Most Popular
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Confusion over alleged S. Korean drone intrusion: Who's behind it?
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South Korean military has ‘nothing to confirm’ on North Korea preparing border artillery corps to shoot
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Han Kang’s Nobel Prize opens new horizons for Korean literature
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2 Filipinas who left pilot program cite overwork, excessive surveillance
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K-pop song once recommended by Nobel laureate Han Kang returns to music charts
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Border tensions heighten as North Korea builds up drone incursion claims
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SK heiress weds Chinese American entrepreneur
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Riize speaks out on Seunghan’s return
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Busan film fest ends with lingering controversy over streaming platform presence
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[News Focus] Momentum builds for 3-way summit by end of year
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McDonald’s Korea posts record-high W1tr sales
McDonald’s Korea logged a combined record high in sales of 1 trillion won ($801 million) from its directly managed stores and franchisees last year, the largest annual figure since its first store opened in the country in 1988, the global fast-food giant said Tuesday. The directly managed stores that take up about 70 percent of the total number of McDonald’s in the country posted 867.9 billion won in sales, up 9.7 percent on year, according to the company’s regulatory report.
April 26, 2022
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3 French luxury houses log whopping W3tr sales in Korea
The combined sales of luxury houses Hermes, Louis Vuitton and Chanel in South Korea marked a record high of 3 trillion won ($2.4 billion) last year, amid the frenzy over high-end goods sparked by the coronavirus pandemic. According to Chanel Korea, the company’s sales revenue surged by 31.6 percent to 1.2 trillion won last year. Net profit skyrocketed by 67 percent to 249 billion won in the citied period. Louis Vuitton Korea’s sales rose 40 percent to 1.4 trillion won, while its n
April 21, 2022
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[Newsmaker] Retailers hope for sales recovery as social distancing rules removed
With the government lifting nearly all social distancing measures, retailers in South Korea are now pinning high hopes on a business recovery after enduring two years of strict pandemic restrictions that limited operating hours, private gatherings and even food tasting at the grocery store. Supermarkets, which have been hit hard due to pandemic restrictions, are in talks with the government to return to offering in-store samples, which has been banned since last July. An Emart official and a
April 18, 2022
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CJ Logistics to raise W740b fund to bolster fulfilment network
CJ Logistics, South Korea’s largest logistics firm, said Sunday that it is set to raise up to 740 billion won ($602 million) to construct major fulfillment centers in the metropolitan area, accelerating its e-commerce business. The firm will first raise 250 billion won in cash with Samsung SRA Asset Management, the real estate investment arm of Samsung Group, and plans to borrow the remaining 490 billion won from other financial companies. The fund will be operated for eight years until
April 17, 2022
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Baemin sales surge 70-fold from 2014 on pandemic delivery demand
Korea’s food delivery app Baemin logged 2.3 trillion won ($1.8 billion) in sales last year, a 70-fold surge from 2014 when it started filing financial reports to authorities, its operator Woowa Brothers said in a regulatory filing Tuesday. “The stellar performance in recent years was largely driven by COVID-19, with many restaurant partners joining our app,” said an official from Woowa Brothers. In 2020, the first year of the pandemic, the company surpassed 1 trillion won i
April 12, 2022
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Food firms flustered over resurgent kimchi feud
Korean companies exporting kimchi or food containing the Korean spicy cabbage are on high alert after a decades-long cultural feud over its origin has resurfaced online. Seo Kyung-duk, a professor at Sungshin Women’s University in Seoul and a cultural heritage activist, blasted a local bakery chain on Monday for using Chinese word “pao cai,” in the Chinese translation of the name of one of its breads. Starting in March, the bakery has written the Chinese translation of its k
April 11, 2022
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Online luxury sellers strengthen counterfeit inspection amid Musinsa scandal
Korea’s online luxury sellers who have enjoyed the recent resell market boom are strengthening the counterfeit inspection process amid a scandal involving fashion commercial platform Musinsa, industry sources said Friday. On April 1, Naver’s online reselling platform Kream announced that the Essentials T-shirts sold through Musinsa by the brand operator Fear of God were proven to be fake. Musinsa, which has strongly objected to the counterfeit claims raised by Kream and has warned
April 8, 2022
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SSG.com to launch cross-border shopping service
SSG.com, the digital shopping platform of retail giant Shinsegae Group, said Monday it will launch a cross-border shopping service for international shoppers. The company will sell over 9.6 million fashion and beauty items, as well as processed food on Gmarket Global’s English and Chinese online malls, as part of the first collaborative project following Shinsegae’s acquisition of eBay Korea, since renamed Gmarket Global, last year. International shoppers from over 80 countries in
April 4, 2022
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Pulmuone completes 2nd tofu plant in China
Korea’s food giant Pulmuone said Sunday it has completed the construction of its second tofu factory in China, as it looks to accelerate its expansion in the growing market there. Located in the eastern Beijing of Pinggu, the new factory can produce 1,800 kilograms of tofu annually, increasing the productivity by 400 percent compared to the old factory. The second factory will produce a variety of tofu for soup, salad and steamed dish, tofu noodle, and soybean milk, according to the com
April 3, 2022
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Kimchi with new packaging method on way to captivate the world
Forget about concerns of kimchi keeping its freshness and leaking its “unique smell” when shipped overseas. Korean companies are seeking ways to expand their kimchi exports by adopting new packaging methods, increasing overseas production and obtaining scientific proof that the traditional side dish is beneficial to one’s health. The state-run Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corp. announced Thursday it has launched a new kimchi product that can improve bowel movement an
March 31, 2022
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Nongshim launches bakery snack brand Petit Paris
Nongshim Co. said it launched a “bakery snack” brand named Petit Paris, starting with a bread roll snack that tastes like French toast. The largest instant noodle and snack company in South Korea said it will introduce more products under the new brand as it pioneers the market for snacks with a soft texture and taste similar to that of bakery products. “As there is high consumer demand for bread, cakes and cookies, we expect Petit Paris bakery snacks to be popular as well. T
March 30, 2022
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With first kimchi factory in US, Daesang gears up for global expansion
South Korean food giant Daesang Group has completed construction of the first kimchi factory in the US, setting up an overseas base not only to penetrate the local market but also to expand exports to Europe and Oceania. Located in the City of Industry in LA, home to industrial facilities from overseas with business links to Asian countries, the factory can produce 2,000 metric tons of kimchi annually. The company has invested 20 billion won ($16.4 million) for building production lines and w
March 29, 2022
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[From the Scene] Has frenzy for Chanel died down? Shoppers say rarity factor has faded
Until just a couple of months ago, long lines in front of department store entries connected to Chanel were crowded with shoppers eager to grab bags priced at some 10 million won ($8,200). Some brought their own chairs for a more comfortable wait, while others set up tents to stay warm the night before. But the desire to get hold of luxury fashion items accentuated with the signature Chanel mark, however, appears to be losing steam. It seems an “open run,” a local shopping term refe
March 24, 2022
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‘Retro’ Pokemon Bread craze shows no sign of stopping soon
The craze over Pokemon Bread shows no signs of abating, as the popular pastry series that has recently been revived has induced scenes of people waiting in line at supermarkets and adults posting their search to social media. According to manufacturer SPC Samlip, the supermarket pastry that comes with a sticker of one of the characters from the global hit anime and video game series Pokemon had sold 6.1 million rolls as of Monday. That means some 234,000 rolls were sold each day on average
March 21, 2022
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Market jitters dampen appetite for e-commerce IPOs
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 by retail giant Shinsegae Group, is one of the hottest market debuts planned this year
March 20, 2022
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GS Retail latest to adopt chicken-frying robots
GS Retail, the operator of Korea’s convenience store chain GS25, said Wednesday it will deploy chicken-frying robots, joining the recent race to automate food manufacturing. The company forged a partnership with Roboarte, the food tech startup behind Robert Chicken that uses robot arms to fry chicken. GS25 plans to use the startup’s robots to fry frozen chicken from its own brand Chicken 25. “The robot arms will automatically put the bucket full of frozen chicken in a frying
Feb. 23, 2022
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British fashion brand unveils bags inspired by South Korean anime series ‘Run Hany’
British fashion label JW Anderson has unveiled new bags inspired by South Korean anime series “Run Hany.” The accessories, which appear to be a collaboration project as part of the brand’s new season collection, come in at least three colors -- blue, orange and white -- according to a recent post on Instagram. In another photo, one bag has a picture of the face of the series’ main character Hany, along with the JW logo in orange. “Not long till the show,” t
Feb. 21, 2022
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South Korean medalists to get chicken ‘pension’
South Korean medalists have shown excitement at not only winning medals, but also free chicken for the rest of their lives. The so-called “chicken pension” is backed by Yoon Hong-geun, CEO of Korea’s fried chicken franchise Genesis BBQ, and also the chief of South Korea’s athletic mission at the Beijing Olympic Games. Yoon promised to give free chicken for the country’s short track speedskating medalists Hwang Dae-heon and Choi Min-jeong at their requests. &ldquo
Feb. 21, 2022
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[Newsmaker] aT CEO at vanguard of global green food campaign
Going green is not just about having more electric vehicles or shutting down old factories powered by fossil fuels, says the head of South Korea’s food distribution and export promotion agency, but also extending that eco-friendly thinking to the table. Not just reducing food waste but also choosing to eat more local production would make a greater impact on the Earth, said Kim Choon-jin, president of Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corp. Kim and his agency have been taking an ini
Feb. 20, 2022
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Shinsegae acquires Napa Valley winery for W299.6b
Shinsegae Property, the property development arm of Korea’s retail giant Shinsegae, said Wednesday it has acquired US winery Shafer Vineyards for 299.6 billion won ($250.3 million) to boost the group’s wine business. “With the acquisition, we plan to further expand the group’s wine business by creating synergy with its Shinsegae L&B that is in charge of the wholesale distribution of wine and liquor,” a Shinsegae Property official said. Industry sources say si
Feb. 16, 2022