SEOUL, April 4 (Korea Bizwire) – The number of South Korean college students in the Netherlands – seeking either a full degree or in student exchange or internship programs – has more than doubled in the 2016 and 2017 academic year compared to three years ago. According to data compiled by local education institution Nuffic, [...]
SEOUL, April 4 (Korea Bizwire) – Geeks or otaku, a Japanese term for describing people with obsessive interests in particular fields, have emerged as major consumer groups in South Korea amid the prolonged economic slump, more likely to open up their wallets for their hobbies and passions. The retail industry has seen double-digit sales growth thanks [...]
SEOUL, April 4 (Korea Bizwire) – Recent data from the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (Kotra) reveals that 82 percent of local manufacturers are prioritizing seeking cheaper labor outside of the country, ultimately undermining their productivity. Based on the business performance of 1,474 South Korean manufacturers with overseas plants, 12.6 percent fell within Kotra’s “high-cost, high-productivity” [...]
DAEGU, April 4 (Korea Bizwire) – As of March 31, the Daegu metropolitan government had received 1,813 applications for EV subsidies, already exceeding the 1,500 that the city had initially planned for 2017. The local government is providing up to 20 million won ($17,885) in official subsidies for electric car purchases this year in addition [...]
SEOUL, April 4 (Korea Bizwire) – North Korea said Tuesday that it is holding a photo exhibition about leader Kim Jong-un’s achievement ahead of next week’s anniversaries of his ascension to the top posts of the country. On April 11, North Korea will mark the fifth anniversary of Kim’s election as first secretary of the [...]
SEOUL, April 4 (Korea Bizwire) – Exports of South Korean beauty and cosmetics products to Europe have expanded by tenfold over the past seven years, largely driven by surging demand for locally made facial care and makeup items, a report showed Tuesday. The outbound shipments of Korean beauty products to Europe reached 92.5 million euros [...]
SEOUL, April 4 (Korea Bizwire) – Chinese travelers’ preference for South Korea plunged over the past year, a survey showed Tuesday, apparently from the tension between the two countries over the deployment of a U.S. missile defense system. A poll by Ctrip, a leading online travel services agency in China, ranked South Korea 16th in [...]
SEOUL, April 4 (Korea Bizwire) – Cash-strapped Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co., a major shipyard here, said Tuesday that it has clinched a US$250 million deal to build three very large crude carriers (VLCCs). Under the deal with Maran Tankers Management, a unit of Greece’s largest shipper, Angelicoussis Shipping Group, Daewoo Shipbuilding will deliver [...]
WASHINGTON, April 3 (Korea Bizwire) – Hyundai Motor Co. and its smaller affiliate, Kia Motors Corp., saw their combined sales in the United States drop 11 percent in March as sales of some best-selling models slumped, industry data showed Monday. The two South Korean auto giants sold a combined 118,694 units in the U.S. last [...]
SUWON, South Korea, April 3 (Korea Bizwire) – Two firemen – Hong Eui-sun and Baek Jung-yeol – from the Gyeonggi Disaster and Safety Headquarters came up with an idea for new fire extinguishers two years ago when a survey revealed that majority of the public was not aware of how to use fire extinguishers and [...]