SEOUL, Dec. 22 (Korea Bizwire) – German prosecutors said Thursday they are ready to cooperate with South Korea’s independent counsel looking into the alleged influence-peddling scandal surrounding President Park Geun-hye and her confidante. The independent counsel has been seeking to find the whereabouts of Chung Yoo-ra, the 20-year-old daughter of Choi Soon-sil, who is suspected [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 22 (Korea Bizwire) – Korean convenience store franchise GS25 and Nongshim Kellogg have partnered for a special New Year’s promotion, offering a “Pringles Lamp of Hope” to 10,000 customers on a first-come-first-served basis. In order to be eligible for the promotion, one needs to purchase a Pringles can (110g) at any GS25 outlet, [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 22 (Korea Bizwire) – The Health Insurance Review & Assessment Service recently teamed up with the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning to establish a big data-based early detection system for infectious diseases using DUR – Drug Utilization Reviews. DUR refers to the constant review of prescriptions, pharmacy dispensing, and patient medication [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 22 (Korea Bizwire) – A recent survey by the Korea Communications Commission revealed the growing importance of smartphones, with 55.5 percent of 7,385 respondents (aged 13 and above) considering the device to be an “indispensable medium”, far surpassing those who chose TV (38.6 percent) as their answer. The gap between the two devices [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 22 (Korea Bizwire) – The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs announced Wednesday that it is importing 116,000 tons of rice – 25,000 tons for consumption and 91,036 for processing – to fulfil its WTO-regulated annual tariff-rate quota of 487,000 tons of rice. South Korea was given a 20-year grace period for [...]
SEJONG, Dec. 22 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea’s big businesses still lack transparency in their governance as owner families still have a strong grip on influence without seats on the board of directors through cross-ownership, the state corporate watchdog said Thursday. The percentage of owners or their relatives who are listed as board members of [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 22 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea made a pitch Thursday for its financial technology, or fintech, in China under the government’s campaign to support related startups here seeking to do business abroad. The state-funded Fintech Center held the “Fintech Demo Day in Beijing” event, joined by five South Korean firms and potential business [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 22 (Korea Bizwire) – Despite much larger sales, franchisees in South Korea earn less money than owners of stand-alone stores due to higher costs, a report said Thursday. The operating margin for one-man franchise stores in the wholesale and retail sectors came to 12.8 percent in 2014, 10.5 percentage points lower than that [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 22 (Korea Bizwire) – Exports by South Korea’s venture firms jumped over 21 percent from a year earlier last month, a local trade organization said Thursday, marking the first double-digit growth in over a year and possibly heralding an imminent improvement in the country’s overall exports. According to the Korea International Trade Association [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 22 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korean mortgage rates gained considerably in November from the previous month due to rising market interest ahead of a U.S. rate hike, data showed Thursday. Annual mortgage rates charged by South Korea’s top five lenders — KB Kookmin Bank, Shinhan Bank, Woori Bank, KEB Hana Bank and NH [...]