SEOUL, Mar. 8 (Korea Bizwire) — The South Korean Ministry of SMEs and Startups plans to overhaul regulations on six agendas including shared kitchens, to stimulate online-to-offline (O2O) services. The O2O market, despite its potential to provide new startup opportunities, has been subject to various concerns that relevant legislation and conflict with similar businesses will [...]
SEOUL, Mar. 7 (Korea Bizwire) — The government, taxi businesses and a shared mobility operator agreed Thursday to permit app-based carpooling services during morning and evening commute hours. Taxi associations have been strongly opposed to the introduction of carpooling services by Kakao Mobility, the operator of South Korea’s largest taxi-hailing app, claiming it will put [...]
SEOUL, Mar. 6 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korean IT giant Kakao Corp. said Wednesday that it has launched a pilot scheme for electric bike-sharing. Kakao T Bike are available for test-runs in the western port city of Incheon and in Seongnam, south of Seoul, according to Kakao Mobility, the transportation arm the country’s dominant mobile [...]
SEOUL, March 5 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s transportation ministry said Tuesday that it issued business licenses to three new budget carriers, a move that could further fuel competition in the already heated no-frills flight market. The ministry said licenses have been provided to Fly Gangwon, Air Premia Co. and Aero K Airlines Co. Currently, [...]
SEOUL, Mar. 3 (Korea Bizwire) — U.S.-based coworking space provider WeWork will “definitely” continue to invest in South Korea as it sees a growing number of individuals and startups seeking support and a sense of community, a WeWork executive said Sunday. WeWork entered Korea in August 2016 by opening its first location in the affluent [...]
SEOUL, Feb. 27 (Korea Bizwire) — The average monthly operating profit among micro business owners in South Korea was 2.69 million won (US$2,407) in 2017. The average profit margin was 15.8 percent per month. Seven out of 10 micro business owners said sales had shrunk over the past year, while 4 out of 10 said [...]
SEOUL, Feb. 27 (Korea Bizwire) — The Seoul Metropolitan Facilities Management Corporation has installed Internet of Things (IoT) systems at the Sogong Underground Shopping Center to protect visitors from various situations. The corporation installed crime prevention systems at three women’s restrooms located inside the center. The systems are comprised of an emergency call device that [...]
SEJONG, Feb. 26 (Korea Bizwire) — The production index for restaurants dropped by the largest margin to date last year, state data showed Tuesday, showing the weakness of the business segment that self-employed people heavily rely on. The index dropped to 94 last year from 97.2 a year earlier, the biggest fall since record keeping [...]
SEOUL, Feb. 14 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s No. 3 mobile carrier LG Uplus Corp. said Thursday that it has struck a deal to buy a majority stake in leading cable TV operator CJ Hello to bolster its presence in the media and content market. The board of directors of LG Uplus approved the purchase [...]
SEOUL, Feb. 14 (Korea Bizwire) — A total of 2.9 million tourists used Airbnb Inc., a global house-sharing platform, last year, up 56 percent from a year earlier, the company said on Thursday. Seven out of 10 Airbnb users, or some 2.02 million, were locals, with some 156,200 Chinese tourists to South Korea staying at [...]