BUSAN, Dec. 30 (Korea Bizwire) – On Wednesday, a civic organization tried to erect a statue representing comfort women – Korean sex slave victims of the Japanese military during the Second World War – in front of the Japanese consulate in Busan. The attempt failed when Dong District officials and the police intervened, and forcefully [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 30 (Korea Bizwire) – Forty-two percent of South Korean households believe their economic conditions will deteriorate next year, according to a survey by Gallup Korea released Friday. The survey suggested that South Korea’s consumer confidence has sharply eroded amid uncertainties in the troubled shipping and shipbuilding sectors, and an ongoing influence-peddling scandal involving [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 30 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea’s textile and garment industry is set to suffer a trade deficit for the second consecutive year in 2016 amid an influx of cheap Chinese products, industry data showed Friday. According to the data compiled by the Korea International Trade Association (KITA), the segment’s exports dipped 4.8 percent [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 30 (Korea Bizwire) – The share of South Korea’s low cost carriers in international passenger traffic topped 20 percent last month, aided by growing demand for cheap air tickets and expanded capacity, data showed on Friday. According to the data compiled by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, a total of 1.27 [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 30 (Korea Bizwire) – James Kim, president and CEO of GM Korea Co., apparently sought to eradicate what is believed to be widespread corruption among many employees and labor union leaders selling job openings, urging them to come clean without facing any consequences, company officials said Friday. In a recent e-mail addressed to [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 29 (Korea Bizwire) – Korea’s historic bird flu outbreak has led to the culling of over 28 million poultry. And while officials are struggling to secure the necessary manpower for the mass culling efforts, the military has so far been reluctant to offer a hand by mobilizing its troops to help out with [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 29 (Korea Bizwire) – PlayKiz Pro became the first children’s clothing brand to introduce a smart mirror, a new device that provides a virtual clothes-fitting experience for some 20 of its items. The mirror, manufactured by interactive visual solutions company Mogence, has the ability to estimate the size of the person standing in [...]
INCHEON, Dec. 29 (Korea Bizwire) – The Korea Customs Service announced Thursday that gold smuggling has risen rather dramatically since 2011, with 99 cases last year worth 9.1 billion won ($7.5 million) in total value. According to the KCS, inbound gold smuggling cases dropped following the 2008 financial crisis, from ten cases (33.2 billion won) [...]
DAEJEON, Dec. 29 (Korea Bizwire) – Interactive, tangible holograms from sci-fi films may soon become a reality. According to the Korea Intellectual Property Office, the number of hologram-related patents quadrupled to 343 in the four years since 2012, compared to the four years prior, with an increasing number of patent applicants now coming from inside [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 29 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea’s top actress Song Hye-kyo has donated the compensation money she won from a recent publicity rights case to help aspiring jewelry designers, a local charity said Thursday. The heroine of a number of hit television series including most recently “Descendants of the Sun,” delivered a total of [...]