Popeyes to pack up after 26 years

Popeyes, a US-based fried chicken franchise, said Friday that it would cease to operate in South Korea, 26 years after it opened its first outlet in 1994. The Korean operator, TS Food & System, said its franchise contract with the US headquarters is set to end at the end of this year. Popeyes, which at one time owned over 200 outlets here, has been struggling against poor sales. With the COVID-19 pandemic the business faced even more difficulties, and the number of stores was reduced t

ConsumerDec. 4, 2020

SK Chairman says ESG governance will help overcome environmental crisis

SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won said Thursday that it was important to embrace environmental, social and corporate governance and nurture empathy to overcome the current environmental crisis. Speaking at Tokyo Forum 2020, an event held jointly by the Chey Institute for Advanced Studies and the University of Tokyo, he said people are now living in the Anthropocene Epoch, a time when human activity has begun having a major impact on the environment. Chey said the “world is in urgent need&r

IndustryDec. 4, 2020

Korea Ginseng teams up with International Vaccine Institute to develop immune booster

South Korea’s leading ginseng manufacturer, Korea Ginseng, has signed a memorandum of understanding with the International Vaccine Institute to develop an adjuvant -- an agent that can improve the performance of a vaccine. The two will work together to develop an adjuvant using Korea Ginseng’s popular red ginseng brand CheongKwanJang, the company said Friday. Korea Ginseng will provide 12 types of ginsenosides while the institute, a nonprofit organization that is working with vacci

ConsumerDec. 4, 2020

Samsung conducts biggest personnel reshuffle in 3 years

Samsung Electronics on Friday announced a large-scale personnel reshuffle, the biggest in three years, owing to a strong performance this year despite the COVID-19 impact. The tech giant promoted a total of 214 executives, the largest number since 2017. “In spite of difficulty amid the global spread of COVID-19, the company timely responded to demand and raised efficiency in operations, which led to improved earnings from last year,” the company said in a statement. In the thir

TechnologyDec. 4, 2020

Korea’s exports of COVID-19 diagnostic reagents notch W2.5tr

South Korea has a new export item. COVID-19 diagnostic reagents notched a 2.5 trillion won ($2.3 billion) performance up to end-November. Diagnostic reagents are among the most fundamental components of diagnostic testing assays. Simply put, it is critical to have a well-functioning reagent to accurately discern a COVID-19 infection. According to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety and the Korea Customs Service on Friday, Korea had exported enough COVID-19 diagnostic reagents to cover 496.8

IndustryDec. 4, 2020

No. of working moms with underage children dips by most amid pandemic

The number of working mothers with underage children fell by the most during the six-month period ending in April as the job market remained sluggish amid the new coronavirus outbreak, data showed Friday. The number of working mothers with children aged under 18 reached 2.67 million as of end-April, down 5.5 percent from a year earlier, according to the data by Statistics Korea. It marked the sharpest decline since 2016, when the statistics agency began compiling related data. The fall was ma

EconomyDec. 4, 2020

Samsung Electronics conducts reshuffle after strong Q3 results

Samsung Electronics Co., the world's leading smartphone and chipmaker, on Friday conducted a large-scale personnel reshuffle to reward employees after reporting robust third-quarter results. Samsung Electronics has promoted a total of 214 officials to higher positions to reflect their contributions to the company's stellar performance in the July-September period, the company said in a statement. In the first and biggest personnel changes in three years, 111 general managers were promoted as

IndustryDec. 4, 2020

[Monitor] Lease prices for Seoul apartments soar

According to real estate prices tracked by KB Kookmin Liiv On, the average jeonse price of apartments in Seoul reached 560.69 million won ($509,829) as of November, up 23.91 million won from the previous month. Jeonse refers to South Korea‘s common lease system in which the downpayment is guaranteed for an average of two years. The rise in average jeonse price broke the 500 million mark in August following the government’s reinforced regulations aimed to protect the leasers, as we

IndustryDec. 4, 2020

S. Korea's currency again touches 30-month high on US stimulus talks

South Korea's currency rose to a fresh 30-month high against the US dollar on Friday, propelled by signs of progress in US stimulus talks and the development of coronavirus vaccines. The won closed at 1,082.10 won per US dollar, sharply up 14.9 won from the previous session's close. It marked the strongest level since June 14, 2018, when the won closed at 1,083.10 won per US dollar. The won's rally was encouraged by prospects over a big US economic stimulus measure and breakthroughs in COVID-

MarketDec. 4, 2020

[Graphic News] Some 84 percent of newspapers, magazines in crisis due to pandemic: survey

　Around 84 percent of local newspapers and magazines have experienced severe business difficulties due to the new coronavirus pandemic, a recent survey showed. 　According to the survey published by the Korea Press Foundation, 33.4 percent of newspaper and magazine companies said the management crisis was very severe, while 50.8 percent answered it was somewhat severe. 　Only 13.3 percent of respondents said the crisis was not that severe, while a mere 2.5 percent, most of which identified a

BusinessDec. 4, 2020

Seoul stocks open higher on chip gains

South Korean stocks opened higher Friday on a continued rally by giant chipmakers, after the benchmark index closed at an all-time high the previous session. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 24.61 points, or 0.91 percent, to 2,720.83 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Tech, financial and steel related shares performed strongly, backed by expectations that early COVID-19 vaccine development may quicken the export-intensive economy. Overnight, the Dow Jones Indust

MarketDec. 4, 2020

Foreign ownership of S. Korean land rises 1.2% in H1

Foreign ownership of South Korean land rose 1.2 percent in the first half of 2020 from the end of 2019, the land ministry said Friday. Foreigners owned 251.6 square kilometers -- slightly more than four times the size of Manhattan -- at the end of June. It represents 0.25 percent of South Korea's total land area, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said in a statement. The value of land held by foreigners increased 1.4 percent to 31.21 trillion won ($28 billion) over the cited

EconomyDec. 4, 2020

S. Korea's current account surplus hits 3-year high in October on export recovery

South Korea's current account surplus hit a three-year high in October as exports showed signs of a modest recovery amid the coronavirus pandemic, the central bank said Friday. The current account surplus reached $11.66 billion in October, widening from a surplus of $10.13 billion the previous month, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK). The current account is the broadest measure of cross-border trade. It marked the largest surplus since September 2017. Since the country logged a deficit o

EconomyDec. 4, 2020

Renault Samsung’s QM6 climbs sales chart

Renault Samsung Motors said Thursday its sports utility vehicle QM6 has climbed the sales chart to lead company’s performance this year. According to the automaker, the QM6 model sold 4,323 units in October, up 35.6 percent from the month before. The gasoline model, QM6 GDe, which has topped the mid-sized SUV market in South Korea for the second half of this year, takes 50.7 percent of the total sales of QM6, with 2,191 units, the automaker said. The rest is taken by QM6 LPe, which is

MobilityDec. 3, 2020

Seoul stocks finish record-high again on chip, auto gains; Korean won soars

South Korean stocks set another all-time high Thursday despite a resurgence in new coronavirus cases, led by strong advances by chip and auto heavyweights. The Korean won sharply rose to an almost 30-month high against the US greenback. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 20.32 points, or 0.76 percent, to close at 2,696.22. Stock trading hours were pushed back by 1 hour due to the nationwide college entrance exam. Trading volume was moderate at about 810 million shar

MarketDec. 3, 2020

Fiscal chief reiterates drive to nurture chips, biotech, fuel cell vehicles

Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki on Thursday reiterated his call to foster the non-memory semiconductor, fuel cell vehicle, and bio-health industries to create new growth in the post-coronavirus era. Presiding over a meeting with ministers for economic affairs in Seoul, Hong discussed strategies to nurture the so-called “big three” sectors and lead the global digitalization, among others. “The government and private sector should join forces to revitalize the coronavirus-hit econ

MarketDec. 3, 2020

SKT CEO made vice chairman of SK hynix

Park Jung-ho, current chief executive officer of South Korea’s leading mobile carrier SK Telecom, has risen to the chief position of chipmaker SK hynix, the group announced Thursday. According to SK Group’s organizational restructuring and executive reshuffling plan for 2021, Park was promoted to vice chairman of SK hynix as he retains the SKT CEO post. “Synergy between ICT expert Park and semiconductors expert SK hynix CEO Lee Seok-hee is highly anticipated,” the grou

TechnologyDec. 3, 2020

[Time to Play] Smilegate’s Magical Atelier, adorable but overly exclusive to target users

Just like how the idea of magic rails against common knowledge, Magical Atelier appears to defy the odds, being an unconventional game that transgresses the basic laws of typical Korean mobile games. For busy commuters, mobile games are supposed to be simple and easy to play. Also, they must include elements that can trigger competition among as many users as possible to guarantee profitability. Magical Atelier, developed by Smilegate, meets neither of the two criteria. Released in South K

IndustryDec. 3, 2020

China opens door to Korean game, issues 1st license in 4 years

China has granted a license to a game made by a South Korean company for the first time in nearly four years, finally lifting an implicit ban on Korean games that has persisted since 2017. According to Korean mobile game developer Com2us, Summoners War: Lost Centuria has been given a foreign game service license from China‘s National Press and Publication Administration, the first such license issued since March 2017. In 2017, Korea deployed the US anti-missile Terminal High Altitude D

IndustryDec. 3, 2020

Posco hits lithium jackpot in Argentina, accelerates EV battery material value chain

Posco Group said Thursday its salt lake in Argentina contains 13.5 million metric tons of lithium reserves, more than six times greater than initial calculation of 2.2 million tons. Based on the massive reserves, which are enough for 370 million electric vehicles, the group aims to establish a robust value chain of EV battery raw materials. According to the South Korean steel giant, the latest exploration of the Hombre Muerto salt lake in northern Argentina conducted with a US consulting firm

IndustryDec. 3, 2020