SEOUL, Jan. 9 (Korea Bizwire) – The South Korean food safety watchdog said Monday that it will hold off inspection of imported food and drugs that are deemed to pose harm to human health starting in November. In a policy plan briefing of Prime Minister and Acting President Hwang Kyo-ahn on its policy direction for [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 9 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea will ease regulations on visa screening procedures for young foreigners who get jobs at selected manufacturing businesses in a way to tackle the labor shortage, the government said Monday. Foreign students who are studying in South Korea and want to work in the country’s “root” industries such [...]
SEJONG, Jan. 9 (Korea Bizwire) – The price of soju, a rice-based liquor most popular with local drinkers, leaped 11.7 percent in 2016 from the year before, the highest rate of increase since recordkeeping began in 2000, a statistical agency said Monday. Prior price hikes for soju were 8 percent in 2001-2002 and 3.7 percent [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 6 (Korea Bizwire) – When times are hard, people look back and start immersing themselves in nostalgia, because reality simply doesn’t feel good enough. The recent comebacks of first generation K-pop idols amidst the worst economic downturn that Korea has suffered since the 2008 financial crisis are offering a trip down memory lane, [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 6 (Korea Bizwire) – The number of reservations by foreign visitors to the Hwacheon Sancheoneo (trout) Ice Festival has more than doubled compared to last year, indicating the event, which was first held in 2003, is gaining popularity internationally. According to Hwacheon County, 522 teams comprising 14,589 individuals from overseas have so far [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 6 (Korea Bizwire) – Another New Year’s holiday awaits Koreans, and that is Seollal, the Korean New Year. Along with Chuseok, also known as Korean Thanksgiving, it is the biggest national holiday for families and relatives to gather together for some traditional “fun.” New Year’s Day for 2017 falls on Saturday January 28, [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 6 (Korea Bizwire) – An executive at the local unit of Volkswagen was sentenced to a year and a half in prison Friday on charges of fabricating reports that came to light following the German carmaker’s emissions scandal. The Seoul Central District Court found the executive, identified only by his surname Yoon, guilty [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 6 (Korea Bizwire) – LG Electronics Inc. forecast Friday that it is likely to have returned to the red in the fourth quarter of last year, indicating that its money-losing smartphone business appears to have continued to crumble. LG said it expects an operating loss of 35.3 billion won (US$29.6 million) for the [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 6 (Korea Bizwire) – Korea’s anti-corruption law, which took effect on September 28 of last year, did not have as great an impact on the local stock market as initially expected, according to financial watchdogs. Instead, the stock market was more sensitive to China’s retaliatory measures against Korea’s decision to deploy a THAAD [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 6 (Korea Bizwire) – Local tech giant Kakao is set to provide preventive measures against purchases of mobile content – namely emoticons on its messaging app Kakao Talk – using low-value currencies. According to the company, emoticon purchases using Egyptian Pounds soared last year following the sudden plummet in the currency’s value, allowing [...]