Most Popular
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Tensions heighten ahead of first president-opposition chief meeting
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Seoul to provide housing subsidy to married couples with newborns
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[KH Explains] No more 'Michael' at Kakao Games
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Rapper jailed after public street fight with another rapper
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Woman gets suspended term for injuring boyfriend with knife
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[Grace Kao] Hybe vs. Ador: Inspiration, imitation and plagiarism
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Samsung chief bolsters ties with Germany’s Zeiss
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NewJeans pops out ‘Bubble Gum’ video amid troubles at agency
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China outpaces Korea in smaller OLED shipments for 1st time
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Yoon, Lee end first talks with differences, agree to meet more
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Popeyes to pack up after 26 years
Popeyes, a US-based fried chicken franchise, said Friday that it would cease to operate in South Korea, 26 years after it opened its first outlet in 1994. The Korean operator, TS Food & System, said its franchise contract with the US headquarters is set to end at the end of this year. Popeyes, which at one time owned over 200 outlets here, has been struggling against poor sales. With the COVID-19 pandemic the business faced even more difficulties, and the number of stores was reduced t
Dec. 4, 2020
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Korea Ginseng teams up with International Vaccine Institute to develop immune booster
South Korea’s leading ginseng manufacturer, Korea Ginseng, has signed a memorandum of understanding with the International Vaccine Institute to develop an adjuvant -- an agent that can improve the performance of a vaccine. The two will work together to develop an adjuvant using Korea Ginseng’s popular red ginseng brand CheongKwanJang, the company said Friday. Korea Ginseng will provide 12 types of ginsenosides while the institute, a nonprofit organization that is working with vacci
Dec. 4, 2020
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Starbucks opens Korea’s first store staffed mostly with disabled
Starbucks Korea opened a new store on Thursday with a commitment to prioritize disabled workers, in a first in the country. The new location at the Seoul National University Dental Hospital will run with a staff of 12, six of whom are employees with disabilities The coffeehouse giant also said sign language training and disability awareness education was given to staff as part efforts to improve the perception of those with disabilities. Launching on the International Day of People with Disa
Dec. 3, 2020
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Sales of electronic devices, appliances jump amid pandemic: Homeplus
Homeplus said Wednesday the overall sales of IT home appliances jumped 46 percent from March to November, compared to the same time last year, with increased remote working and homeschooling amid the pandemic. Sales of tablet PCs in the period saw an explosive growth of 426 percent, and laptops and printers also witnessed a sales increase of 25 percent respectively, the retailer said. Large home appliances, such as televisions and refrigerators, were also popular this year, with the sales ri
Dec. 2, 2020
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Two in three South Koreans long to travel abroad next year: survey
Nearly two-thirds of South Koreans are hoping to travel to another country next year, according to a new survey by e-commerce platform TMon Inc. Among those 1,800 surveyed over a five-day period last month, 64 percent said they wanted to travel abroad in 2021, of which 57 percent said they will do so after getting vaccinated against COVID-19. Over half of respondents said they wanted to go on holiday with family and spend at least five days traveling. The findings come as reports of a breakth
Dec. 2, 2020
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Lotte Mart apologizes for turning away guide dog in training
A day after receiving flak on social media, Lotte Mart issued an apology Monday over a recent incident where one of its employees refused entry to a dog being trained to assist a person with a disability. On Sunday, a social media user shared pictures of a dog sitting inside Lotte Mart’s Jamsil branch in Seoul and said an employee had refused to allow the dog and trainer into the store. “The employee raised their voice, blaming the woman for bringing a dog in when she is not eve
Nov. 30, 2020
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Pulmuone’s tofu achieves carbon trust standard
Pulmuone, a South Korean food company, said Monday its tofu products achieved a global standard for carbon footprints by Carbon Trust. According to Pulmuone, 10 of its tofu products attained Carbon Trust Standard for Carbon by Carbon Trust, a UK-based organization for climate impact reduction. “We are delighted to congratulate Pulmuone for being the first Korean food company to have its product carbon footprint certified by the Carbon Trust,” Morgan Jones, associate director of C
Nov. 30, 2020
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Massive year-end sales open on online shopping platforms
With the end-of-year shopping season in full swing, South Korea’s major online shopping platforms including Coupang, WeMakePrice and Olive Young have announced big discounts and special deals. Coupang, the largest e-commerce platform in the country, is holding a Christmas sale until Boxing Day offering a range of Christmas-related items at a special price including home decor products and gifts. Discounts of up to 50 percent are being offered for some of the most popular kids’ toys
Nov. 30, 2020
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[Herald Interview] Pernod Ricard brings RTD craze to Korea
Consumption of alcohol at home has been growing amid the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic. According to Statistics Korea earlier this week, households spent an average 19,651 won ($17.75) a month on alcoholic beverages, the highest figure since the agency began collecting relevant data. With that, the demand for better convenience in drinking has also surged, further accelerating the growth of ready-to-drink alcoholic beverages since before the pandemic. The ready-to-drink market in the US, for inst
Nov. 26, 2020
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Daesang eyes Middle East with Korean food products
South Korean general foods company Daesang said Thursday that it is branching out into the Middle Eastern market, which serves a population of about 4 billion, with popular food products such as halal-certified kimchi and tofu. Daesang said it has teamed up with 21 stores in Qatar, including Carrefour, Lulu and Spar. In Iraq its products are being distributed through Carrefour and Majidi Mall, with plans underway to expand its presence in the region to countries including Saudi Arabia and Israe
Nov. 26, 2020
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Amorepacific study shows harmful impact of mask wearing on skin
South Korean cosmetics giant Amorepacific published findings from a recent study on Wednesday showing that mask wearing can cause dry skin and redness. The researchers discovered that wearing a mask for between one and six hours can also bring significant change to skin temperature and sebum after conducting an experiment with 21 men and women. The perioral area – the area surrounding the mouth including both lips and the upper lip area under the nose – could be most affected afte
Nov. 25, 2020
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Home interior design app Ohouse secures $70 million in investment
Home interior design platform Ohouse has raised 77 billion won ($70 million) in a new round of Series C funding from investors including technology investment firm Bond, the app’s operator, Bucketplace, said Monday. IMM Investment, Mirae Asset Venture Investment, Mirae Asset Capital and Naver Corporation were among the existing investors that participated in this round, the company added. This raises the company’s total funding to 88 billion won ($80 million). Launched in 2014, th
Nov. 23, 2020
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Retail sales up in Oct. on pandemic, promotional events
Retail sales in South Korea increased 8.4 percent in October from a year earlier on the back of the pandemic and consumption-boosting events, data showed Monday. The combined sales of 26 major offline and online retailers reached 12.01 trillion won ($10.7 billion) last month, up from 11.08 trillion won a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. Online platforms led the overall growth, with their revenue advancing a whopping 17.2 percent over t
Nov. 23, 2020
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Card spending up 6.3% on-year during nationwide shopping festival in Nov.
Card spending made during a massive nationwide annual shopping festival earlier this month rose 6.3 percent from a year earlier, the trade ministry said Friday, amid the new coronavirus outbreak. Card spending amounted to 37.4 trillion won ($33.5 billion) in the Nov. 1-15 period, when the country held the annual Korea Sale FESTA, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. The shopping festival involving major retailers, manufacturers and traditional markets drew a total of 1,784
Nov. 20, 2020
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Starbucks Coffee Korea to test-run coffee delivery service
Starbucks Coffee Korea said Thursday it would start a test-run for coffee deliveries next week, and open a new delivery-only outlet. According to the coffee chain, it will open Yeoksam E-mart branch in Gangnam, Seoul on Nov. 27, where the coffeemaker will take only delivery orders made from the company’s mobile app. The 100-square-meter store will act as the space for employees to make drinks and prepare food, and for storing merchandize, Starbucks said. It will also have space for de
Nov. 19, 2020
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Amorepacific invests W3b in beauty content producer firm
South Korean cosmetics giant Amorepacific said Tuesday it would invest 3 billion won ($2.7 million) in Dmil, a multi-channel network company. According to Amorepacific, Dmil is a media contents firm, producing and selling cosmetics-related content and items, partnering with 250 content creators, including YouTubers Jella, Woorin and Chaeyoung. “From this investment, Amorepacific Group will establish a close partnership with beauty influencer-made contents and in commerce,” Lee Yo
Nov. 17, 2020
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Coupang now among 3 biggest employers in Korea
E-commerce giant Coupang was the third-largest business in South Korea in terms of staff as of the third quarter of this year, following Samsung Electronics and Hyundai Motor, a market research firm said Tuesday. The report released by CEOScore showed that Coupang hired a total of 43,171 employees as of late September, rising from the fourth-biggest employer position to the third. The report was based on data from the number of subscribers to the National Pension Service. Coupang’s ris
Nov. 17, 2020
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Amazon taps into Korea by investing in 11st
Amazon is partnering with Korean e-commerce platform 11st to avail purchase of its goods to Korean customers, 11st operator SK Telecom said Monday. According to SKT, which is SK Group’s mobile carrier that operates online shopping platform 11st, the two made an agreement for Amazon’s equity participation in 11st. Amazon is reportedly expected to purchase up to 30 percent of 11st’s company shares. Depending on 11st’s performance, which includes the company’s plan
Nov. 16, 2020
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[Monitor] Alibaba posts record-breaking Singles Day sales of $56.26 billion
China’s largest e-commerce platform, Alibaba, posted an increase in its annual Singles Day sales this year. While Alibaba had revealed daily sales figures for every Nov. 11 each year, this year its data included Nov. 1-10 presales figures, which reached 372.3 billion yuan ($56.26 billion). Presales combined with Nov. 11 sales totaled 498.2 billion yuan. What began as a celebration of singlehood in the country has become the world’s biggest one-day online sales event, with Alibaba s
Nov. 13, 2020
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Amorepacific appoints new president
South Korean cosmetics giant Amorepacific announced the appointment of Kim Seung-Hwan as its new president on Thursday, in a major post-COVID-19 shakeup following lackluster sales this year. Kim, 51, previously served multiple roles including as head of the human resources unit. He will replace Bae Dong-hyun as the group’s president from next year. The age gap between Kim and Bae has been seen as a move to bring younger blood into power as the company struggles to fend off competition b
Nov. 12, 2020