SEOUL, Sept. 8 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea said Thursday it plans to spend 74 trillion won (US$53.4 billion) on supporting low-income families, senior citizens and other vulnerable people next year in a bid to ease the burden of rising living costs. The government plans to increase its budget spending by 8.7 trillion won in [...]
SEOUL, May 24 (Korea Bizwire) — Online shopping spending increased after social distancing rules were lifted. According to the survey conducted jointly by local e-commerce platforms Gmarket and Auction of 5,320 customers, 51 percent of the respondents said their spending increased somewhat in May after social distancing rules were fully lifted, followed by 26 percent [...]
SEOUL, April 27 (Korea Bizwire) — The rising ‘revenge spending’ trend spawning from demand for consumption during the pandemic has prompted a growing number of Koreans to spend more than 1 million won (US$789) on a single transaction this year. Major credit card issuer Samsung Card Co. reported that the number of transactions involving payments [...]
SEOUL, April 5 (Korea Bizwire) — The COVID-19 pandemic has dampened overall consumption in South Korea, but spending on insurance has been an exception, a report showed. Domestic households’ monthly insurance expenditures averaged 84,000 won (US$69.15) in 2019 but rose to 89,000 won in 2020 and 92,000 won in 2021, according to a report from [...]
SEOUL, Feb. 3 (Korea Bizwire) — A growing number of men are buying leggings and cosmetics for their own use. Shinhan Card Co., a major credit card company in South Korea, analyzed purchases of leggings using the company’s credit cards between January and September of last year, which showed that purchases among men had jumped [...]
SEOUL, Feb. 3 (Korea Bizwire) — In the third quarter of last year, which marked the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic, single-person households consisting of young people under 40 years of age marked a sharp increase in their spending on drinking and smoking compared to a year earlier. This group’s monthly spending for purchases [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 14 (Korea Bizwire) — South Koreans have become the world’s 4th largest spenders on smartphone apps, data showed Thursday. Industry tracker App Annie reported that mobile consumers worldwide spent US$170 billion on mobile apps last year, which was 19 percent more than the previous year. Chinese consumers spent the most on mobile apps, [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 1 (Korea Bizwire) — More than 1 in 4 South Korean small businesses had to abort research and development (R&D) activities because of the pandemic last year, a survey showed Tuesday. The Korea Industrial Technology Association conducted a survey of 479 companies with a dedicated institute or a research facility, among which 65 [...]
SEOUL, Nov. 24 (Korea Bizwire) — As people continue to stay indoors in the pandemic era, South Koreans have increasingly become used to so-called homewear, home cooking and going to convenience stores near home. Shinhan Card Co., a major credit card company, compared the monthly usage of cards in early 2019, prior to the pandemic [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 15 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea is expected to be the largest spender on chip fabrication facility equipment next year, a report showed Wednesday, amid its push to expand its semiconductor supply chain. The country, home to memory giants Samsung Electronics Co. and SK hynix Inc., is estimated to invest US$30 billion in [...]