SEOUL, Sept. 26 (Korea Bizwire) – A South Korean duty-free store will shut down this week amid a sharp drop in the number of Chinese tourists following a diplomatic row over the deployment of a U.S. missile defense system here, officials said Tuesday. Hana B&D, located at the Pyeongtaek port, some 70 kilometers south of [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 26 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s consumer confidence fell for the second month in a row in September on the North Korea risk and Seoul’s row with Beijing over a missile defense system, a central bank poll showed Tuesday. The composite consumer sentiment index for September stood at 107.7, down 2.2 points from [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 26 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korean stationery stores have been struggling to survive in the face of stiff competition from Japanese dollar-shop chain Daiso, industry sources said Tuesday, with many calling on the franchise to focus on household items. Daiso, which sells products mainly priced from 2,000 won (US$1.76) to 5,000 won, currently [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 26 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea has exported 20 percent more cosmetics during the first half of this year compared to the same time last year, despite political tensions with China in recent years over the deployment of the controversial THAAD missile defense system on its soil. Data released on Monday by the Ministry [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 25 (Korea Bizwire) — Anglo-Dutch consumer goods company Unilever said Monday it has agreed to acquire a South Korean cosmetics firm for 2.27 billion euros (US$2.7 billion) as it attempts to tap deeper into the Asian beauty market. The company co-headquartered in London and Rotterdam said it has agreed to buy Carver Korea, [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 25 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s hypermarket chain E-Mart has reached a deal to sell off five of its six remaining stores in China effectively ending its 20-year presence in the market, industry sources said Sunday. Sources in the retail investment banking sector said E-Mart inked an agreement with Thailand’s CP Group to hand over the stores in Shanghai pending approval from Chinese regulators. They [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 23 (Korea Bizwire) – Sales at South Korea’s traditional markets decreased sharply over the past 10 years, data showed Saturday, apparently as a rising number of consumers opted for modern supermarkets. According to the data compiled by Ministry of SMEs and Startups, the combined sales at local traditional markets decreased 22.7 percent in [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 20 (Korea Bizwire) – After holding talks with CEOs of credit card companies in July and August, the Financial Services Commission (FSC) publicly disclosed that modifications to payment processing procedures will be implemented. One of the key points of the announced modifications is a system that will allow groups of restaurant-goers to split [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 20 (Korea Bizwire) – Kakao has announced that it has added QR code identification technology that will enable users to process payments with a simple snapshot to its Kakao Pay service. The technology is currently available on Kakao’s Chinese counterparts Alipay and WeChat Pay. Users snap photos of QR cards in shops and [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 20 (Korea Bizwire) — A nationwide shopping festival involving hundreds of retailers and traditional markets will begin next week, the government said Wednesday, as it aims to draw foreign travelers amid a sharp decline in the number of Chinese tourists. The annual Korea Sale FESTA, jointly organized by the Ministry of Culture, Sports [...]