The sale of Dongbu Steel, the faltering steelmaking affiliate of South Korea’s Dongbu Group, is expected to be delayed as no visible candidates have emerged for the takeover deal.　Both POSCO and Hyundai Steel -- who were widely expected to bid -- have recently backed out, and its main creditor Korea Development Bank is facing difficulties in finding a suitable buyer.　KDB, in charge of the sale alongside Nomura Securities, has reportedly contacted companies overseas, including in China, without v

Hanwha Galleria, the retail business arm of Hanwha Group, has ramped up its online marketing efforts to lure more Chinese tourists to its new urban duty-free store located in the iconic 63 building of Yeouido, southwestern Seoul. 　The Galleria Duty Free 63, Hanwha’s first duty-free store, opened on Dec. 28. 　Hanwha said Sunday it invited 20 Chinese SNS stars, so-called “content creators” whose online videos are shared across Chinese social media and online networking platforms, to its duty-free

Two members of Big Bang, one of South Korea’s most popular K-pop boy groups, are set to become shareholders of two subsidiaries of their agency YG Entertainment by investing around 3.6 billion won ($3 million).　YG Plus, a YG affiliate listed on Korea’s secondary bourse KOSDAQ, revealed in a regulatory filing last Friday that it will issue 845,588 shares to G-Dragon and 110,294 shares to Taeyang -- for 2,720 won per share -- as part of its capital raising efforts. 　YG Plus announced the same day

LOTTE SPONSORSHIP FOR WINTER OLYMPICS -- Lotte Group chairman Shin Dong-bin (right), who also leads the Korea Ski Association, talks with the South Korean Olympics alpine skiing team during the opening ceremony of the Jeongson Alpine Center in Gangwon Province on Saturday. Lotte plans to give 5 billion won ($4.17 million) in sponsorship to a set of test events scheduled to kick off at the center starting with the International Ski Federation’s Alpine World Ski Championships on Feb. 6. (Lotte Gro

SK CHEM’S BLOOD DONATION — SK Chemical holds a blood donation event at the company’s Eco Lab in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, on Sunday. Some 140 employees at SK Chemical and its affiliates reportedly took part in the event. The collected blood will be delivered to the Korean Red Cross. (SK Chemical)

Local drugmakers have begun a competition to secure their portion of South Korea’s prostatic hyperplasia and hair loss medication market, as the last of GlaxoSmithKline’s Korean patents on Avodart (dutasteride) expired Thursday.　Avodart is a drug able to treat both enlarged prostate gland symptoms as well as hair loss. GSK had held a separate patent for each of the drug’s two therapeutic effects, veering off competition.　GSK’s local patent on the drug’s ability to treat the former symptom expire

DAVOS, Switzerland (AP) -- A prevailing sense of anxiety was in the air in the Swiss ski resort of Davos as the World Economic Forum kicked off Wednesday with delegates fretting about the turbulence in financial markets, slowdown in China and plunging oil prices.　 　As global stock markets suffered another day of hefty losses and oil prices sank to fresh 12-year lows, there was a high degree of concern about the outlook for the global economy this year.　 　High on the agenda was plunging oil price

LONDON (AFP) - Oil plunged to fresh 12-year lows under $28 on Wednesday, slammed by gloomy economic forecasts, China‘s slowdown and abundant crude supplies.　In morning deals, US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for February delivery tanked to $27.32 per barrel, a level last seen on September 24, 2003.　The contract later stood at $27.80, down 66 cents from Tuesday’s closing level.　The global oil market has collapsed further since the International Energy Agency warned Tuesday that the oil

South Korean President Park Geun-hye voiced hope Wednesday that many Chinese tourists will visit Seoul as she celebrated the year of visiting Korea in China.In 2014, Park and her Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping designated 2015 and 2016 as the year of visiting China and the year of visiting South Korea, respectively.　“I am pleased to invite Chinese people to South Korea,” Park said in a video message at a ceremony marking “The Year of Visit to Korea” in China. She also asked Chinese tourists to vi

Along with a new year, January heralds a new nuisance – end-of-year tax settlements.　The Korean tax year is the same as the calendar year, and for most employees, tax is deducted from monthly pay based on estimates, and the end-of-year settlement is used to make corrections to that estimate.　However, some deductions are not available to foreign taxpayers, and what counts and does not is not always obvious to expats. (123RF)　Exemptions are available for recorded cash and card spending, dependents

With the aged population growing rapidly in the country, it is becoming an increasingly urgent policy task to increase spending by elderly households while preventing them from falling below the poverty line.According to a study by the Hyundai Research Institute, a private think tank, the proportion of householders aged 60 and older is projected to rise from 28.1 percent in 2014 to 35.2 percent in 2020 and 46.9 percent in 2030. In contrast, the corresponding figure for those in their 30s-50s is

S-OIL SUPPORTS FIRE VICTIMS — S-Oil senior vice president Lee Chang-jae (center) delivers a total of 50 million won ($41,000) to Seoul Council on Social Welfare chairman Hwang Yong-kyu (right) in a ceremony held Wednesday in Seoul. The funds will be used to support underprivileged victims of fire accidents in South Korea. (S-Oil)

Led by Celltrion and Samsung Bioepis, South Korea’s biopharmaceutical companies are making strides in the emerging drug category of biosimilars -- lower-cost replications of the world’s top-selling biologic drugs that have lost patent protection.　Drawing much spotlight this week, Samsung Bioepis, Samsung Group’s biopharmaceutical affiliate, said Sunday that Benepali, its biosimilar copy of Amgen’s blockbuster rheumatoid arthritis treatment Enbrel (etanercept) has been granted sales approval in E

PUBLIC PETITION TO URGE BILL PASSAGE -- President Park Geun-hye (center) on Monday visits a campaign site organized by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry led by chairman Park Yong-maan (right) to urge legislators to pass a set of bills on labor reform and economic recovery at the KCCI building in central Seoul. The campaign seeks to collect and submit the signatures of 10 million citizens to the National Assembly, with the aim of putting pressure on the partisan deadlock that has delayed

Like many agricultural towns in Korea, Seocheon in South Chungcheong Province was grappling with ways to foster new growth engines and revitalize the local economy a couple of years ago.With its traditional income sources -- farming and fisheries -- dwindling amid the nation’s fast industrialization, the town located some 200 kilometers south of Seoul, had to watch its community falling apart and the children faced with no future. However, instead of attracting new businesses to rejuvenate the r

Last month, an elevated road crossing located near Seoul Station officially closed down, signaling the beginning of the Seoul Metropolitan Government’s 23.2 billion won ($18.95 million) project to turn the decades-old structure into a high-rise public park.　Led by Seoul City Mayor Park Won-soon, the plan is aimed at transforming the 46-year-old overpass in central Seoul into a pedestrian park by 2017. The mega project is similar to the High Line Park in New York City, a landmark urban renewal ca

Stepping inside the newly opened Aritaum flagship store near Gangnam Station in Seoul, one will encounter not only an abundance of makeup products, but also several eye-catching devices and service stations located throughout the brightly lit shop.　A corner equipped with Iope Bio Lab’s cutting-edge skin evaluation machine offers customers a detailed skin examination and consultation for free while tech-savvy “beauty mirrors” enable visitors to virtually try on diverse Laneige makeup products usi

Tonino Lamborghini, a high-end apparel and accessories brand based on Italian luxury sports carmaker Lamborghini, has officially entered South Korea.　Established in 1981 by Tonino Lamborghini, the son of Lamborghini founder Ferruccio Lamborghini, the eponymous merchandising brand sells a range of apparel, bags, watches, shoes and accessories inspired by the automotive designs of the iconic Italian sports car. (Tonino Lamborghini)　“We are happy to be able to introduce our brand in Korea, an impor

TAEAN, South Chungcheong Province -- Renault Samsung Motors unveiled the SM6, a face-lifted version of the Renault Talisman, which has been exclusively redesigned to satisfy local tastes, in South Korea on Wednesday.　The SM6, released by France-based Renault as the Talisman in July 2015, is a premium midsize sedan codeveloped by designers and engineers at Renault and Renault Samsung. 　Targeting drivers in their 30s and 40s, the vehicle touts exclusive driving technologies as well as a longer whe

TAEAN, South Chungcheong Province -- Renault Samsung Motors unveiled the SM6, a facelifted version of the Renault Talisman which has been exclusively redesigned and upgraded to meet local tastes, in South Korea on Wednesday.The SM6, released by France-based Renault as the Talisman in July 2015, is a premium midsize sedan codeveloped by Renault and Renault Samsung which is positioned as a more upscale vehicle lying between the SM5 and SM7.“The SM6 is set to set a new standard for Korea’s midsize