South Korea's no. 1 e-commerce operator, Coupang, and its local archrival, Naver Shopping, are dominating the South Korean e-commerce industry, taking up some 65 percent of the local market, according to a survey Tuesday. According to the consumer data analysis platform Opensurvey's research on 2,500 respondents aged between 20 to 59, Coupang was the most frequently used e-commerce service for Koreans, making up for 37.7 percent of responses. Naver Shopping came in second, with 27.2 pe

Consumer June 20, 2023

South Koreans ramen makers said Monday that it is currently difficult to adjust the prices of their ramen products, in response to the South Korean government's recent call for them to cut prices amid the fall in raw material costs. "Milling companies were supplied with months' worth of raw materials when their costs were high. Even if the prices of wheat and other major materials needed for making ramen have fallen recently, it is difficult to adjust the price of ramen immediatel

Consumer June 19, 2023

Online transactions of salt surged by more than 800 percent in a week as Korean consumers feared the release of wastewater from the defunct Fukushima nuclear power plant into the sea could affect food safety, a recent analysis by an online tracking firm showed. The amount of online transactions of salt products increased by 817 percent between June 7-13, compared to the same period a week earlier, according to online price comparison service provider Danawa. Sales of salt at offline stores als

Consumer June 18, 2023

Philips Korea, the Korean unit of multinational health technology company Philips, said it recently participated in a "plogging" event in Seoul as a part of its efforts to bolster environmental, social and governance management practices, according to the company on Sunday. The company said some 70 employees and executives including Park Jae-in, the CEO of Philips Korea, went plogging, a new trend in the environmental movement to jog while picking up litter, at Yeouido Hangang Park in

Industry June 18, 2023

Amid the increasing trend for high-net-worth individuals to migrate to other countries, more than 800 Korean millionaires, which is double the amount compared to last year, are expected to migrate to foreign countries in 2023, a report said. According to a report released by English residence and citizenship investment advisory firm Henley & Partners, Korea's net outflow of high-net-worth individuals, or HNWIs, is estimated to jump from 400 to 800 in 2023. The number marks Korea as the

Economy June 15, 2023

Qatar called for investments from South Korea companies amid expanding economic ties between the nations, vowing diverse incentives that include 100 percent foreign ownership of listed firms and drastic tax cuts, at an investment forum hosted by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Embassy of Qatar to Korea in Seoul, Wednesday. "Qatar has grown as the key pillar of the Gulf Cooperation Council economy through the means of diversifying its carbon-dependent economic structure, s

Industry June 15, 2023

In the region's first attempt to initiate a global economic diplomacy, Governor of South Gyeongsang Province Park Wan-soo will make his first overseas business trip to Spain and France in a bid to support local companies' foray into the European markets and attract investments for Korea's aerospace industries, said Gyeongsang Province's investment agency on Wednesday. The trip, which will start in Spain, will see the Korean delegation meet with the Ambassador of Spain to Kore

Industry June 14, 2023

South Korea's biopharmaceutical firm Celltrion said Tuesday it aims to have five additional biosimilars approved by the end of this year in a bid to dominate the global market worth 100 trillion won ($78.5 billion), along with its existing six products. According to Celltrion, the firm plans to obtain approval for the global licenses of five of its biosimilar products by the end of 2023 to hit the market by 2025. The company has six of its biosimilar drugs currently being sold abroad. The b

Industry June 13, 2023

Amid dwindling sales in China, South Korean beauty companies are pivoting away from the lucrative market and decamping for greener pastures in the US. Industry watchers say the strategic shift in K-beauty companies comes due to a slew of reasons -- the rising demand for K-beauty products in the US, growth in China’s own cosmetics industry and increasingly nationalist consumers in China. But they also agree China is still “too big to ditch.” Stellar growth in US Korea is one

Industry June 12, 2023

Popular US burger chain Five Guys will be operating its South Korean business starting on June 26, its Korean retailer Hanwha Galleria announced Monday. FG Korea, a subsidiary under Hanwha Galleria in charge of importing the US burger chain into the country, said it will be opening the chain's first franchise store in the area between Gangnam and Nonhyeon Stations in Gangnam-gu, southern Seoul. According to FG Korea, the outlet, standing on 618 square meters of land, will consist of 150 sea

Consumer June 12, 2023

By Stefan Schmitz Executive director of the Global Crop Diversity Trust Just as the colorful mosaic of banchan dishes enhances a dinner table, Korean – and global – food security is enhanced by crop diversity. Dishes such as kimchi, bibimbap and japchae all contain crops that originated in far-away countries and speak to how we are all interconnected in what we eat. In an interconnected world facing complex challenges, few things are certain. But we must all eat – and I thi

Consumer June 11, 2023

Shinsegae Group’s new paid membership program, called Shinsegae Universe, was unveiled Thursday in an apparent move to lock in customer loyalty across all its shopping platforms and renew its competition with Coupang, the nation’s No. 1 e-commerce operator. "Shinsegae Group evolved into a multi-platform (retail system) that can meet the detailed shopping demands for diverse customers across online and offline (markets)," said Kang Heui-seok, CEO of E-mart, Shinsegae Group&#

Consumer June 8, 2023

South Korean cable maker LS Cable & System said Wednesday it won an order worth some 100 billion won ($76 million) to build the country's largest offshore wind farm in joint cooperation with Hanwha Corporation Engineering & Construction. According to the company, LS Cable & System has been selected as supplier of submarine communication cables for Hanwha Corp. E&C's Shinan Ui offshore wind power project. The project, which is scheduled to be completed by 2026, aims to c

Industry June 7, 2023

By Tom Heilandt Codex Alimentarius Commission Secretary The demise of Alexander the Great, valiant conqueror of Persia and Egypt and monarch of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon, is not one that history books typically associate with a foodborne illness. However, a recent review suggests that it was Salmonella typhimurium enteritis that ultimately brought him down. Similarly, there is one theory that the musical genius, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, is thought to have succumbed to trichinosis, w

Consumer June 6, 2023

Despite the recent incident during which a passenger opened the emergency exit door of an Asiana Airlines aircraft before landing, most South Koreans think an airplane's emergency exit should not be difficult to open, a survey found Tuesday. According to a survey of 21,000 respondents by online poll platform Thepol, 44.8 percent (9,500 people) of the respondents said "An airplane's emergency exit door should be able to open quickly and easily during an emergency." Meanwhile,

Mobility June 6, 2023