SEOUL, March 30 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korean cinemas and the performing arts have seen a sharp decline in revenues in the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, data showed Monday. Local cinema chains, including industry leader CGV, posted a combined 219.3 billion won (US$179.8 million) in sales from January to the fourth week of March, [...]
SEOUL, March 30 (Korea Bizwire) — Retail sales in South Korea rose 9.1 percent in February from a year earlier as more people purchased daily necessities through online platforms amid the spread of the new coronavirus here, data showed Monday. The combined sales of 26 major offline and online retailers reached 10.6 trillion won (US$8.68 [...]
SEOUL, March 27 (Korea Bizwire) — Sales at South Korean duty-free stores nearly halved in February from a month earlier, hit hard by the spread of the new coronavirus, industry data showed Friday. Combined sales of local duty-free shops came to 1.1 trillion won (US$910 million) last month, down 45.5 percent from January, according to [...]
SEOUL, March 26 (Korea Bizwire) — More than 160,000 South Koreans have participated in volunteer activities to help fight the new coronavirus and support neighbors in need for the past two months, government data showed Thursday. The Ministry of the Interior and Safety said the accumulated number of volunteers in anti-virus efforts across the country [...]
SEOUL, March 25 (Korea Bizwire) — The infection rate of the new coronavirus in closed environments is exceptionally high, data showed Wednesday, in an indication that virus infection may be prevented by avoiding contact in such spaces. As of Monday, 97 people working at a call center in Seoul had been diagnosed with the respiratory [...]
SEOUL, March 25 (Korea Bizwire) — About 15 percent of South Korean coronavirus patients said they lost their sense of smell or taste, a survey showed Wednesday, in a possible indication that loss of smell or taste may be an early sign of virus infection. According to the telephone survey by doctors in the virus-hit [...]
SEOUL, March 25 (Korea Bizwire) — The daily number of passengers traveling through Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, fell to an all-time low this week, its operator said Wednesday, amid the worldwide spread of the coronavirus outbreak and relevant travel restrictions imposed by many countries. Incheon International Airport Corp. said only 9,316 passengers — [...]
SEOUL, March 24 (Korea Bizwire) — Nearly three in ten patients who have fallen prey to the new coronavirus in South Korea suffered from dementia, local health authorities said Tuesday. The country’s COVID-19 death toll has risen to 124 as of Tuesday, up 13 from a day earlier, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and [...]
SEOUL, March 24 (Korea Bizwire) — Major business groups in South Korea greatly expanded their bank loans this month, data showed Tuesday, amid a potential credit crunch caused by the new coronavirus outbreak that apparently limited their direct financing. As of March 20, outstanding loans extended by five major banks to large companies came to [...]
SEOUL, March 23 (Korea Bizwire) — The number of part-time workers in South Korea grew at the fastest clip among major economies over the past decade since the global financial crisis due largely to increased labor costs, a report showed Monday. The number of South Koreans working fewer than 30 hours per week came to [...]