SEOUL, Jan. 23 (Korea Bizwire) — Kakao Corp. announced on Tuesday that KakaoHairShop, a reservation service platform for hair salons, recorded 1.03 million customers and 60 billion won (US$53.21 million) in transactions last year. This represents an increase of 153 percent in the number of customers and 109 percent in sales compared to 2017. KakaoHairShop [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 22 (Korea Bizwire) — The ruling party, the government, and the taxi and carpooling service sectors launched a social dialogue body Tuesday in an effort to explore win-win strategies over shared mobility. Taxi associations have been strongly opposed to the introduction of carpooling services by Kakao Mobility Corp., the operator of South Korea’s [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 22 (Korea Bizwire) — Sales of Lotto tickets in South Korea reached an all-time high in 2018 though their growth slowed amid the absence of new sales outlets, the country’s lottery operator said Tuesday. Total Lotto sales are estimated at 3.97 trillion won (US$3.5 billion) for last year, up 4.4 percent from the [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 21 (Korea Bizwire) — Air Busan Co., a South Korean low-cost carrier, said Monday it will enhance its operating system to prevent employees from working under the influence of alcohol this year. Pilots, flight attendants, aircraft maintenance managers and mechanics will be checked for alcohol levels before they report to work, the company [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 17 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s international airports in provincial cities are struggling to cope with growing congestion and delay problems due to the slow pace of facility expansion, officials and passengers said Thursday. The capacity problem is particularly serious at international airports on Jeju Island and in Busan and Daegu, they said. [...]
JEJU, Jan. 16 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s southern resort island Jeju is facing an oversupply of hotel rooms, a bank report said Wednesday, calling for measures to ensure stable growth of the island’s lodging industry. The report issued by the Bank of Korea’s Jeju branch said that hotels and other accommodations on Jeju Island [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 16 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea plans to spend 537 billion won (US$478 million) to help nurture the country’s traditional markets, the government said Wednesday. According to the Ministry for SMEs and Startups, around half of the earmarked budget will be spent to help expand parking space and related facilities in a way [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 16 (Korea Bizwire) — Hyundai Motor Co., South Korean’s largest carmaker by sales, said Wednesday that Singapore-based Grab began using its Kona Electric for its ride-hailing service this month. In November, Hyundai Motor and its affiliate Kia Motors Corp. jointly invested US$250 million in the Southeast Asian company for a business partnership in [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 15 (Korea Bizwire) — The taxi industry, which is opposing the introduction of ride-sharing ventures, is trying to innovate by introducing new services such as a taxi paging application and premium taxis. This month, the ‘T-One’ taxi app will launch, which will compete against similar apps from Kakao Corp. and SK Telecom Co. [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 14 (Korea Bizwire) — The Seoul Metropolitan Government has announced plans to develop vehicles specially designed to serve as taxis, with the goal of introducing the new design by 2022. The city included in its four-year plan a new taxi design to better resemble the city with inclusive features, benchmarking Britain’s signature Black [...]