SEOUL, April 8 (Korea Bizwire) – Transactions on online food delivery apps in South Korea last year soared to over 20 trillion won (US$17.9 billion), data showed Thursday, as stay-at-home practices amid the pandemic propelled demand for online services. Total transactions on food delivery apps, such as Baedal Minjok, stood at 20.1 trillion won last [...]
SEOUL, April 7 (Korea Bizwire) — More than four in five South Koreans consider China to be a security threat, a survey showed Wednesday. According to the poll of 1,000 people conducted in March by Seoul-based Hankook Research for the U.S. think tank Chicago Council on Global Affairs (CCGA), 83 percent cited China as a [...]
SEOUL, April 7 (Korea Bizwire) — Foreign investors have been on a buying spree of South Korean stocks so far this month, picking up a net 2.2 trillion won (US$1.97 billion) worth of local shares, reversing their selling trend earlier this year. Offshore investors have been net buyers of local shares for five straight sessions [...]
SEOUL, April 6 (Korea Bizwire) — Online shopping in South Korea grew 15.2 percent on-year in February as more people bought products via e-commerce platforms amid the pandemic, data showed Tuesday. The value of online shopping transactions stood at 13.7 trillion won (US$12.2 billion) in February, compared with 11.9 trillion won the previous year, according [...]
SEOUL, April 6 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s wearable device market grew more than 50 percent last year, industry data showed Tuesday, due to rising demand for IT products amid the pandemic-driven stay-at-home trend. Domestic shipments of wearable products, including smartwatches, wireless earphones and electronic wristbands, totaled 12.76 million units in 2020, up 50.7 percent [...]
SEOUL, April 5 (Korea Bizwire) — Daily transactions of internet banking services in South Korea rose 20.6 percent last year as customers preferred using financial services in a non-contact manner amid the pandemic, central bank data showed Monday. The value of daily transactions via online banking, including mobile banking, reached 58.7 trillion won (US$52 billion) [...]
SEOUL, April 5 (Korea Bizwire) — Sales of imported vehicles in South Korea jumped 34 percent in March from a year earlier on robust sales of German cars, an industry association said Monday. The number of newly registered foreign vehicles climbed to 27,297 units last month from 20,304 a year ago despite the COVID-19 pandemic, [...]
SEOUL, April 5 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s household debt has been rising faster than that in most major economies to reach nearly 100 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP), a report showed Monday. The country’s household debt-to-GDP ratio stood at 98.6 percent as of the end of June last year, according to the [...]
SEOUL, April 5 (Korea Bizwire) — Nearly a quarter of companies in South Korea failed to pay the interest on their debts in 2020 despite an overall rise in corporate earnings, a report said Monday. A total of 255 listed firms in Asia’s fourth-largest economy had an interest coverage ratio of less than 1 last [...]
SEOUL, April 4 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s exports of agriculture products reached an all-time high in the first quarter of the year on the back of strong demand for kimchi and processed foods, data showed Sunday. The record amount of US$1.98 billion represents a 13.7 percent rise from the previous year, according to data [...]