SEOUL, Jan. 5 (Korea Bizwire) — Hyundai Motor Co. and its affiliate Kia Corp. said Thursday their combined sales in the United States fell 1 percent in 2022 from a year earlier amid a prolonged chip shortage. Hyundai and Kia sold a total of 1.47 million vehicles in the world’s most important automobile market last [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 4 (Korea Bizwire) — The South Korean art market surpassed 1 trillion won (US$782 million) in total sales for the first time in 2022 on strong sales of artworks through galleries and art fairs, the culture ministry said Wednesday. The trade volume of artworks increased 37.2 percent from 756.3 billion won in 2021 [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 4 (Korea Bizwire) – Sales of imported vehicles in South Korea rose 24 percent last month from a year earlier despite the extended chip shortage, an industry association said Wednesday. The number of newly registered foreign vehicles stood at 29,640 units last month, up from 23,904 units a year ago, the Korea Automobile [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 3 (Korea Bizwire) — Online shopping in South Korea increased 7.3 percent on-year in November on the back of higher demand for travel and transportation services, data showed Tuesday. The value of online shopping transactions came to 18.12 trillion won (US$14.2 billion) in November, compared with 16.8 trillion won tallied a year earlier, [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 3 (Korea Bizwire) — The value of shares held by South Korea’s 33 major business group chiefs tumbled nearly 30 percent in 2022 amid a bearish stock market, a corporate tracker said Tuesday. The business tycoons held stocks worth a combined 45.9 trillion won (US$35.9 billion) as of the end of December 2022, [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 3 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s electricity consumption touched a record monthly high in December as the country was gripped by a nationwide cold wave and heavy snow, the power operator said Tuesday. The country’s average maximum power consumption stood at 82,716 megawatts (MW) last month, up 5.1 percent from a year earlier, [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 2 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s exports of farm and fisheries products reached an all-time high last year, surpassing the US$10 billion mark for the second consecutive year, data showed Monday. Outbound shipments of agricultural and fisheries goods rose 5.45 percent on-year to come to a record high of $11.98 billion in 2022, [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 31 (Korea Bizwire) — Banks’ rates charged on new household loans in November hit the highest level in over a decade, affected by the central bank’s aggressive rate increases to tame inflation, data showed Friday. Banks’ household lending rate applied to new loans last month stood at 5.57 percent per annum on average, [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 30 (Korea Bizwire) — Travel demand to Japan has exploded in South Korea amid a weak yen and Japan’s easing of virus restrictions, industry data showed Friday. Japan resumed visa-free entry of international travelers in early October, after two years of strict border control to contain the spread of the coronavirus. The Japanese [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 29 (Korea Bizwire) — Retail sales in South Korea grew 8.4 percent on-year in November on the back of major shopping events and growing demand for foodstuff and other items during the World Cup, the industry ministry said Thursday. The combined sales of 25 major offline and online retailers came to 14.8 trillion [...]