SEOUL, Dec. 9 (Korea Bizwire) – There are certain numbers that, when pronounced in Korean, can convey a completely different meaning than the numbers themselves, like homophones. And while the number 1,004, pronounced “Cheon-Sa”, can also mean “angel”, the number 18, read “si-pal”, signifies something of an entirely different nature – it’s the four-letter word [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 9 (Korea Bizwire) – Operating a duty-free store is a highly lucrative venture, and the few five-year licenses granted by the government are usually hotly contested. However, authorities have finally decided to raise the special commission imposed on duty-free store operators, which has been frequently criticized for being unusually low, by up to [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 9 (Korea Bizwire) – Park Geun-Hye’s impeachment vote on Friday was attended by the family members of the victims of the Sewol ferry disaster, in which 304 passengers perished. President Park’s whereabouts for seven hours on April 16, 2014, the day of the ferry’s sinking, still remain unaccounted for despite pleas from the [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 9 (Korea Bizwire) – Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn is set to become the acting president of South Korea, after parliament passed the impeachment motion against President Park Geun-hye on Friday. The motion passed with the approval of 234 lawmakers from the 300-seat National Assembly, meeting the minimum requirement of 200. Hwang is set [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 9 (Korea Bizwire) – Samsung Electronics Co. has been granted a patent on the design of a disc-shaped drone, hinting that the electronics giant may make inroads into the booming market for commercial drones, according to South Korea’s patent authority Friday. The patent was filed in April this year and formally registered earlier [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 9 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea’s parliament on Friday passed a motion to impeach President Park Geun-hye over her alleged link to a corruption scandal involving her confidante that has paralyzed the government for the past several weeks. The motion was passed with an approval of 234 lawmakers from the 300-seat National Assembly, [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 9 (Korea Bizwire) – Korean car-sharing services are evolving to better meet changing demand. SK Rent-A-Car, a local car rental service operator, recently decided to offer a car-sharing service to its corporate clients, allowing them to share rented corporate vehicles with all of their employees. This idea of “re-sharing” is unlike conventional car-sharing [...]
JEJU, Dec. 9 (Korea Bizwire) – In an effort to temper the rising crime rate on Jeju Island – one of Korea’s most popular holiday destinations – municipal officials from the two biggest cities on the island, Jeju and Seogwipo, have decided to equip public restrooms with smart alarms triggered by noises indicating a criminal [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 9 (Korea Bizwire) – Stores and restaurants near Gwanghwamun Square, which has been the center of mass candlelight protests for almost two months, have seen sales soar with the ongoing civil unrest. According to KB Kookmin Card, the number of credit card transactions increased by 24 percent to 1,086,910 compared to last year [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 9 (Korea Bizwire) – A local private equity fund which wholly owns ING Life has decided to push for the company’s initial public offering, ditching its bid to sell South Korea’s fifth-largest life insurer by assets, partly affected by the standoffs between Seoul and Beijing over the planned deployment of an advanced U.S. [...]