South Korean retail giant Shinsegae Group is making a bold return to the cosmetics scene through its beauty select shop brand Chicor, aligning closely with the latest waves of K-beauty. A new flagship store is set to open in Seoul’s bustling Gangnam district -- not just a relocation, but a complete reimagining following the closure of its previous Gangnam branch. Chicor aims to make a striking impression by stocking more than half of its 5,000 products from Korean brands. This marks a significan

MIRYANG, South Gyeongsang Province — Through the glass-paneled corridors of a pristine, state-of-the-art facility, rows of conveyor belts carry neat rectangles of wavy ramyeon, still glistening from a sixty-second plunge into boiling vegetable oil. This deep-frying marks the midpoint in the noodle-making process. "Each unit will soon be paired with its sauce packet, then sealed and sent through a final round of quality control," explained plant manager Oh Seung-yong. The final product bears a fa

Nongshim opens its "Shin Ramyun Bunsik" store in Harajuku, Tokyo, Monday — a casual Korean eatery specializing in Korean ramyeon. As its first location in Asia and second global outlet following the April launch in Peru, the store features a ramyeon bar where visitors can cook and enjoy Nongshim's noodle products. The space resembles Korean street food stalls, complete with Korean-inspired interiors and Instagram-friendly photo zones. Located in one of Tokyo’s trendiest neighborhoods, the store

Korean beauty, born from local culture, is now soaring on a global scale. Its triumph is most vividly illustrated in the US, where it became the top cosmetics exporter in 2024, surpassing former leader France for the first time. Despite this meteoric rise, however, a question remains: How far can K-beauty go at this pivotal juncture, now clouded by looming tariffs? • Global K-content wave meets lab-developed innovation, popularized through e-commerce • Localized, high-quality products with clean

Korean seafood export growth slowed between January and April, burdened by US tariff pressures, with an uncertain outlook as added duties to stricter non-tariff measures loom. In the first four months of 2025, Korea exported $1.05 billion worth of seafood, a 3.7 percent increase from a year earlier, according to data from the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries and the Korea Maritime Institute. Exports to the US, Korea’s third-largest destination after Japan and China, also maintained growth, with

Walter Cho, chair and CEO of Hanjin Group and Korean Air, has called on South Korea’s new administration to prioritize safeguarding the aviation sector from tariffs in future trade negotiations with Washington. Speaking to Bloomberg TV on Monday during a visit to India for the 81st Annual General Meeting of the International Air Transport Association, where he serves on the Board of Directors, Cho underscored the role of the new administration in restoring stability amid tariff-induced concerns.

On a radiant Tuesday morning, the schoolyard of an elementary school in Jongno, central Seoul, momentarily resembled a scene of carefree family life, as a couple swung their young daughter by her arms, laughter echoing across the grounds. But this was no ordinary school visit — the family came to cast their ballots in a critical by-election to choose Korea’s next president. The vote follows a tumultuous chapter in the nation’s political history. Six months earlier, then-President Yoon Suk Yeol d

In yet another tariff storm last week, US President Donald Trump shocked the world once more with plans to double tariffs on imported steel and aluminum from 25 percent to 50 percent, starting Wednesday. Speaking from a US Steel mill in the Pittsburgh suburbs, Trump described the move as a deal that would “secure” the American steel industry, one that “nobody’s going to get around.” The tariff escalation is set to deliver another major blow to Korean exporters, the fourth-largest steel supplier

It's now clear that Korean beauty has far outgrown its modest local beginnings. Last year was truly a banner year for the industry, with cosmetics exports surging 20.3 percent to $10.2 billion, ranking third globally behind the US ($11.19 billion) and France ($23.26 billion), according to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety. Zooming in on US-bound exports last year, Korea’s stature continues to rise: The country is not only in the top three in global exports, it ranks first in the world’s large

Samyang Holdings, the parent company of Samyang Group, announced Friday its plan to spin off its biopharmaceuticals division into a new entity, Samyang Biopharm, in a move to refine the strategic focus of the biopharmaceuticals business. According to the company, the restructuring will allow the unit, under independent leadership, to undergo a proper reevaluation and remain agile amid a rapidly evolving pharmaceuticals and biotech landscape. The spinoff will also give shareholders greater flexib

Posco Holdings, the holding company of Korean steel giant Posco Group, said Friday it has opened a key minerals research center in Australia to secure a technological edge in advanced materials, spanning steelmaking, battery materials and rare earths. According to the group, the new launch underscores its commitment to localization strategies, designed to not only secure raw materials cost-effectively, but also advance low-carbon processing technologies. Located in Perth, the center will focus o

South Korean biopharmaceutical firm Celltrion announced Wednesday that the market share of Remsima SC, the subcutaneous formulation of the autoimmune disease treatment infliximab, has quintupled across Europe over just four years. According to the company, citing global pharmaceutical market research firm IQVIA, Remsima SC captured a 22 percent market share as of last year, surging from 4 percent in 2021 following its debut in 2020. When combined with the share of Remsima, the intravenous versio

MANILA, Philippines — A shared glass of liquor, known as tagay in the Philippines, has long been central to Filipino communal drinking. Yet while the drinking tradition has endured, what fills those glasses is shifting — especially among K-pop fans and spirit lovers — from familiar gin or rum to soju bearing the Jinro label from South Korea’s leading soju-maker, HiteJinro. The once-exotic green bottles now have greater visibility, not only in Korean barbecue joints, but also in supermarkets, con

Morgan Stanley & Co. International, a wholly owned affiliate of US investment bank Morgan Stanley, has acquired more than a 5 percent stake in South Korean beauty tech firm APR, signaling potential interest in the fast-evolving Korean beauty sector. In its regulatory filing Tuesday, APR reported that Morgan Stanley had acquired 2,162,951 shares of APR through open-market transactions, amounting to a 5.76 percent ownership stake. APR clarified that the disclosure followed mandatory procedures, tr

South Korean food and beverage giant Nongshim has begun building a new export-only manufacturing facility in Busan, as it looks to ramp up production to meet surging global demand, the company said Tuesday. Named the Noksan Export Plant, the facility is being built on an 11,280-square-meter site with a total floor area of 48,100 square meters, located adjacent to Nongshim’s existing factory. Completion is slated for the second half of 2026. The new plant will feature the company’s artificial int