South Korean e-commerce giant Coupang posted record second-quarter earnings amid the thriving performance of its new business initiatives -- extending its dominant run for four consecutive quarters since turning a profit for the first time in 2022. During its earnings call Wednesday, the New York-listed company said it posted record quarterly sales for the April-June period at $5.8 billion, for on-year growth of 16 percent. Operating profits were tallied at $147.6 million, showing a 42 percent

Consumer Aug. 9, 2023

Suh Min-jeong – the elder daughter of Chairman Suh Kyung-bae of South Korean beauty giant Amorepacific and the prime candidate to inherit the company – recently went into an abrupt yearlong leave of absence, fueling speculation about the company’s business strategy and succession scheme. Having already liquidated all of her stakes in Etude and Espoir, the two budget brands affiliated with the beauty giant, the 31-year-old heiress also donated half of her stake in Innisfree, one

Industry Aug. 8, 2023

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs set a goal to double the exports of kimchi to $300 million by 2027 via a comprehensive plan to bolster the nation's kimchi industry, the ministry announced Monday. The Food Ministry unveiled its five-year plan for 2023 to 2027 for the promotion of the domestic kimchi industry. The plan comes as the Kimchi Industry Promotion Act, which mandates the announcement of the nation's general plan to invigorate the indigenous kimchi industry e

Consumer Aug. 7, 2023

Sea travel routes between South Korea and China will resume after being suspended for three years and seven months, according to the Korean shipping industry on Sunday. Jiaodong Shipping said it will begin transporting passengers via car ferries on the Weihai-Pyeongtaek route starting Wednesday. Starting Thursday, Yantai Ferry and Weidong Ferry will begin operation of car ferries to ferry passengers on the Yantai-Pyeongtaek and Weihai-Incheon routes, respectively. Weidong Ferry will also begin t

Mobility Aug. 6, 2023

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said Thursday it will launch full-fledged safety checks into buildings constructed using flat slab methods, following revelations that some 16.5 percent of apartment complexes built under the state-run Korea Land and Housing Corp. (LH) are missing critical structural components. The Ministry of Land said it will conduct investigations of 293 apartment complexes built by private companies that used flat slab methods starting next week, through th

Industry Aug. 3, 2023

South Korean dental implant maker Osstem Implant will be delisted from Korea's secondary tech-laden bourse Kosdaq starting Aug. 14, according to the company, Wednesday. The final stock trading period for Osstem Implant, which has a market capitalization with 2.93 trillion won ($2.26 billion), takes place from Thursday to Aug. 11. Investors who sell Osstem Implant's shares on the market during the final stock trading period will only have to pay for the securities transaction tax, which

Industry Aug. 2, 2023

South Korean food giant CJ CheilJedang said Monday it sold its entire stake in Jixiangju Food, one of its biggest Chinese subsidiaries that sold Chinese food in China, in a bid to focus on its global strategy to primarily sell Korean food products, centering on its Bibigo brand. According to CJ CheilJedang, the company sold its 60 percent stake in Jixiangju Food for 300 billion won ($235 million) to multiple Chinese institutional investors and the second-largest stakeholder of Jixiangju Food, wh

Consumer July 31, 2023

Korean milk companies said Friday they are reviewing plans to increase the prices of their products, following the Korea Dairy Committee's recent decision to raise the price of raw milk by the largest rate in ten years. "We are going over plans to raise the price of our fresh milk products, as the price of raw milk outweighs all other factors that help determine the price of the end product, including pasteurization, labor and distribution costs and such," said an official from a

Consumer July 28, 2023

Incheon Airport said it has begun utilizing preregistered facial information to streamline the departure process for passengers from Friday. Dubbed the "facial recognition smart pass service," the newly launched service will allow passengers to quickly pass through the identification process at departure and boarding gates without having to show their passports and boarding passes to security personnel. The service is available at six departure gates and 16 boarding gates at Incheon Ai

Mobility July 28, 2023

By Lee Yoon-seo Korea Herald correspondent SINGAPORE -- A masked resident pores over a piece of uterine fibroid -- a tumor developed in the uterus -- and cautiously slices it with a scalpel. The thinly sectioned tissue specimen, after going through various processes including chemical treatment, flattening and staining, is then put on a small glass slide by a scientist. With whole slide imaging, the tissue on the glass slide is virtually copied into a highly magnified image, to be uploaded ont

Industry July 27, 2023

By Lee Yoon-seo Korea Herald correspondent SINGAPORE -- Philips APAC, the multinational health care solution provider Philips' headquarters for the Asia-Pacific region, on Wednesday said it is committed to digitizing the APAC health care industry to enable better patient outcomes and drive greater work satisfaction, focusing on its state-of-art technologies as the health care sector grapples with escalating financial pressures and staff shortages. Via a media event at Philips APAC's

Industry July 26, 2023

Passports are far more than just simple travel documents that verify a holder's personal information. In fact, the thin, palm-sized booklets also function as the barometers for a nation's status on the international stage -- in that some passports have the power to allow its holder to gain access to international destinations without extra entry requirements, such as visas, while some passports don't. In this regard, a recent report showed that South Korean passports are one of th

weekender July 22, 2023

Furnishing a home is a strenuous venture, as performing a holistic analysis of measurements for a slew of necessities such as furniture, floor area and structure of a building, can be costly and tough to pull off for everyday consumers with little knowledge in architecture. Urbanbase, a startup specializing in providing three-dimensional spatial data and artificial intelligence-supported styling services for home refurbishment, is one of the first companies in South Korea that attempted to simpl

Industry July 20, 2023

South Korea's fifth-largest conglomerate Lotte Group on Tuesday held its biannual meeting of top executives to review business performances and seek ways for sustainable growth amid increasing market volatility and uncertainty. Some 80 executives, including Chairman Shin Dong-bin and Lotte Corp. CEO Lee dong-woo, attended the meeting, which it refers to as its "Value Creating Meeting," held at the Lotte World Tower in Seoul. According to the holdings unit, the executives examined

Industry July 18, 2023

Nearly 30,000 hectares of farmland across the country were damaged by the recent torrential rain, raising concerns that agricultural product prices -- which have recently soared due to a heat wave -- will consequently rise even more. Some 27,094 ha of farmland have been damaged between July 10 and Monday due to record rainfall, according to a report released by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. By region, North Jeolla Province suffered the most damage, with 14,569 ha of land f

Consumer July 17, 2023