SEOUL, May 12 (Korea Bizwire) — For the first time in nearly two decades, nuclear power has surpassed coal to become South Korea’s largest source of electricity, signaling a broader shift in the country’s energy landscape toward cleaner and more sustainable sources. According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy’s newly released 2024 Energy Supply [...]
SEOUL, May 8 (Korea Bizwire) — A new study has raised concerns about the limited diversity and expertise of outside directors at South Korean listed companies, warning that their heavy concentration in academia and the public sector may be undermining corporate governance compared to global standards. According to a report released Tuesday by the Korea Chamber [...]
SEOUL, May 6 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s beauty industry continues its explosive global ascent, with overseas direct purchases of Korean cosmetics and perfumes — commonly referred to as K-beauty — nearly doubling in 2024 to approach $1 billion, according to newly released customs data. The Korea Customs Service, in data submitted to Rep. Park Sung-hoon [...]
SEOUL, April 29 (Korea Bizwire) — Only about half of businesses in 100 key service sectors closely tied to people’s daily lives — such as hair salons and grocery stores — survive after their first three years, government data showed Tuesday. According to data compiled by the National Tax Service (NTS), the three-year survival rate [...]
SEJONG, April 20 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s national debt without available payment resources is projected to near 900 trillion won (US$634 billion) this year, the government said Sunday. The country’s national debt is expected to reach 885.4 trillion won in 2025, up 11.8 percent from a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Economy [...]
SEOUL, April 20 (Korea Bizwire) — The number of unsold new homes in South Korea has reached the highest level in 11 years and five months, data showed Sunday, due mainly to weak demand for new homes in provincial regions. There were 23,722 unsold new apartments nationwide as of the end of February, doubling from [...]
SEOUL, April 17, (Korea Bizwire) — Samsung Electronics retained its position as the global leader in smartphone shipments in the first quarter of 2025, according to multiple market research firms. However, a separate analysis based on sales volumes placed Apple in the top spot, raising questions about diverging metrics and the impact of U.S. trade [...]
SEOUL, April 16 (Korea Bizwire) — The average length of service of employees at 80 major South Korean companies has increased in the past five years despite frequent job changes among young workers and retirement programs for senior workers, a corporate data tracker said Wednesday. In its survey of 80 companies that released data on [...]
SEOUL, April 7 (Korea Bizwire) — Hyundai Motor and Kia have exceeded 500,000 cumulative electric vehicle (EV) sales in South Korea, marking a significant milestone in the automakers’ transition toward electrification. The figure comes nearly 14 years after Hyundai introduced its first mass-produced EV, the BlueOn, in July 2011. According to data released Sunday, total domestic [...]
SEOUL, April 6 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea ranked 29th out of 37 major economies in terms of economic growth during the fourth quarter of 2024, as weak domestic demand and heightened political uncertainty weighed on the nation’s performance, a central bank report showed Sunday. Asia’s fourth-largest economy posted real gross domestic product (GDP) growth [...]