Most Popular
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Ex-presidential official’s leaked phone call rattles conservative bloc
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Pay debate plagues foreign nanny pilot
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35% of S. Koreans view unification 'unnecessary'
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Slew of top K-pop stars ready to return from military
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S. Korea, US clinch 2026-30 defense cost-sharing deal in pre-election push
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[Reporter’s Notebook] Was Netflix film opening BIFF really a bad thing?
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N. Korean leader's sister derides Seoul's Hyunmoo-5 missile as 'useless'
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Controversial cult leader’s sentence reduced to 17 years
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Concerns raised over chronic labor shortage at state-run center for digital sex crime victims
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[KH Explains] Is private equity giant MBK a risk-taker or renegade?
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FTC charges Airbnb with expediency on refund rules
The Fair Trade Commission said Thursday that it decided to charge the Irish office of global lodging giant Airbnb for ignoring the corrective orders on its contractual terms on cancellation penalty.This is the first time that the watchdog is to file a charge against a foreign business operator over noncompliance with the domestic act on the regulation of terms and conditions.In November last year, the FTC ordered Airbnb to correct the damage compensation clause which imposes a 50 percent penalty
Sept. 28, 2017
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Creditors to OK restructuring plan for Kumho Tire Fri
Creditors of Kumho Tire Co. are set to agree on a debt restructuring plan for the financially troubled tiremaker as the company's self-rescue plans failed to meet their expectations, main creditor Korea Development Bank said Thursday. On Sep 12, Kumho Asiana Group submitted a self-help plan for its tire unit to the KDB-led creditors following the collapse of a deal to sell the country's No. 2 tiremaker to China's Qingdao Doublestar. "After reviewing the self-help program, creditors found it
Sept. 28, 2017
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Pads, diapers are safe: government study
Preliminary results of a study conducted by the Food and Drug Safety Ministry released Thursday found that menstrual care products and diapers distributed in Korea are safe to use, with potentially toxic chemicals only found in trace amounts.“A toxicity study on 10 highly toxic volatile organic compounds found that these VOCs were present in low levels that did not have harmful effects on the human body,” the ministry said. (Yonhap)The study was conducted on 666 menstrual care products and 10 di
Sept. 28, 2017
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LG Hausys makes inroads into Southeast Asia
LG Hausys, a South Korean construction material supplier, has completed establishing its Vietnam office and has started to participate in local exhibitions as part of its full-fledged advancement into the fast-growing Southeast Asian market.The company said Thursday that it has finished setting up the office in Ho Chi Minh to target Vietnam and the surrounding regions with expanding construction projects for new cities and tourism facilities. Caption: A LG Hausys official explains the company’s
Sept. 28, 2017
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Elderly Koreans spending less money than advanced countries: report
South Koreans in their 60s are spending less money than those in other developed countries, showing a decline in consumption propensity, a report showed Thursday.The propensity to consume among those in their 60s decreased 10.1 percentage points to 68.1 percent in 2015 from 78.2 percent in 2003, according to a report by the Bank of Korea on aging society and consumption.“Generally, older people tend to show higher consumption propensity than middle-aged men and women. But elderly Koreans are sho
Sept. 28, 2017
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Korea's Q4 export growth outlook expected to drop off
Despite three consecutive quarters of the export business survey index exceeding scores of 100, Korea’s fourth-quarter export growth is expected to drop off, according to a report from the Korea International Trade Association on Thursday. The local trade agency announced that its export business survey index of 801 exporting companies hit 100.3 for the fourth quarter, a 16.3-point drop compared to this quarter’s 116.6 and a 5.7 slide from the second quarter’s 106. Despite the slowdown, next q
Sept. 28, 2017
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Number of businesses in Korea up 2% in 2016
The number of companies doing business in South Korea rose slightly in 2016 from a year earlier amid a protracted economic slump, government data showed Thursday.There were 3.95 million businesses last year, up 2 percent, or 78,000, from 2015, according to the data from Statistics Korea.They employed a combined 21.33 million workers in 2016, up 2.1 percent on-year. (Yonhap)Over the 10-year period from 2006, the number of companies jumped 22.5 percent and that of employees increased 38.2 percent.
Sept. 28, 2017
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Retailers post sales rise despite anti-graft law: report
South Korea's major retail chains posted an increase in sales for the first half of this year, a market report said Thursday, despite concerns over the introduction of an anti-graft law last year.The anti-graft law that took effect last September was expected to hit local retailers, as it bans businesses from treating government officials, teachers and journalists to expensive gifts, meals and drinks.The law bans free meals valued over 30,000 won ($26.30), gifts worth more than 50,000 won and co
Sept. 28, 2017
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Korea's export growth to slow down in Q4: poll
The pace of growth in South Korean exports is expected to slow down in the fourth quarter due to fewer working days and high raw materials costs, a local trade agency said Thursday. The Korea International Trade Association said its export business survey index of 801 exporting companies stood at 100.3 for the October-December period, down from 116.6 for the current quarter.It marks the third consecutive quarter that the EBSI has exceeded the benchmark 100 level. A reading above 100 means optimi
Sept. 28, 2017
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Anti-graft law reduces corporate card use at luxury bars, restaurants: NTS
Use of corporate cards at luxury bars and restaurants fell substantially in the first six months this year from a year earlier, government data showed Thursday, as the anti-graft law that took effect last September bans businesses from treating government officials, teachers and journalists to expensive meals and drinks.The amount spent dropped 44.8 billion won ($39.2 million), or 8.8 percent, to 467.2 billion won for the January-June period of 2017 from 512 billion won a year earlier, according
Sept. 28, 2017
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Korea to create tourism boom to support local industry
The South Korean government said Thursday that it will make a concerted effort to stimulate a new tourism boom in a bid to support the local industry, which has been hit hard by a protracted diplomatic row between Seoul and Beijing over the stationing of a US missile defense system here.The number of Chinese visitors has beyen on a sharp decline since the Beijing government imposed a ban on selling group tourist packages heading to South Korea in March in retaliation for Seoul's THAAD deployment
Sept. 28, 2017
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Revised duty-free license evaluation to be led by nongovernment experts
The evaluation process for awarding duty-free licenses will be led by nongovernment experts instead of the Korea Customs Service in order to improve fairness and transparency, according to the Finance Ministry on Wednesday.The Strategy and Finance Ministry released the first round of revisions to the duty-free license evaluation process, with the changes reflecting criticisms of biased and unfair evaluations in the past, as revealed by the Audit Board in July. (Yonhap)Since last year, the Korea
Sept. 27, 2017
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Seoul Dragon City, Korea's largest hotel cluster to open Oct. 1
South Korea’s largest hotel and entertainment complex Seoul Dragon City is set to open on Oct. 1. It is also dubbed Korea’s first “hotelplex,” as it combines four hotels. Seung Man-ho, CEO of Seobu T&D, speaks to reporters at Seoul Dragon City on Wednesday. (Seoul Dragon City)“We are building Korea’s first hospitality landmark,” said Jerome Stubert, the cluster general manager of Seoul Dragon City, at a press conference Wednesday.The gigantic three-tower complex is an ambitious 500 billion won
Sept. 27, 2017
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Asia-Pacific nations adopt Seoul Action Plan for Urban Forests
The Seoul Action Plan for Urban Forests and Trees (UFTs) adopted at the second Asia-Pacific Urban Forestry Meeting in Seoul this month aims to provide a framework for countries and cities to adopt urban and forests and green infrastructure to support a sustainable future and good quality of life. The action plan is also an instrument for coordinating the signatory cities, nations, and institutions’ policies. Participants pose at the 2nd Asia-Pacific Urban Forestry Meeting held in Seoul on Sept.
Sept. 27, 2017
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Urban forests key in fight against fine dust
Urban forests have played a key role in improving the quality of life for those living in metropolitan cities by tackling urban heat island effects and fine dust in South Korea, where more than 90 percent of its population reside in cities.Forests in Korea help decrease the amount of fine particles by more than 1 million tons per year, according to the Korea Forest Service. But the capital city Seoul, home to nearly one out of five people living here, is suffering from a shortage of urban forest
Sept. 27, 2017
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KT's smart GiGa Genie helps, connects users
KT has notched up its smart home artificial intelligence technology this year, introducing voice command-based AI dubbed GiGa Genie.The Internet of Things television set-top was created to realize smart home technology by recognizing voice commands, according to the company. The 21.2-centimeter-tall cylindrical device was launched January this year.“The AI-based set-top is a cluster of technologies developed by KT on years of operation as the country’s leading GiGA Internet and IPTV service prov
Sept. 27, 2017
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Companies’ entertainment expenses drop 15% after anti-graft law
South Korean companies spent 15 percent less on entertainment in the first half of this year compared to the same period last year, a study on the impact of the anti-graft law showed Wednesday.Marking the first year of the “Kim Young-ran law,” which came into effect on Sept. 28 last year, CEOScore, a local corporate tracker, studied 139 companies among the top 500 firms here that filed entertainment expenses in their regulatory filings. The companies spent an average 97 billion won ($85.1 millio
Sept. 27, 2017
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Korea's seaport cargo up 8.1% in August
Cargo processed at South Korean seaports increased 8.1 percent last month from a year earlier, driven by brisk export of vehicles and imports of soft coal, government data showed Wednesday.The total amount of seaport cargo stood at 128.8 million tons in August, up from 119.1 million tons tallied a year earlier, according to the data by the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries.Shipments of automobiles and coal jumped 77.1 percent and 22.8 percent, respectively, while traffic of sand and iron material
Sept. 27, 2017
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Starting coffee shops gains popularity among young people
Opening a coffee shop is one of the most popular businesses being pursued by young South Koreans in recent years, data showed Wednesday, in a sign of growing coffee consumption in the Northeast Asian country.The number of coffee shops run by people aged between 15 and 34 stood at 5,000 last year, compared to 2,000 in 2011, according to data compiled by the National Tax Service.The data underscores the growing popularity of coffee among South Koreans. Last year, South Koreans drank 377 cups of co
Sept. 27, 2017
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Jinro soju most-sold spirit in the world for 16th year
Hite Jinro’s Jinro soju retained its title as the world’s top-selling spirit brand by volume for the 16th consecutive year, according to the company Tuesday.According to the UK-based magazine Drinks International, Jinro soju was the No. 1 selling spirit brand in 2016 with 73.9 million 9-liter cases sold. (Hite Jinro)This is more than double the amount sold by the runner-up, Indian whisky Officer’s Choice from Allied Blenders and Distillers, which sold 32.9 million cases.Local rival Lotte Liquor
Sept. 26, 2017