SEOUL, March 21 (Korea Bizwire) – The age at which South Korean women start smoking has been moving down as the negative perception of women’s smoking wanes amid tobacco makers’ active marketing targeting them, a report said Tuesday. The report, based on a survey of 35,996 female smokers aged 19 and older, showed they took [...]
SEOUL, March 21 (Korea Bizwire) – Major South Korean pharmaceutical companies are poised to expand their spending on research and development (R&D) this year despite weak earnings, industry sources said Tuesday. The four drug companies — Hanmi Pharmaceutical Co., Green Cross Corp., Daewoong Pharma and Chong Kun Dang Pharmaceutical Corp. — whose annual R&D spending [...]
SEOUL, March 21 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korean listed companies’ dividend payouts hit a fresh high in 2016 as large caps increased payments to meet stockholders’ demand, data showed Tuesday. According to the data by the Korea Exchange (KRX), 517 out of the 746 companies listed on the main KOSPI market paid out a combined [...]
SEOUL, March 20 (Korea Bizwire) – Data from the National Health Insurance Service revealed that the number of panic disorder patients doubled in the past five years, and now amounts to more than 100,000 individuals each year. The number of patients rose from 50,945 in 2010 to 106,140 in 2015, increasing by an average of [...]
SEOUL, March 20 (Korea Bizwire) – One of the industries that self-driving vehicles will reshape is the insurance sector, and the question of who should take responsibility in the event of an accident is still being debated in several countries, including South Korea, where autonomous vehicles are just starting to be introduced to the market. [...]
SEOUL, March 20 (Korea Bizwire) – While Lotte is suffering the most from China’s retaliatory measures over South Korea’s deployment of a THAAD missle system – with almost 90 of 99 Lotte Mart outlets in China temporarily closed – other firms exporting to the country are struggling with customs clearance procedures that have become overly [...]
SEOUL, March 20 (Korea Bizwire) – The Seoul Metropolitan Government said Sunday that it is doubling the size of its welfare initiatives for the city’s homeless this year – from 1,506 individuals in 26 programs in 2016 to 3,200 in 30 welfare programs. The Heemang (Hope) Frame, a photography academy for the homeless launched in [...]
SEOUL, March 20 (Korea Bizwire) – Sales of red ginseng and other health-related products surged in recent years despite a slumping economy as people are becoming more health conscious, data showed Monday. Such a trend shows consumers opening their pockets on products they deem valuable despite challenging economic conditions, industry analysts said. Sales of health [...]
SEOUL, March 20 (Korea Bizwire) – The combined market capitalization of 23 Samsung Group affiliates has gained 12.1 percent so far this year, helped by a rally in the group’s crown jewel, Samsung Electronics Co., according to the Korea Exchange on Monday. Shares of Samsung Electronics have continued to rise in the past few weeks [...]
SEOUL, March 20 (Korea Bizwire) – SM Group will acquire more companies, including overseas shippers, to beef up its status in the sector, its chief said Monday. The midsized South Korean shipping group has been taking over a series of financially troubled companies over the past few years, to emerge as a major player in [...]