Lotte Shopping stresses profitability as utmost priority

Lotte Shopping said Friday it plans to undergo major restructuring, including shutting down money-losing stores and sluggish businesses, while taking measures to strengthen its e-commerce platform. Lotte Shopping operates the retail unit of Lotte Group, including the department store and mart. During its general shareholders meeting held in Seoul, Lotte Shopping CEO Kang Hee-tae announced improving profitability as the company’s utmost priority this year. “While we expect a dif

ConsumerMarch 27, 2020

Non face-to-face food ordering services popular amid social distancing trend

Baemin Order, an ordering and payment service for restaurants, accumulated over 2 million orders in five months since its launch in November, its operator Baedal Minjok said Friday. Baemin Order, which can be accessed through the Baedal Minjok delivery app, is a service in which users can order and pay for food in advance of a visit to a restaurant. This service allows users to either pick up the food or dine in at the restaurant without making contact with a server, Baedal Minjok explained.

ConsumerMarch 27, 2020

Samsung, LG employees to get lower pay raise this year

South Korea’s biggest companies Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics have decided to lower the pay raise for employees this year, according to industry sources Friday. Samsung’s management and representatives of the employees have agreed on a 2.5 percent increase in base salary. However, depending on personal performance evaluation, the rate will vary. Samsung granted a pay raise of 3.5 percent in 2018 and 2019. The lower increase this year reflects growing uncertainties in

TechnologyMarch 27, 2020

[Newsmaker] Ex-FT Island singer additionally convicted for filming rape victims

The 31-year-old Choi was additionally indicted later on charges of filming and photographing his rape victims, sharing the footage and photos with friends in mobile chat rooms and offering 2 million won ($1,650) to a police officer after being caught driving under the influence in February 2016. The same Seoul court handed out the suspended jail sentence to Choi after finding him guilty of the additional allegations. It also ordered Choi to undergo 80 hours of sex offender treatment and barred

Social AffairsMarch 27, 2020

Hanjin Group Chairman Cho Won-tae reelected as executive director of Hanjin KAL

Hanjin Group Chairman Cho Won-tae was reappointed as executive director of Hanjin KAL, the holding company of Hanjin Group that owns Korean Air, on Friday, a much anticipated result despite a monthslong tug-of-war with his sister Cho Hyun-ah over the management control. According to Hanjin KAL, Cho garnered 56 percent approval during the shareholders meeting held at Hanjin KAL headquarters in Seoul on Friday. About 43 percent were against him holding the post.  Despite concerns to mainta

MobilityMarch 27, 2020

Hyundai Motor Group promotes Kia’ vice president, appoints foreign leaders

Hyundai Motor Group said Friday that it has promoted Kia Motors Vice President Song Ho-sung to president and appointed Jochen Paesen to lead Kia Motors’ interior design team as a director. The company said the latest executive reshuffle is to execute the company’s future mobility vision and bring change to the current leadership.  President Song had previously led the automaker’s export sales, European sales and global business management teams, the company said. He is

MobilityMarch 27, 2020

S. Korea's main Olympic training center emptied

Some 500 South Korean Olympic athletes and coaches have temporarily moved out of their main training facility over the past two days, setting themselves up for a breather after the postponement of this year's Summer Games in Tokyo. Acting on an order by the Korea Sport & Olympic Committee (KSOC), athletes and coaches in about a dozen sports packed up and left the Jincheon National Training Center in Jincheon, some 90 kilometers south of Seoul. About 200 from table tennis, archery, diving,

Olympic GamesMarch 27, 2020

Govt. set to decide on school opening date next week

South Korea is expected to announce early next week whether to open schools in early April or postpone it further as new cases of the coronavirus show no signs of abating. "(The government) plans to announce on Monday or Tuesday whether school closures will end on April 6 or whether they will be further extended," Lee Sang-soo, a senior official at the Ministry of Education, said in an online briefing Friday. "If the closure is extended, then classes may be held remotely,"

Social AffairsMarch 27, 2020

Korean firm buys stake in Russian liver cancer therapy developer for $20m

Seoul-based Thelma Therapeutics said Friday it has closed a deal to buy 27 percent stake in Russian liver cancer therapy developer for 24.3 billion won ($20 million), to tap the overseas health care market. The stake was of NBT, a parent company that wholly owns radioembolization therapy device developer Bebig, both located in the Dubna Special Economic Zone on the northern outskirts of Moscow. Bebig is known for selling the therapy device called Microsphere, used to cure liver cancer -- a the

MarketMarch 27, 2020

S. Korea-bound passengers with high fever to be banned from boarding flights

Any passenger with a body temperature of higher than 37.5 C will be banned from boarding flights to South Korea starting next week, South Korea's health authorities said Friday, as they seek to contain new coronavirus cases involving people coming from overseas. Beginning Monday, people who are flying to South Korea will be required to get fever checks by airlines at airports, they said. For passengers who are banned from boarding flights to South Korea, each airline will return their fares to

Social AffairsMarch 27, 2020

Samsung, LG, Hyundai close more overseas plants

South Korean firms are shutting down more facilities across the world given the coronavirus spread, according to industry sources Friday. Samsung Electronics has reportedly decided to shut down its home appliance factory in Campinas, Brazil, following the closure of its smartphone plant in Manaus in the country earlier this week. The Campinas facility will be closed for two weeks from Monday through April 12. The shutdown of the Manus plant will also be extended to April 12. LG Electronics

IndustryMarch 27, 2020

Seokchon Lake to be shut down until mid-April to prevent COVID-19 infection

Entrances to Seokchon Lake, a famous sightseeing destination for its cherry blossom trees that bloom in spring in Jamsil, southeastern Seoul, will be temporarily shut down until mid-April to prevent people from visiting the area during the COVID-19 outbreak. The decision came after the Songpa District Office announced the cancellation of its annual Cherry Blossom Festival last week. The festival was originally scheduled to take place from April 3 to 12. Seokchon Lake is one of the most popu

CultureMarch 27, 2020

Government evacuates 198 Koreans stranded in Peru

South Koreans stranded in Peru are to arrive home over the weekend via a repatriation flight, as the Latin American country has suspended commercial flights to and from the country to contain the novel coronavirus, the Korean Embassy in Peru said Friday. A total 198 Koreans, including tourists and volunteer workers with the Korea International Cooperation Agency, departed from a military airport in Peru’s capital Lima on Thursday afternoon, local time, on a chartered flight arranged by t

Foreign AffairsMarch 27, 2020

62 mass infection cases reported at hospital in Daegu

A new cluster of novel coronavirus infections emerged Friday in Daegu, the city at the heart of Korea’s novel coronavirus outbreak, with 62 people at a mental health hospital confirmed to be infected with the virus. As of noon Friday, 62 people -- 61 inpatients and 1 staff member -- had tested positive for the virus from the mental health hospital, with the number of infections feared to rise, according to the Daegu Metropolitan Government. The mental health hospital, which houses 286

Social AffairsMarch 27, 2020

S. Korea begins mandatory 14-day self-quarantines on arrivals from US

South Korea reported 91 new novel coronavirus cases Friday, bringing the total infections to 9,332, as the government began to impose mandatory 14-day self-quarantine on arrivals from the US to contain imported cases from abroad. Under the new quarantine measures, incoming travelers from the US -- citizens and foreign nationals with long-tern visas -- must self-quarantine at their homes or designated facilities for 14 days. They are required to get tested for the virus only if they develop sy

PoliticsMarch 27, 2020

S. Korea posts record high trade surplus in copyrights in 2019

South Korea posted a record high yearly trade surplus in copyrights last year, backed by the global popularity of K-pop, extending its annual surplus streak for the seventh year, the culture ministry said Friday. The trade surplus in copyrights came to $1.62 billion in 2019, the biggest yearly earnings since relevant figures were first compiled in 2010, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said, citing data from the Bank of Korea. The same year, South Korea's trade balance in broader in

EconomyMarch 27, 2020

UN chief champions sanctions relief to combat COVID-19

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres advised loosening sanctions on some countries so that they can better counter the coronavirus outbreak, during a teleconference with G-20 countries Thursday. “I also appeal for the waiving of sanctions that can undermine countries’ capacity to respond to the pandemic,” he said. The UN chief repeated that countries under sanctions should be able to import key medical supplies and receive relief goods in their efforts to combat COVID-19. A

North KoreaMarch 27, 2020

Ruling party chief declares war on digital sex crimes

The Democratic Party has submitted three revision bills for the Criminal Law, the Sexual Violence Crime Act and the Information and Communication Network Act to the Assembly, calling for stricter punishment of blackmailing with videos of a sexual nature. Lee said his party will push to pass the three revision bills, all related to chat room sex abuse, at the parliament in May, stressing the war against digital sex crimes will be fought like the ongoing war on the coronavirus outbreak. "Di

Social AffairsMarch 27, 2020

Washington set to deliver $2.2tr virus rescue bill

WASHINGTON (AP) -- With rare bipartisanship and speed, Washington is about to deliver massive, unprecedented legislation to speed help to individuals and businesses as the coronavirus pandemic takes a devastating toll on the US economy and health care system. The House is set to pass the sprawling, $2.2 trillion measure Friday morning after an extraordinary 96-0 Senate vote late Wednesday. President Donald Trump marveled at the unanimity Thursday and is eager to sign the package into law. The

World NewsMarch 27, 2020

PM says hard to ban overseas arrivals

Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun said Friday that it was difficult to ban arrivals from Europe and the US to contain the novel coronavirus, as 90 percent of imported cases were Korean nationals. “The number of newly confirmed cases in the country has gone down to a stable level, but the share of imported cases are rising. Managing risks from overseas has become more important,” Chung said at the beginning of a meeting of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters. &

Social AffairsMarch 27, 2020