Namyang Dairy Products will be fined 500 million won ($420,000) for its past unfair practices towards retailers instead of the original fine of 12.3 billion won, the Fair Trade Commission confirmed Sunday.The decision is in accordance with a court decision passed in January 2015 by the Seoul High Court and affirmed by the Supreme Court in June, citing lack of evidence for the full penalty.In 2013, the FTC reported Namyang to prosecutors for bullying sales agents and retailers into buying excess

Industry May 22, 2016

The continuing battle over the toxicity of a major brand’s humidifier sterilizer has led to rising fears about chemical household products, data showed Friday.A growing number of consumers are balking at purchasing chemical household products, beyond those manufactured by Oxy Reckitt Benckiser. RB’s humidifier sterilizer Oxy Ssak Ssak is currently blamed for allegedly causing the deaths of over 103 people in Korea.According to industry watchers, the widespread fears reflect consumers’ distrust t

Industry May 13, 2016

With the Korean government raising awareness about the harmful effects of table sugar, other products that provide an alternative sweet punch while staying light on calories have come to the fore.Consumers have begun to seek out products that are not only sweet, but also natural, low on calories and preferably with additional health benefits.One of the alternatives is allulose, a naturally occurring sweetener found in small amounts in raisins, figs, and wheat. Although it is almost as sweet as t

Industry May 13, 2016

Dongwon F&B has begun a voluntary recall of its mild tuna products in response to consumer concerns over an unidentified black substance in some of the cans, the company said Friday.The recalled product is the brand’s Mild Tuna 210 g, marked with expiration dates from March 23 to April 25, 2021. The company said that about 1.17 million cans will be collected from consumers and retailers.Dongwon said through a statement that the black substance was caused by “high heat in the manufacturing proces

Industry May 13, 2016

Last year, Koreans spent nearly double overseas compared to the amount foreign consumers spent here in Korea, data showed Sunday.According to data from Statistics Korea, Korean consumers spent nearly 26.1 trillion won ($22.6 billion) overseas, roughly two times the 13.1 trillion won spent by foreign consumers in Korea.The figures include both consumer spending overseas and direct purchases from foreign websites. Tourists shop at a duty-free store in Seoul. (Yonhap)The disparity indicates a sever

Industry May 8, 2016

A Seoul appeals court on Friday upheld the acquittal of a former presidential official accused of leaking presidential documents.The Seoul High Court found Cho Eung-cheon, who handled the discipline of senior public officials, not guilty of violating the Presidential Records Management Act.Cho was indicted last year along with senior police officer Park Kwan-cheon for handing over 17 documents to Park Ji-man, the younger brother of President Park Geun-hye, between June 2013 and January 2014. (Yo

Politics April 29, 2016

The eurozone economy has finally recouped all the ground lost in the recessions of the past eight years after official figures Friday showed that the 19-country single currency bloc expanded by a quarterly rate of 0.6 percent in the first three months of the year. The scale of the increase reported by Eurostat in a preliminary estimate was unexpected -- the consensus in the markets was for a more modest rise to 0.4 percent from the previous quarter's 0.3 percent. (AP Photo)Eurostat said the incr

World Business April 29, 2016

Asiana Airlines Inc., South Korea's second-largest flag carrier, said Friday that it decided to sell non-core assets worth about 400 billion won (US$351.1 million) as part of its efforts to strengthen its financial health. Asiana held a board meeting earlier in the day and decided to sell off its 100 percent stake in Kumho Terminal and 50 percent stake in a hotel and office operator based in Vietnam for about 270 billion won and 123 billion won, respectively, the company said.The move is in line

Industry April 29, 2016

South Korea’s industrial output fell in March mainly due to a drop in the machinery and electronics parts sector, government data showed Friday.Production in the manufacturing, mining and utilities declined 1.5 percent in March from a year earlier, according to Statistics Korea. The March figure is a setback from a 2.2 percent growth in February, which was the first increase in three months.From a month earlier, industrial output fell 2.2 percent in March. (Yonhap)By sectors, the machinery’s out

April 29, 2016

Chinese consumers are less loyal to Hyundai cars than most other auto brands, according to the latest report of U.S. consulting firm McKinsey & Company.A survey on 3,500 Chinese consumers in March showed that 43 percent of those who owned a Korean brand car wanted to switch to a more upscale brand. That was the highest percentage following those owning French cars. (Yonhap)McKinsey said that those with German cars were the most loyal to the brands they had.   “Korean brands are not yet viewed as

Mobility April 29, 2016

South Korea’s leading chemical company LG Chem has fallen victim to an online scam that caused 24 billion won ($21.1 million) of financial damage to the company.The fraud case started with an email last month that was sent to LG Chem from Aramco Products Trading Co. The email claimed that the bank account for their bilateral business transaction had changed, and asked LG to send its payment to a different account. LG sent the money without suspecting any foul play.(Yonhap)But the account did not

Technology April 29, 2016

Korea will allow four more duty-free shops to open in Seoul to meet growing demand from Chinese tourists, the government announced Friday. “Four new licenses will be issued for operation in Seoul, while the city of Busan and Gangwon Province will also get one each,” Lee Myung-gu, director of the Korea Customs Service, said at a press briefing in Sejong. The licensees will be selected by the end of this year through an open competition, the official explained, with one ticket reserved for midsize

April 29, 2016

A high-ranking official at the Bank of Korea said Friday that social consensus is needed for the central bank to pump money into policy banks, voicing caution on President Park Geun-hye-backed “Korean-style quantitative easing” proposal.  “If policy banks need injection of capital to support corporate restructuring, that is primarily a fiscal policy issue, (not a monetary policy one),” said Yoon Myun-shik, assistant governor during a press briefing. “For the central bank to exercise its money-is

April 29, 2016

Shoppers from overseas powered a rebound in duty-free sales last month, data showed Monday, indicating that big-spending Chinese tourists are returning to Korea after a drop in their numbers last year.According to data from the Korea Duty Free Association, duty-free stores recorded sales of $822.7 million in March, up nearly 15 percent from the same month last year.The bulk of those sales came from 1.6 million foreign shoppers, who spent approximately $610 million, up 21.6 percent from March las

Industry April 25, 2016

(AmorePacific)Social and corporate leaders cheer with other supporters at the Pink Ribbon Love Marathon for breast cancer awareness in Busan on Sunday. Included are Kim Young-soo (fifth from left), head of AmorePacific‘s Premium Business Unit, Mamonde spokesmodel Park Shin-hye (center) and Noh Dong-young (fifth from right), head of the Korea Breast Cancer Foundation.The Busan race was the first of an annual series of races for breast cancer awareness sponsored by AmorePacific. The races are host

Industry April 24, 2016