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

The CEO of the state-run Korea Land and Housing Corp. (LH) offered to resign Friday amid the growing controversy over its lax oversight and poor management of apartment complexes with missing critical structural components. CEO Lee Han-joon said he was also belatedly informed that the firm omitted five apartment complexes from its inspection report on compounds with underground parking lots built using a flat plate method. During an emergency press conference held at the LH headquarters in Seoul

Industry Aug. 11, 2023

South Korean pharmaceutical firms and fashion brands are hoping that the Chinese government's recent decision to allow large groups to travel to Korea would bring a medical tourism boom and K-pop-inspired fashion windfall. China's Ministry of Culture and Tourism said Thursday restrictions regarding group travel to Korea would be lifted for the first time since 2016, following its decision to abandon its “zero COVID” policy in January. According to Korea Tourism Organization

Consumer Aug. 11, 2023

The Chinese government has decided to allow group tours to South Korea after a six-year hiatus instigated by diplomatic bickering between Seoul and Beijing, as well as the COVID-19 pandemic. China's Ministry of Culture and Tourism on Thursday said it would lift restrictions on its nationals to travel in groups to 78 countries around the world, including Korea, the United States and Japan. The ban on Chinese group tours to Korea was removed for the first time since it was put in place as

Economy Aug. 10, 2023

South Korea has bolstered efforts to offer diverse catering services for the World Scout Jamboree, taking particular care to offer adequate halal food options for Muslim Scouts. "Currently, we are aiming to create a halal ecosystem for the remaining 2,160 scouts in North Jeolla Province," said Lee Kwan-youn, the president of the Certified New Halal Industry Association and the CEO of Pacific Korea, a Korean textile retailer. Together with Wonkwang University, a university in North Jeol

Industry Aug. 10, 2023

South Korean e-commerce giant Coupang posted record second-quarter earnings amid the thriving performance of its new business initiatives -- extending its dominant run for four consecutive quarters since turning a profit for the first time in 2022. During its earnings call Wednesday, the New York-listed company said it posted record quarterly sales for the April-June period at $5.8 billion, for on-year growth of 16 percent. Operating profits were tallied at $147.6 million, showing a 42 percent

Consumer Aug. 9, 2023

Suh Min-jeong – the elder daughter of Chairman Suh Kyung-bae of South Korean beauty giant Amorepacific and the prime candidate to inherit the company – recently went into an abrupt yearlong leave of absence, fueling speculation about the company’s business strategy and succession scheme. Having already liquidated all of her stakes in Etude and Espoir, the two budget brands affiliated with the beauty giant, the 31-year-old heiress also donated half of her stake in Innisfree, one

Industry Aug. 8, 2023

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs set a goal to double the exports of kimchi to $300 million by 2027 via a comprehensive plan to bolster the nation's kimchi industry, the ministry announced Monday. The Food Ministry unveiled its five-year plan for 2023 to 2027 for the promotion of the domestic kimchi industry. The plan comes as the Kimchi Industry Promotion Act, which mandates the announcement of the nation's general plan to invigorate the indigenous kimchi industry e

Consumer Aug. 7, 2023

Sea travel routes between South Korea and China will resume after being suspended for three years and seven months, according to the Korean shipping industry on Sunday. Jiaodong Shipping said it will begin transporting passengers via car ferries on the Weihai-Pyeongtaek route starting Wednesday. Starting Thursday, Yantai Ferry and Weidong Ferry will begin operation of car ferries to ferry passengers on the Yantai-Pyeongtaek and Weihai-Incheon routes, respectively. Weidong Ferry will also begin t

Mobility Aug. 6, 2023

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said Thursday it will launch full-fledged safety checks into buildings constructed using flat slab methods, following revelations that some 16.5 percent of apartment complexes built under the state-run Korea Land and Housing Corp. (LH) are missing critical structural components. The Ministry of Land said it will conduct investigations of 293 apartment complexes built by private companies that used flat slab methods starting next week, through th

Industry Aug. 3, 2023

South Korean dental implant maker Osstem Implant will be delisted from Korea's secondary tech-laden bourse Kosdaq starting Aug. 14, according to the company, Wednesday. The final stock trading period for Osstem Implant, which has a market capitalization with 2.93 trillion won ($2.26 billion), takes place from Thursday to Aug. 11. Investors who sell Osstem Implant's shares on the market during the final stock trading period will only have to pay for the securities transaction tax, which

Industry Aug. 2, 2023

South Korean food giant CJ CheilJedang said Monday it sold its entire stake in Jixiangju Food, one of its biggest Chinese subsidiaries that sold Chinese food in China, in a bid to focus on its global strategy to primarily sell Korean food products, centering on its Bibigo brand. According to CJ CheilJedang, the company sold its 60 percent stake in Jixiangju Food for 300 billion won ($235 million) to multiple Chinese institutional investors and the second-largest stakeholder of Jixiangju Food, wh

Consumer July 31, 2023

Korean milk companies said Friday they are reviewing plans to increase the prices of their products, following the Korea Dairy Committee's recent decision to raise the price of raw milk by the largest rate in ten years. "We are going over plans to raise the price of our fresh milk products, as the price of raw milk outweighs all other factors that help determine the price of the end product, including pasteurization, labor and distribution costs and such," said an official from a

Consumer July 28, 2023

Incheon Airport said it has begun utilizing preregistered facial information to streamline the departure process for passengers from Friday. Dubbed the "facial recognition smart pass service," the newly launched service will allow passengers to quickly pass through the identification process at departure and boarding gates without having to show their passports and boarding passes to security personnel. The service is available at six departure gates and 16 boarding gates at Incheon Ai

Mobility July 28, 2023