SEOUL, Jan. 2 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s leading conglomerates are entering the new year with a common message: artificial intelligence will be central to navigating an increasingly uncertain global business environment, even as companies double down on core technologies, safety and organizational reform. In New Year’s messages released this week, chairmen of the country’s largest [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 2 (Korea Bizwire) — Online shopping sales in South Korea jumped 6.8 percent from a year earlier to a record high in November, driven by strong demand for food-related services, data showed Friday. The value of online shopping transactions stood at 24.15 trillion won (US$16.75 billion) in November, up 1.53 trillion won from [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 31 (Korea Bizwire) — Celltrion Inc., a major South Korean biopharmaceutical company, said Wednesday it expects its annual operating profit to exceed 1 trillion won (US$693 million) for the first time this year, driven by strong sales of high-end products. The company forecast its operating profit will more than double to 1.16 trillion [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 31 (Korea Bizwire) — The interim head of Coupang Corp., the South Korean unit of U.S.-listed Coupang Inc., said Wednesday that the company’s compensation plan for a recent data breach will not include any conditions requiring customers to waive their right to file lawsuits against the e-commerce giant. Responding to a question from [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 31 (Korea Bizwire) — Imports of long-life sterilized milk into South Korea have surged over the past decade, even as overall milk consumption declines and domestic dairy producers struggle with high costs and shrinking demand. According to data from the Korea Customs Service, imports of sterilized milk rose more than tenfold, from about 4,000 [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 31 (Korea Bizwire) — Coupang disclosed the results of its controversial internal probe into a massive data breach directly to U.S. regulators without prior coordination with the South Korean government, according to filings reviewed Tuesday. In a submission to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission dated Monday, the U.S.-listed e-commerce giant said that [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 30 (Korea Bizwire) — The National Intelligence Service (NIS) on Tuesday dismissed the interim chief of Coupang Corp.’s claim that the company conducted an internal probe into a massive data leak upon its order and requested the National Assembly to file a complaint against the executive over alleged perjury. The move came after [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 30 (Korea Bizwire) — The number of mid-sized firms in South Korea went up around 10 percent in 2024 from a year earlier, while their investments in research and development (R&D) markedly increased, government data showed Tuesday. Asia’s fourth-largest economy had 6,474 mid-sized companies as of the end of 2024, up 606, or [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 30 (Korea Bizwire) — Four out of 10 franchise owners have considered ending their contracts early but most abandoned the idea because of penalties, a government survey showed Tuesday, highlighting the sector’s challenging business structure. According to the survey by the Fair Trade Commission (FTC), 42.5 percent of franchisees said they had considered [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 30 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korean defense company Hanwha Aerospace Co. said Tuesday it has signed a 5.6 trillion-won (US$4 billion) contract with Poland’s arms procurement agency to supply Chunmoo multiple launch rocket systems. The Polish Armament Agency and a consortium comprising Hanwha Aerospace and Hanwha-WB Advanced System (HWB) signed the third-stage deal [...]