SEOUL, Feb. 3 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s major companies reduced their hiring of new employees in 2020 in an effort to cut costs amid the coronavirus pandemic, a corporate tracker said Wednesday. According to CEO Score, 497 out of the country’s top 500 firms by sales newly hired 264,901 workers last year, down 5,902 [...]
SEOUL, Feb. 2 (Korea Bizwire) — Over half of South Koreans want eased virus curbs for family gatherings of more than four people during the upcoming Lunar New Year holiday, a survey showed Tuesday. The country has banned gatherings of five or more people across the country to further slow down the COVID-19 pandemic since [...]
SEOUL, Feb. 2 (Korea Bizwire) — Over 66 percent of South Koreans used over-the-top (OTT) media, or video streaming services, last year amid the stay-at-home trend driven by the pandemic, a survey showed Tuesday. South Korea’s OTT usage rate stood at 66.3 percent in 2020, compared with 52 percent the previous year, according to a [...]
SEOUL, Feb. 2 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s imports of whisky plunged to a 21-year low in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic and a change in alcohol consumption here, government data showed Tuesday. The value of whisky imports amounted to US$132.5 million last year, down 13.9 percent from the previous year, according to the [...]
SEOUL, Feb. 1 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korean carmakers’ sales rose 4.8 percent last month from a year earlier helped by strong demand for sport utility vehicles (SUVs) amid the COVID-19 pandemic, industry data showed Monday. The five carmakers in South Korea — Hyundai Motor Co., Kia Corp., GM Korea Co., Renault Samsung Motors Corp. [...]
SEOUL, Feb. 1 (Korea Bizwire) — Three South Korean electric vehicle (EV) battery makers accounted for over a third of the global market last year underscoring their increased presence in the fast-growing sector, a market research firm said Monday. The three — LG Energy Solution Ltd., Samsung SDI Co. and SK Innovation Co. — supplied [...]
SEOUL, Feb. 1 (Korea Bizwire) — Sales at South Korean duty-free stores plunged nearly 38 percent on-year in 2020 due to the spread of the new coronavirus, industry data showed Monday. Combined sales of local duty-free shops totaled 15.5 trillion won (US$13.9 billion) last year, down 37.7 percent from a year earlier, according to the [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 31 (Korea Bizwire) — The number of passengers using South Korean airports fell sharply last year due to the fallout of the new coronavirus outbreak, marking the first drop in 12 years, data showed Sunday. The number of people using 15 airports across the nation came to 65 million last year, down 58.8 [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 31 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s exports of electric vehicles (EVs) advanced nearly 66 percent on-year in 2020, data showed Sunday, despite the overall slump in the automobile industry amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Outbound shipments of EVs came to US$3.9 billion in 2020, marking the first time for the volume to surpass that [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 30 (Korea Bizwire) — The number of working days lost due to labor disputes surged by nearly 40 percent in South Korea last year, a report said Saturday, indicating a likely deterioration in labor-management relations at local firms. According to the report by the state-funded Korea Labor Institute, the number of lost work [...]