Living and entertainment news about South Korea. We bring you the latest information on what is happening in Korea today.
SEOUL, Jan. 27 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s whiskey market is showing clear signs of polarization as prolonged inflation and a weak won reshape consumer behavior, with shoppers increasingly gravitating toward either budget bottles or high-end labels while shunning midpriced options. Data released Monday by major supermarket chains indicate that sales of whiskeys priced under 30,000 [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 26 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea’s cultural heritage authority on Monday sharply criticized a decision by Seoul’s municipal government to permit high-rise construction near Jongmyo Shrine, reopening a long-simmering dispute over how to balance urban redevelopment with the protection of one of the nation’s most sacred historical sites. The Korea Heritage Service said it [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 26 (Korea Bizwire) — As winter cold snaps, flu outbreaks and school holidays pushed blood donations to critically low levels across South Korea, an unlikely solution emerged: a viral dessert. Blood centers nationwide have begun offering a highly sought-after treat known as the “Dubai chewy cookie” — or dujjonku — as a donation incentive, [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 26 (Korea Bizwire) — At a university auditorium in Hanoi last October, a single figure electrified the room: 900 million dong — the equivalent of about $50,000. That, visiting professors from Seoul National University told students, was the starting salary for a new hire at Samsung Electronics. The murmurs that followed captured a [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 26 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s appetite for coffee is proving increasingly costly. The country’s coffee import bill jumped sharply last year, surpassing 2 trillion won for the first time, as global bean prices climbed to record levels amid climate-related supply disruptions, government data showed Sunday. According to the Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 23 (Korea Bizwire) — The Seoul metropolitan government said Thursday it has granted conditional approval for a major BTS comeback performance scheduled for March at Gwanghwamun Square, setting the stage for one of the city’s largest cultural events in recent years. The decision was made during the city’s first Gwanghwamun Square advisory committee meeting [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 23 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s climate and environment authorities said Thursday they will begin formally managing insects that appear in large numbers in urban areas, responding to a rise in outbreaks linked to climate change. The Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment announced that so-called “urban mass-occurrence insects,” including the red-backed lovebug, will [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 23 (Korea Bizwire) — More than six in 10 men and women experiencing menopause in South Korea say their spouse is their most important source of emotional support, according to a new study highlighting shifting family dynamics in midlife. The findings were released Thursday by the LifePlus Femtech Research Institute of Hanwha General Insurance, [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 23 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s pharmaceutical industry has opened the year with intensifying competition in the hypertension treatment market, as drugmakers race to secure an early foothold in one of the country’s largest and most lucrative therapeutic segments. With an estimated 10 million patients and a market valued at roughly 2.4 trillion won, [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 22 (Korea Bizwire) — Seoul’s Gangnam District has begun installing newly designed “separated smoking booths” along major commercial corridors, part of a broader effort to reduce secondhand smoke and ease tensions between smokers and pedestrians. District officials said Thursday that the first booths have been placed near the DB Financial Center on Teheran-ro and [...]