[Best Brand] GC Pharma rolls out new high-content multivitamin

GC Pharma has recently launched a new high-content multivitamin called B-max Meta B. B-max Meta B contains 30 milligrams of bisbentiamine that passes through the blood brain barrier to help the human brain’s metabolism, the company said. The product also has high amounts of vitamin B12, vitamin D, magnesium and zinc to aid people in controlling their health, it added. The new supplementary multivitamin is the latest addition to CG Pharma’s B-max series, which began rolling out in

Dec. 28, 2021

[Best Brand] Coway’s new induction cooktop in high demand

Home appliances company Coway said its new induction cooktop is enjoying high demand thanks to its auto cooking function, as more consumers are choosing to cook at home rather than eat out amid the pandemic. The auto cooking function of Coway’s Noble Induction Freedom, launched in November, saves the trouble of watching and controlling the heat for pots and pans to keep the contents from burning or boiling over. When cooking rice in a pressure cooker, for example, the cooktop automatic

Dec. 28, 2021

[Best Brand] aT, driver behind kimchi exports

Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation (aT) has been at the center of promoting kimchi overseas, expanding the fermented dish’s presence in the United States and increasing its global exports. Located in Naju, South Jeolla Province, the state-owned company overlooks the distribution and transaction of all agricultural goods produced in Korea. One of its recent efforts is promoting kimchi in the United States and abroad. The firm has been particularly upping its activities i

Dec. 28, 2021

[Best Brand] Lotte Card offers best payback deals for millennials, Gen Z

Lotte Card recently launched a new credit card series that aims to offer best deals for shopping, dining out and more for millennials and Gen Z customers. The four cards under its so-called Loca Likit series – Loca Likit 1.2, Loca Likit Eat, Loca Likit Play and Loka Likit Shop – offers its users different discounts and cost-effective options for the shops they want. Loca Likit 1.2 pays 1.2 percent cash back on dining, cafe and food delivery apps and 1.5 percent back discount on o

Dec. 28, 2021

[Best Brand] Dunamu puts investor protection first

Dunamu, the operator of Korea’s largest cryptocurrency exchange Upbit, is putting priority on protecting investors in the fast-growing crypto market by correcting deposit errors and strengthening its security systems. The blockchain company has recently returned 154 billion won ($130 million) to investors who had mistakenly deposited money into other people’s blockchain wallets. Since 2017, there have been 32,770 cases of deposit errors and Dunamu has managed to correct 96.6 perce

Dec. 28, 2021

S. Korea to double electric, hydrogen cars in 2022 in net zero emission drive

South Korea plans to double the number of electric and hydrogen vehicles on its roads next year as part of efforts to achieve its goal of net zero carbon emission by 2050. The government will seek to bring up the number of electric and hydrogen cars in use to about 500,000 in 2022, from the current level of about 248,000 units, the environment and four other ministries said in their joint announcement of policy plans for next year. Under the plans, the numbers of electric cars will rise by 200

Dec. 28, 2021

[Best Brand] Samsung Biologics rises as global supply chain for COVID-19 vaccines

Samsung Biologics, the major biopharmaceutical unit of Korea’s Samsung Group, has become a global manufacturing hub for COVID-19 vaccines and drugs, joining forces with global drugmakers to curb the widespread pandemic. In the last two years, the pharmaceutical giant has landed contracts with five companies -- Eli Lilly, AstraZeneca, Moderna, GreenLight Biosciences and GlaxoSmithKline -- to manufacture their COVID-19 vaccines and drugs. On Dec. 14, the company expanded its earlier deal

Dec. 28, 2021

Posco gives up hydrogen fuel cell opportunities in Asia

Posco Energy, a subsidiary of South Korean steel giant Posco, surrendered its exclusive rights to market, manufacture and service FuelCell Energy’s advanced hydrogen fuel cells in Asia. In a statement announced Tuesday, the two firms reached a settlement to end a license dispute that had begun in 2015. As a result, Posco will relinquish its exclusive rights to the Connecticut-based firm’s molten carbonate fuel cells, or MCFCs, in Asia. Though Posco will no longer be able to manufa

Dec. 28, 2021

[Best Brand] Forever Living Products offers top quality aloe products

Since its market entry to South Korea in 1988, Forever Living Products, the US aloe product manufacturer, has been offering high quality aloe products ranging from cosmetics to dietary supplements to Korean customers.  “Aloe can be a great source of enhancing one’s immune system, especially at this time when COVID-19 pandemic is ongoing. It is highly recommended to take care of one’s immune system and skin health with Forever Aloe Gel which has been certified by IASC,&rd

Dec. 28, 2021

Electricity bills to rise to cover Kepco’s snowballing debt

A family of four in South Korea will see electricity bills rise as much as 2,000 won ($1.69) per month in 2022 as Korea Electric Power Corp. decided to raise utility prices 5.6 percent to mitigate its soaring debt accumulated due in part to its aggressive pursuit of renewable energy. According to NH Investment & Securities on Tuesday, the state-run utility will charge 11.8 won more per kilowatt-hour next year, which would allow the company to save costs worth 3 trillion won annually. Des

Dec. 28, 2021

870,000 small business owners quit amid pandemic

Some 870,000 small business owners failed to see out the pandemic in 2020, while their companies’ operating profits nearly halved in the same period, government data showed Tuesday. According to data from Statistics Korea and the Ministry of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises and Startups, the number of people working as small business owners fell 13.5 percent, or 871,000, on-year to 5.5 million as of end-2020. The government throughout last year adopted strict quarantine and social di

Dec. 28, 2021

State pensions offload over W10tr Samsung Electronics shares

State pension operators, including the National Pension Service, have offloaded more than 10 trillion won ($8.4 billion) worth of top-cap Samsung Electronics shares so far this year, and instead bought stakes in Kakao Pay, Krafton and Samsung Biologics, data from the Korea Exchange showed Tuesday. They dumped a combined 24.5 trillion won of local shares from the beginning of the year to Monday. This compares to 25.7 trillion won worth of shares offloaded by foreigners in the cited period. Of

Dec. 28, 2021

Companies shift to online kickoff meeting for 2022 amid pandemic

An increasing number of South Korean companies are moving their 2022 kickoff meetings online or replacing them by releasing the CEO‘s message virtually, adapting to the continued coronavirus pandemic.  Before the pandemic, local conglomerates typically held year-end or kickoff meetings by gathering executive members at a large auditorium, with the CEO addressing the company’s new vision for the next year.  But with strengthened social distancing rules as well as transfor

Dec. 28, 2021

Apple hints at submitting compliance plans on in-app payment law

Apple could submit its compliance plans for a new South Korean law that bans app store operators from forcing in-app payment systems on developers, industry sources said Tuesday. The new law went into effect in September, making South Korea the first country in the world to introduce such curbs on in-app billing policies of Apple and Google. The Korea Communications Commission (KCC) requested Apple to turn in its compliance plans within this year as it drafted an enforcement decree of the revi

Dec. 28, 2021

Samsung to showcase startup projects at CES

Samsung Electronics said Tuesday it will showcase 13 startup projects at the CES trade show next month to introduce their innovations to a global audience and gauge marketability. The Korean tech giant has nurtured in-house ventures under the C Lab Inside program since 2012. In 2018, the firm launched the C Lab Outside program to support outside startups as well. A total of 406 startups have been accelerated under the programs. For the upcoming CES, four in-house ventures are making their deb

Dec. 28, 2021

Number of small firms rises 4.7% in 2020 despite pandemic

SEJONG -- The number of small companies in South Korea expanded nearly 5 percent in 2020 from a year earlier despite the pandemic, but their profit fell sharply, government data showed Tuesday. The country had 2,902,000 companies with fewer than five workers as of the end of 2020, up 4.7 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from Statistics Korea and the Ministry of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) and Startups. The largest number of such companies were retailers and who

Dec. 28, 2021

Number of businesses gains 17.8% over 5 years

SEJONG -- The number of businesses in South Korea rose nearly 18 percent over the past five years as almost all industrial sectors posted gains, data showed Tuesday. Asia's fourth-largest economy had a total of 6,013,000 businesses as of the end of 2020, up 17.8 percent from five years earlier, according to the data from Statistics Korea. One-man operations accounted for the biggest proportion of the total with 79 percent, followed by corporations with 15.4 percent and other establishments wit

Dec. 28, 2021

Seoul court rules in favor of Kyobo Life in legal battle with Hong Kong-based PEF

A Seoul court has rejected a Hong Kong-based private equity firm's request for Kyobo Life Insurance Co. to carry out its obligation with regard to a put option that it has been trying to exercise, the South Korean insurer said Tuesday. The ruling appears to have removed a major hurdle for Kyobo Life's push to list shares on the local stock bourse in the first half of next year, according to company officials. In October 2018, Affinity Equity Partners exercised a put option on 6 million shares

Dec. 28, 2021

S. Korea's oldest coal-fired plant to shut down

South Korea's oldest coal-powered plant will be shut down for good this week, the energy ministry said Tuesday, in line with the government's plan to shift toward renewable energy and to reduce fine dust. Honam Coal Power Plant, located in Yeosu, 450 kilometers south of Seoul, will stop operations Friday, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. The plant has been in operation since 1973. The closure is part of the Moon Jae-in administration's plan to phase out 10 aging coal po

Dec. 28, 2021

Govt. to lift restrictions on urea solution sales as supply stabilizes

The government will lift restrictions on sales of urea solution as the supply of the essential fluid used in diesel vehicles to cut emissions has been stabilized, the finance ministry said Tuesday. South Korea had struggled to cope with a shortage of urea solution after China imposed export curbs on urea to ease domestic supply bottlenecks. The government has imposed curbs on where and how much of the solution can be sold in a way to ease its shortage. Those restrictions will be lifted starti

Dec. 28, 2021