korea's office workers, as iced Americanos are now ubiquitous in cafes and convenienc
Nov. 27, 2023
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[Herald Interview] Food trade chief confident of winning official recognition of Kimchi Day in US
The declaration of "Kimchi Day" is not only necessary to raise awareness about the Korean staple food globally, but also to protect it in a decadeslong cultural feud over its origin, according to Kim Choon-jin, CEO of Korea Agro-Fisheries and Food Trade Corp. Kim is a three-term lawmaker who entered South Korea's political scene after having been the dentist of former President Kim Dae-jung. He was appointed as CEO of the state-run food trade agency, known as aT for short, in 2021
Nov. 21, 2023
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Chinese beer imports plunge amid Tsingtao scandal
South Korea’s beer imports from China decreased by over 40 percent last month after a hygiene incident at a Tsingtao brewery was revealed. Imports of Japanese beer products, on the other hand, increased by over 300 percent. According to data from the Korea Customs Service on Thursday, Korea’s imports of Chinese beer reached 228.1 tons in October, down 42.6 percent on-year. The import value of Chinese beer products shipped to Korea during the same period came to $1.9 million, also dow
Nov. 16, 2023
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Redbreast 15 Year Old whiskey debuts in Korea
Pernod Ricard Korea on Monday launched Redbreast 15 Year Old, a more aged and spicier variant of its Irish whiskey brand, targeting the evolving demand for non-Scotch whiskeys in the rapidly expanding domestic market. The world's second-largest wine and spirits seller previously introduced its Irish whiskey, Redbreast 12 Year Old, for the first time in Korea in September. While retaining the smooth character typical of traditional Irish pot still whiskey, the 15 Year Old brings a spicier pr
Nov. 13, 2023
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SPC Samlip partners with Asian supermarket chain H Mart
South Korean confectionery company SPC Samlip said Thursday that it had signed a partnership with H Mart, the largest Asian supermarket chain in North America, as part of efforts to further increase its global presence. H Mart operates some 120 supermarkets in the US, Canada and the UK. In 2022, it posted 4.3 trillion won ($3.28 billion) in sales. Under the partnership, SPC Samlip will increase its supply of confectionery products to be distributed through H Mart's extensive sales network.
Nov. 9, 2023
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Farm online, harvest offline: Virtual farming games attract inflation-weary consumers
Home farming is gaining popularity as inflation continues to drive up the prices of produced goods including eggs and vegetables. Recently, the trend has recently taken an interesting turn, with local e-commerce platforms launching mobile farming games that bear real fruit in the physical world. Lee Jae-ram, a 33-year-old office worker in Seoul, recently received his "harvest" of bananas in a package via mail, the fruit of his farming efforts in the mobile game, Al-Farm. Al-Farm is a g
Nov. 7, 2023
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Paris Baguette inks sponsorship deal with Paris Saint-Germain
Paris Baguette, South Korean bakery giant SPC Group's flagship bakery chain, announced Thursday that the company has signed a sponsorship deal with French football club Paris Saint-Germain. Of around 30 companies that have partnered with the Paris-based football club, including Nike, Qatar Airways, Coca-Cola and McDonald’s, Paris Baguette is the only Korean brand. Paris Saint-Germain is an internationally popular French football club which is widely known for its superstar, Kylian Mba
Nov. 2, 2023
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S. Korea vaccinates nearly 82% of cattle amid LSD outbreaks
South Korea's agricultural authorities said Saturday they have vaccinated nearly 82 percent of cattle subject to emergency inoculation amid growing concerns over the nationwide spread of lumpy skin disease. As of Saturday morning, health authorities have administered the vaccine to 357,000 out of 438,000 cows subject to emergency inoculation, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. Since the first-ever outbreak of the viral infection last week, the country has so f
Oct. 28, 2023
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[Graphic News] Daily card spending up 8.4% in H1 amid post-pandemic recovery
Daily card spending in South Korea rose 8.4 percent in the first half from a year earlier on the back of the post-pandemic economic recovery, central bank data showed. Card holders spent an average 3.3 trillion won ($2.47 billion) per day in the January-June period, compared with 3 trillion won the previous year, according to data from the Bank of Korea. Credit card spending rose 8.8 percent on-year to a daily average of 2.56 trillion won, led by use on e-commerce platforms. Credit card use for
Oct. 23, 2023
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[Weekender] Indie bookstores thrive in reading-reluctant Korea
Despite consistently falling reader engagement, independent bookstores are surviving -- and even thriving -- in South Korea. "Over the last decade, we've seen a pretty sharp drop in the number of people picking up at least one book a year – down from 72.2 percent in 2013 to just 46.9 percent in 2021. But when you consider all the different ways people can get their info these days, maybe that's not quite the disaster it seems," said Baek Won-geun, the brain behind 15 of
Oct. 21, 2023