SEOUL, April 11 (Korea Bizwire) — Large South Korean firms saw their interest expenses spike more than 50 percent in 2022 from a year earlier due to rising interest rates, a corporate tracker said Tuesday. The combined interest cost of 377 out of the country’s top 500 firms by sales stood at 39.9 trillion won [...]
SEOUL, April 10 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korean convenience store chains are continuing discount promotions for popular alcoholic beverages, including whisky and wine. CU sold 1,600 bottles of some 30 popular whiskies and wines at 30 stores in the Seoul region last weekend at a discount rate of up to 30 percent. Balvenie 12-Year-Old Double [...]
HANOI, April 10 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korean companies’ investment in Vietnam plunged more than 70 percent in the first quarter of this year amid tougher local regulations and a global economic slump, data showed Monday. South Korean firms’ investments in the Southeast Asian country totaled US$474 million in the January-March period, down 70.4 percent from [...]
SEOUL, April 10 (Korea Bizwire) — More than half of major listed firms in South Korea saw their financial soundness worsen in 2022 amid high global interest rates and inflation, data showed Monday. The debt-to-equity ratio of 56 out of the 106 listed companies belonging to the country’s top 10 business groups increased last year [...]
SEOUL, April 9 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s exports of instant noodles jumped 14.3 percent on-year in the first three months of 2023 to reach the highest figure for any first quarter ever amid the growing popularity of the Korean culture, data showed Sunday. The country exported US$208 million worth of instant noodles, or “ramyeon” [...]
SEOUL, April 7 (Korea Bizwire) — South Koreans have embraced a fresh addition to their lexicon with the term “Hyeja-like”, denoting the exceptional content or quality of a product, especially in relation to its price. This term is derived from acclaimed actor Kim Hye-ja’s name and was inspired by her philanthropic work in creating an [...]
SEOUL, April 6 (Korea Bizwire) — Yanolja Cloud Pte., the tech affiliate of South Korean booking platform Yanolja Inc., said Thursday it has finalized a deal to acquire Oregon-based Innsoft Inc. for US$8.3 million in a bid to expand its hospitality solutions services in North America. Yanolja Cloud Pte. plans to launch a new line [...]
SEOUL, April 5 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s CJ Foodville Co. said Wednesday it swung to a net profit last year thanks to the stellar overseas performance of its bakery chain Tous les Jours. Tous les Jours is the second-largest bakery chain in South Korea by number of stores, after SPC Group’s Paris Baguette. The [...]
BUSAN, April 5 (Korea Bizwire) — The Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) delegation visiting South Korea to assess Busan’s bid for the 2030 World Expo toured Busan North Port, the proposed main expo venue, on Wednesday, the second day of its on-site inspection of the southeastern port city. The eight-member team led by Patrick Specht, [...]
SEOUL, April 4 (Korea Bizwire) — Annual sales of South Korean duty-free retailers dropped 28.3 percent over the past four years due to the COVID-19 pandemic and prolonged diplomatic tensions with China, a lawmaker said Tuesday. Combined annual sales from local duty-free retailers came to 17.81 trillion won (US$13.5 billion) last year from 24.85 trillion [...]