SEOUL, May 13 (Korea Bizwire) – The National Tax Service of South Korea has initiated a special tax investigation into Coupang, the nation’s top e-commerce company. Authorities are examining the flow of funds between Coupang’s Korean entity, wholly owned by the U.S.-based Coupang Inc. in Delaware, and its overseas affiliates. This probe coincides with looming scrutiny [...]
SEOUL, May 10 (Korea Bizwire) — CJ Olive Young Corp., the distribution unit of South Korean food-to-cosmetics conglomerate CJ Group, said Friday it will set up a business entity in Japan by June to supply its cosmetics products to local distribution channels. CJ Olive Young plans to open an office in Japan within the first [...]
SEOUL, May 9 (Korea Bizwire) — Emart24, a South Korean convenience store chain, said Thursday it has partnered with local cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb to sell the “bitcoin meal box” by the end of this month. Under a partnership with Bithumb, Emart24 plans to sell 30,000 such meal boxes at 5,900 won (US$4.3) per product by [...]
SEJONG, May 8 (Korea Bizwire) – Sam’s Club, the membership-only retail warehouse chain owned by Walmart, is eager to purchase Korean products across several categories, presenting a significant opportunity for small and medium-sized Korean companies looking to penetrate China’s consumer market. The Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) revealed on May 7 a list of items that [...]
SEOUL, May 7 (Korea Bizwire) – The relentless surge of Chinese e-commerce platforms like AliExpress, Temu, and Shein into the South Korean market, posing threats to domestic platforms, small businesses, and small manufacturers, appears to be losing momentum due to consumer dissatisfaction with shipping and returns, as well as repeated discoveries of hazardous substances including carcinogens [...]
SEOUL, May 3 (Korea Bizwire) — Companies will be fined for reducing packet contents while maintaining retail prices without notice in South Korea as the government seeks to eradicate “shrinkflation” practices to better ensure consumer rights, the antitrust regulator said Friday. Under the envisioned revision of relevant regulations, manufacturers of daily necessities, including milk, coffee, [...]
SEOUL, May 2 (Korea Bizwire) — A kids’ activity kit being sold by a Chinese e-commerce giant has been found to contain lead about 158 times higher than permitted levels, the Seoul city government said Thursday. The city announced the findings after conducting safety tests on nine children’s products currently available for sale on AliExpress [...]
SEOUL, Apr. 29 (Korea Bizwire) — Retail sales in South Korea rose 10.9 percent on-year in March on the back of stronger demand for travel and entertainment services from online platforms, data showed Monday. The combined sales of 25 major offline and online retailers came to 15.8 trillion won (US$11.45 billion), compared with 14.2 trillion [...]
SEOUL, Apr. 25 (Korea Bizwire) – AliExpress, the Chinese e-commerce platform, has substantially boosted the capital of its South Korean subsidiary. According to the distribution industry on April 24, the AliExpress subsidiary in South Korea recently carried out a capital increase worth 33.4 billion won. This represents the largest capital injection since the establishment of the [...]
SEOUL, Apr. 25 (Korea Bizwire) – The consumer advocacy group Citizens United for Consumer Sovereignty (CUCS) has filed complaints against the Chinese e-commerce platforms AliExpress and Temu with the Jongno Police Station in Seoul. The group alleges violations of South Korea’s Personal Information Protection Act and the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization [...]