South Korea's Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced Monday it will go all-out to draw back Chinese travelers to capitalize on China's recent lifting of its ban on group travel to dozens of countries, through measures such as exempting Chinese tourists from visa issuance fees and fostering the development of premium tourism packages. "We will aim to triple the number of Chinese tourists recorded in the first half of 2023 (500,000) in the second half of 2023, and ultim

Industry Sept. 4, 2023

Five subsidiaries of South Korea's state-operated power utility firm Korea Electric Power Corp. are currently putting in joint efforts to sue Australian laboratory giant ALS Coal, on the basis that it falsified coal quality inspections and allowed low quality coal to be exported to Korea, industry sources said Tuesday. According to an industry source close to the matter, the state-run subsidiaries under Kepco -- including Komipo, Korea Southern Power, Korea Western Power, Korea East-West Po

Industry Aug. 29, 2023

Amid ongoing delays in a high-profile merger between South Korea’s top two air carriers Korean Air and Asiana Airlines, some market watchers are speculating that strategic investors are preparing for a possible third-party buyout of Asiana. Private equity funds are reportedly releasing requests for proposals to interested parties regarding the 1.8 trillion won ($1.3 billion) Korean Air-Asiana deal to solicit responses, according to some investors. The requests come amid delays in the deal

Industry Aug. 28, 2023

South Korean pharmaceutical company Celltrion said it aims to log 3.5 trillion won ($2.6 billion) in revenue 2024 once its merger with two affiliates is completed, an increase of over 50 percent from the revenue estimated for this year. During an online meeting with investors on Thursday, Celltrion Founder and Chairman Seo Jung-jin said the company will consider an initial public offering of Celltrion Holdings, the holding firm of Celltrion Group, if necessary after the merger. When the merger o

Industry Aug. 25, 2023

E-Mart's convenience store chain, E-Mart 24, said Friday it will foray into the Cambodian market next year to tap into the country's economic growth potential. E-Mart 24 plans to open its first outlet in the country by the first half of 2024, becoming the first Korean convenience store operator to do so. The Korean retailer said it signed a three-way memorandum of understanding with a Cambodian retail firm, Saisons Brother Holding Corp. and Korean real estate Hanlim Architecture Group

Industry Aug. 25, 2023

South Korean steel giant Posco Group said Thursday the company will put in joint efforts with Hanwha Corporation Engineering & Construction and Korea Airports Corporation to build landing and take-off sites for urban air mobility (UAM) vehicles in Seoul, in a bid to further accelerate the commercial operation of an urban air transportation system in Korea. During a signing ceremony held at KAC's headquarters in western Seoul on Wednesday, the three companies signed a memorandum of under

Industry Aug. 24, 2023

ANDONG, North Gyeongsang Province -- Researchers wearing blue personal protective equipment hunker down over digital screens and packaging machine belts as thousands of syringes are briskly moved through machines at SK bioscience’s vaccine manufacturing facility, L HOUSE, in Andong, North Gyeongsang Province, Tuesday. After going through a series of procedures such as being analyzed for their defection rate and having plunger rods inserted into the syringes, the drugs are labeled and pac

Industry Aug. 23, 2023

South Korean retail conglomerate Hyundai Department Store Group said Monday it signed an agreement with global health care giant Nestle Health Science in a bid to expand its health-functional food business, one of its key growth drivers. During a signing ceremony held at Nestle's headquarters in Vevey, Switzerland, the two companies agreed to establish a partnership for Hyundai's exclusive distribution rights of Nestle’s health functional food products in Korea. "The bio-hea

Industry Aug. 21, 2023

South Korean drugmaker SK Bioscience said via a regulatory filing Monday that it had clinched a 67.9 billion won ($50.6 million) deal with a Thai state-run company Government Pharmaceutical Organization to provide undiluted solutions of its flu vaccine for 10 years. According to DART, the Financial Supervisory Service's electronic disclosure board, SK Bioscience will be providing undiluted solutions of its SKYCellflu products to GPO's vaccine manufacturing plant in Thailand until Aug.

Industry Aug. 21, 2023

South Korean carrier Korean Air said Sunday it would be measuring body weights of its passengers in a bid to strengthen aviation safety and minimize excessive fuel use. Passengers on domestic flights will be asked to weigh in from Aug. 28 through Sept. 6, while international flight passengers will be weighed from Sept. 8 to 19. The weight measuring process will take place at the boarding gates. Those who do not wish to partake in the process can notify the staff that they wish to opt out and b

Mobility Aug. 20, 2023

South Korean drugmaker Daewoong Pharmaceutical said Sunday it has set a target of hitting 148.5 billion won ($110 million) in overseas exports this year amid booming sales of its drugs such as botulinum toxin. The company's overseas exports of drugs in 2022 amounted to 134.8 billion won, an increase of more than 200 percent compared to 2020, when it logged 44.8 billion in exports, according to the firm. The company said its growth in exports was largely attributed to the sales of Nabota, or

Industry Aug. 20, 2023

The “old money” fashion trend that has been spreading globally has reached South Korea. As of Thursday, the hashtag #oldmoney accrued over 8.5 billion views on TikTok, with #oldmoneyaesthetic and #oldmoneyoutfits amassing 3.8 billion and 1.4 billion views, respectively. Old money refers to wealth that is deeply rooted in tradition, or wealth that is inherited rather than acquired through personal earnings. In this regard, the idea behind the old money look means looking like someone

Newsmaker Aug. 19, 2023

South Korea’s fifth-largest conglomerate Lotte Group said Thursday it made donations worth $100,000 in a bid to help Hawaii cope with the aftereffects of devastating wildfires that recently demolished the island of Maui. Lotte said the donation will be sent to Friends of Hawaii Charities -- a public charity organization founded in 1998 with an aim to support Hawaiian women, children, elderly and community groups with essential life needs. Specifically, the donation will be used to repair t

Industry Aug. 17, 2023

Korea Airports Corp. said Wednesday it is considering adding some 4,500 flights connecting the nation’s seven provincial airports to cities in China by the end of this year, to better respond to China’s travel rush in the coming months. The state-run airport operator held an emergency meeting earlier in the day to discuss measures regarding the Chinese government’s recent decision to lift a ban on group tours to Korea. "As China’s group travel to Korea resumes for th

Mobility Aug. 16, 2023

South Korean cosmetics manufacturer Cosmax BTI's cosmetics production plant, jointly built with China-based cosmetics company Yatsen, recently began operations in Guangzhou, China, amid burgeoning demand for high-quality consignment production of cosmetic goods in the Chinese market. The plant is Asia's largest cosmetics production plant, built on 60,593 square meters of land. According to Cosmax, the company's initial plan is to produce 5 million units of cosmetics products per m

Industry Aug. 14, 2023