SEOUL, Oct. 11 (Korea Bizwire) — ‘Pet rocks’ are gaining popularity as they are going viral on social media. There are currently 1,300 posts on Instagram found under the hashtag #애완돌 (pet rock), most of which are photos of various decorated rocks and stones. The ‘stone keepers’ buy homes to keep the stones in, and [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 1 (Korea Bizwire) — The success of Netflix’s original Korean series “Squid Game” is placing local streaming platforms on alert. While the thriller’s global popularity is a welcomed feat, it contrasts with South Korean production companies depending increasingly on global streaming platforms, driving South Korean platforms away from the competition. Netflix, initially praised [...]
SEOUL, Aug. 10 (Korea Bizwire) — Long-playing (LP) records and turntables are gaining popularity despite easy access to music via smartphones. Gmarket, a major online shopping mall, reported a 30 percent increase in turntable sales in the former half of this year compared to the same period last year. Sorted by age, the rate of [...]
SEOUL, Aug. 5 (Korea Bizwire) — German luxury car brands used to symbolize high social status or economic success in South Korea, but they are not premium any more. The high-end vehicles have become the mainstream in the nation’s imported car market. The three big German automakers are expanding their presence in South Korea on [...]
SEOUL, July 22 (Korea Bizwire) — Virtual humans are gaining considerable popularity online. ‘Rozy’ by Sidus Studio X, ‘Reah’ by LG Electronics Inc. and ‘Rui’ by dob Studio are all virtual female figures that have become major influencers on social media. On Instagram, Rozy is currently followed by 38,000 people, and Reah by 12,000 people, [...]
SEOUL, July 14 (Korea Bizwire) — Kim Ji-na, a mom of two children, is on a postpartum diet and tries to eat food high in protein but low in calories so that she doesn’t feel tired and grouchy. On busy mornings, the 38-year-old often grabs protein bars made of egg whites and almond or packaged [...]
SEOUL, July 6 (Korea Bizwire) — High-protein foods, which were once regarded as fuel for health nuts trying to build muscle, are now gaining popularity even among ordinary people. Maeil Dairies Co., a major Korean dairy company, saw sales of its high-protein soy milk released in May surpass the 1 million unit milestone after only [...]
SEOUL, May 29 (Korea Bizwire) — Five elderly women who did not even have a vague idea of what “font” means have emerged as unlikely stars in the world of typography in South Korea. Early this month, Hancom, the country’s leading office suite software developer, said it rolled out new fonts developed by the grandmothers [...]
SEOUL, May 20 (Korea Bizwire) — Blind, an anonymous community app for the workplace, recently succeeded in attracting a significant amount of funding. The private conversations of Korean office workers served as one of primary factors for the rapid growth of Blind, founded by a Korean entrepreneur Moon Sung-uk. TeamBlind Inc., the operator of the [...]
SEOUL, May 7 (Korea Bizwire) — “Grandma, you’re not a real grandma,” Soon-ja’s grandson David nags in the poignant immigration film “Minari.” “What is a real grandma?” asks the atypical grandma Soon-ja, played by Oscar-winning South Korean actress Youn Yuh-jung. Both on the shoots and in real life, the 73-year-old veteran may be far from [...]