SEOUL, Dec. 5 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korean e-commerce giant Coupang is facing intensifying scrutiny after a major data leak revealed that significant portions of its Korean-language service were built and maintained by foreign developers, including sizable teams based in China. The primary suspect in the breach is a former Chinese employee who worked on the [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 4 (Korea Bizwire) — The fallout from Coupang Inc.’s massive data breach is beginning to hit small businesses that depend heavily on the platform, with some vendors reporting sharp declines in sales and mounting anxiety about long-term damage, industry officials said Thursday. Last week, the U.S.-listed e-commerce giant disclosed that the personal information of [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 1 (Korea Bizwire) — Days after Coupang disclosed a data breach affecting some 33.7 million customer accounts, users say they remain in the dark about what personal information was compromised, fueling anger and confusion surrounding one of South Korea’s largest-ever privacy failures. Coupang announced on Nov. 29 that names, email addresses, phone numbers, physical [...]
SEOUL, Nov. 27 (Korea Bizwire) — A public petition opposing a potential ban on South Korea’s popular dawn delivery services surpassed 25,000 signatures on Thursday, one day before a government-labor-industry dialogue committee is set to meet for a third round of discussions on the issue. The petition, filed by a self-described working mother, argues that overnight [...]
SEOUL, Nov. 26 (Korea Bizwire) — SK hynix, one of the world’s leading makers of high-bandwidth memory chips, has decided that the path to public affection might just run through the snack aisle. On Wednesday, the company announced a collaboration with convenience-store giant 7-Eleven to release what may be the most literal tech-themed treat yet: an [...]
SEOUL, Nov. 25 (Korea Bizwire) — A new joint venture between South Korea’s Shinsegae Group and China’s Alibaba International has begun operations with major year-end promotions, signaling the start of what many in the retail sector expect will be a reshaping of the country’s e-commerce landscape. Grand Opus Holdings, the JV formed by the two companies, [...]
SEOUL, Nov. 17 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korean retailers are increasingly turning to character-based intellectual property to differentiate products and drive sales, with convenience stores and department stores intensifying competition through collaborations with popular global and domestic characters. According to industry data released Friday, convenience stores saw sharp sales gains during this year’s Pepero Day shopping [...]
SEOUL, Nov. 14 (Korea Bizwire) — A working mother has filed a petition with South Korea’s National Assembly opposing a proposed ban on early-morning delivery services, arguing that the measure would harm families and consumers who depend on the convenience for their daily lives. The petition, titled “Opposition to the Ban or Restriction on Dawn Deliveries,” [...]
SEOUL, Nov. 13 (Korea Bizwire) — Starbucks Korea has introduced self-order kiosks for the first time, marking a cautious shift in the global coffee chain’s long-held principle of prioritizing human interaction. The company said Thursday that two kiosks were installed this week at its Myeong-dong branch in central Seoul, one of the city’s busiest shopping [...]
SEOUL, Nov. 13 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s leading convenience store chain CU has opened its first store in the United States, marking the brand’s official entry into the American market with the debut of its “CU Downtown” branch in Honolulu, Hawaii. BGF Retail, which operates CU, said Thursday that it launched the store on [...]