SEOUL, Dec. 20 (Korea Bizwire) – Hotel Shilla Co. won the right to operate a duty-free shop at an airport on South Korea’s southern resort island of Jeju, customs officials said Wednesday, amid growing hopes for the return of Chinese tourists. The operator of Shilla Duty Free was tapped to operate the outlet at Jeju International Airport for five years, beating its domestic rivals Lotte Duty Free and Shinsegae DF, according to [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 19 (Korea Bizwire) – A number of popular Japanese toy brands catering to adult consumers are set to open their first stores in South Korea. According to Hyundai I-Park Mall on Monday, the renovated kidult select shop Toys & Hobby at its Yongsan location will reopen on Friday with some of the most representative [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 19 (Korea Bizwire) — CJ Logistics Corp., the logistics arm of South Korea’s food and entertainment conglomerate CJ Group, said Tuesday it will absorb and merge with the group’s construction unit as part of efforts to hone its competitiveness. The merger ratio will be one CJ Logistics share for every 0.54 CJ Engineering [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 18 (Korea Bizwire) — Tesla Korea, the local unit of Tesla Motors Inc., said Monday that it has set up seven destination chargers at four CU outlets, South Korea’s largest convenience store chain, in the latest move to boost convenience for zero-emission cars. The slow-charging stations have been installed at four CU stores [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 15 (Korea Bizwire) — The South Korean unit of Philip Morris International Inc. said Friday it will jack up the price of its heat-and-burn electronic cigarette by nearly 4.7 percent next week. The per-pack price of HEETS, the tobacco units used with its electronic tobacco heating device IQOS, will go up to 4,500 [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 14 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korean retail giant Lotte is in disarray as its head is facing two possible jail terms in the coming weeks over bribery and other charges, industry watchers said Thursday. Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin is accused of giving 7 billion won (US$6.43 million) in bribes to a foundation run by ex-President Park Geun-hye’s friend Choi Soon-il as he sought favors in winning a government license [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 14 (Korea Bizwire) – Revenue generated by mobile games surged this year, while traditional moneymakers like online games and “PC room” games – games played in South Korean internet cafes – stumbled. South Korean games have endured a series of ups and downs in the past decade. According to a government document published [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 14 (Korea Bizwire) — Lotte Mart, the third-largest discount store chain in South Korea by revenue, said Thursday that it will stop selling cigarettes next year as it is pushing to specialize in healthy products. Lotte Mart CEO Kim Jong-in said the decision is part of his company’s commitment to transform itself into [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 13 (Korea Bizwire) – As it stands, the likelihood of Lotte Mart’s China operations being sold by the end of the year appears to be low. Including 13 Lotte Super stores, Lotte Mart had been ready to wash its hands of 113 locations in China since September of this year, after finding it [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 13 (Korea Bizwire) – Starbucks Coffee Korea Co. said Wednesday it will open its largest store in central Seoul next week amid its growing popularity among local consumers. The 1,097-square-meter store at Jongno Tower, set to open on Dec. 20, will have about 100 coffee and tea items on the menu — 30 [...]