After the blockbuster stock debut of Coupang last year, expectations had been growing for upcoming listings of the nation’s popular e-commerce platforms like SSG.com and Market Kurly until early this year. But uncertainties surrounding Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and its economic impact are prompting the firms to put their plans to go public on ice. SSG.com, the digital shopping platform owned...

Toss Bank, South Korea’s internet only bank, said Wednesday it will pay daily deposit interest to its customers for the first time in the banking industry. Toss Bank account owners can simply click on the “receive now” button to be paid with daily deposit interest, instead of receiving it monthly. With the service, users can withdraw their money including the deposit interest at any time they w...

Korea’s tech titan Kakao said Monday that its founder Kim Beom-su will leave his chairman post at the board to explore new business opportunities overseas and break the boundary of mobile-focused platform businesses. Kim’s resignation as the chairman of the board will be approved at the upcoming shareholders meeting on March 29. Kim will resume his post as the head of the company’s Future Initia...

South Korea is likely to see a major change in its nuclear-free power policy with President-elect Yoon Seok-yeol‘s campaign pledge to bolster energy policies in use of atomic power. Yoon has vowed to make a U-turn from the Moon Jae-in administration’s nuclear energy phase-out policies, citing plans to use nuclear to account for 30 percent of total energy generation. “(I’ll make sure) Sin-Hanul ...

Korea’s metaverse real estate sales platform Metaverse 2 said Tuesday its virtual land price has surged in the last six months, amid the growing trend towards alternative ways to build wealth using the blockchain technology. The company said the price of some shares that own Lotte World Tower, the country’s tallest building and one of the most famous landmarks in Seoul, increased 180,000 times t...

Italian luxury fashion brand Gucci said Monday it will put on a metaverse exhibition and sell fashion items for avatars on Zepeto, Korean tech giant Naver’s metaverse platform. The fashion house has opened a virtual space on Zepeto, where users can enjoy a metaverse version of “Gucci Garden Archetypes,” an ongoing multimedia exhibition in Seoul. Gucci and Zepeto, following its first partnership...

At the end of the alley bordered by hanoks is the oldest place where the general public and Joseon palace servants did their laundry. Photos by Park Hyun-koo Written by Byun Hye-jin

Foreigners flocked to famous K-drama filming sites in Seoul last year, propelled by a rising global popularity for Korean TV series, a report showed Friday. Among some 80 tourist attractions visited by 1.6 million foreigners last year, 57.6 percent were filming locations of Netflix-aired Korean dramas, a LG Uplus report showed. Milal Fine Art Museum in Gangnam-gu, the filming site of “Guardian:...

Zepeto, the metaverse platform of Korea’s tech giant Naver, said Friday its number of domestic and international users reached 300 million since its launch, amid the burgeoning trend of interactions in virtual reality. “The number of international users alone is 285 million, accounting for 95 percent of users, while 15 million domestic users have subscribed to the app,“ a Naver official said. ”T...

The old rivalry between Shinsegae and Lotte looks set to head to winemaking. The nation’s top two retail giants who also are the major importers of cheaper casual wines are gearing up to produce high-priced premium wines on their own. Shinsegae Property, the group’s property development arm, acquired US winery Shafer Vineyards for 299.6 billion won ($250.3 million) last month. The 80-hectare vin...

South Korea’s e-commerce giant Coupang said Thursday that it posted $18.4 billion (22.1 trillion won) in sales last year, a record not just for the company, but also for a local e-commerce operator. The figure jumped 54 percent from a year ago. In the fourth quarter alone, its sales soared to $5 billion. Coupang said its record has surpassed the sales of the country’ top retailer Shinsegae and ...

Korean space tech startup Space Star said Wednesday it will send the DNA of famous mountaineer Um Hong-gil to space, honoring his world record to have climbed the 16 highest peaks on Earth. After swabbing Um’s DNA from his mouth, the company plans to seal it in a capsule and send it to space by the end of this year. “Along with other world renowned celebrities, Um will be the first Korean celeb...

Four out of 10 young Koreans consider themselves poor, citing familial transfer of wealth as a key factor aggravating the social divide, data showed Sunday. According to data from National Youth Policy Institute, 42.6 percent of 4,114 respondents aged between 19 and 34 said they think they’re are poor and of those, some 34.3 percent answered they believe that they won’t be able to get out of pov...

Hana Bank said Sunday it will expand its wealth management services to trading art pieces -- both physical and digital -- amid growing retail demand for alternative assets. Hana Bank has forged a partnership with Seoul Auction Blue, an online auction house, to jointly work on developing new businesses such as nonfungible tokens and metaverse platforms, and operating online education and communit...

Kakao’s new CEO nominee Namkoong Whon said Thursday that he wishes to restore the company‘s stock price at over 150,000 won ($124.60) per share during his two-year term amid investors’ growing concerns over its underperforming stocks. “We will be able to see (Kakao‘s stock price) to reach 150,000 won (per share) again if (we can) restore the market trust,“ Namkoong said during an online press ...