Retail giant Shinsegae and industrial behemoth Doosan Group on Monday locked horns over the special license to run three urban duty-free stores in Seoul. 　With the urban duty-free stores regarded as a lucrative business for the sluggish retail industry, the chiefs of both companies vowed to win the license that could guarantee trillions of won in revenue over the next 10 years. Doosan Group chairman Park Yong-maan (Yonhap)　Doonsan Group chairman Park Yong-maan said he would fully leverage his 20

　U.S.-based direct sales giant Amway opened the Amway Botanical Research Center in Wuxi, China, last Friday, as the company seeks to step up its research on herbs used in Oriental medicine for potential use in its health and beauty products.　Built with an investment of $13 million and spanning across 34 hectares of farmland, the ABRC includes an advanced laboratory and a greenhouse to study soil nutrients and plant physiology which will potentially lead to new product development, according to A

CJ Healthcare, the pharmaceuticals unit of South Korea’s CJ Group, is embarking onto China’s fast-growing antiulcer treatment market valued at an estimated 3 trillion won ($2.65 billion), through a major drug licensing deal with Shandong Luoxin Pharmaceutical Group.　The Korean pharma firm said Sunday that it has sealed a license agreement in Shanghai with Luoxin Pharma to transfer the development and commercialization rights to CJ-12420, a drug to treat regurgitation gastritis and gastroesophage

　U.S.-based cosmetics giant The Estée Lauder Companies sealed a deal in New York on Sunday to invest in Have & Be Co., the South Korean company behind the fast-growing homegrown skin care brands Dr. Jart+ and Do The Right Thing. 　The terms of the investment -- to be made by December 2015 -- were not disclosed due to legal specifications, according to the firm’s spokesperson.The Estee Lauder Companies executive chairman William P. Lauder (right) signs an investment deal with Dr. Jart+ CEO Lee Jin

SAN FRANCISCO -- Microblogging service Twitter has long been serving as an agora open to all people to discuss, share and spread information about what is happening around the world in 140 characters. 　With the change of time and trends in the social networking industry, however, the 9-year-old service is trying, somewhat belatedly, to shift its focus from a text-based service to one brimming with video content, following the footsteps of other services like Facebook.Kevin Weil, senior vice pres

Every year since 2000, Seoul Fashion Week has drawn local and overseas fashion gurus, buyers and the larger public together in a festival to showcase the country’s talented designers and upcoming fashion trends.　The biannual event -- held every March and October -- not only offers sneak previews of Korea’s latest fashion designs for the seasons ahead, but also attracts wide attention from the public as well as international buyers.　Alongside local designers and independent labels looking to show

SAN FRANCISCO, California -- After a series of twists and turns over the past few weeks at Twitter, its new CEO Jack Dorsey has made it clear that he would face up to challenges and get the microblogging service operator back on the right track.　Taking the stage at the San Francisco-based firm’s second Flight developer conference on Thursday, CEO Jack Dorsey said the company would spare no effort to regain its reputation as the guardian of free speech. Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey delivers a keynote

　KT, South Korea’s leading telecommunications firm, is seeking to take the lead in ushering forward the era of the 5G network, a next-generation mobile data service set to revolutionize the information and communications technology sector.　Promising maximum speeds of 100 gigabits per second, 5G technology is set to run up to 1,000 times faster than existing 4G mobile data network, enabling a new generation of ultra-efficient devices connected via the Internet.　To accelerate the implementation of

　KT, a leading mobile carrier in South Korea, is looking to shake up the local and global information and communications technology sector by introducing exclusive services and products developed on the back of its cutting-edge technologies.　KT’s chief executive Hwang Chang-gyu has been pushing the company to pursue customer-centered innovation, introducing a total of 18 original technologies and services developed for the first time in the world since taking his post in January 2014. KT introdu

　Hyundai Motor Group, the world’s fifth-largest automaker, has risen up as a global company with a strong brand value and product quality over the past decade.　The group has been actively promoting its two main brands -- Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors -- through continued product innovation and development to stand among the world’s most valued brands over the past decade.　The brand value of Hyundai Motor stood at 13.4 trillion won ($11.3 billion) this year, up by 8.5 percent from 2014, ranking at

　The chief of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development visited the Daejeon Creative Economy Innovation Center on Tuesday, calling it a “great business model for nurturing information and communications technology-based venture firms.”　Established by SK Group in partnership with the South Korean Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning, the center offers start-ups at its facilities various business support and services to help them commercialize their technologies at home and

　At a glance, the story of Eric Lobo seems to be a typical journey of self-discovery.　The 40-something builder with a monthly salary of more than 25,000 euros lost 95 percent of what he had during the 2009 global financial meltdown. Eric Lobo on his Harley-Davidson Dyna Street Bob in Sokcho, Gangwon Province. (Courtesy of Eric Lomo)　With what was left and some mortgage, he bought a Harley-Davidson motorbike and began traveling, taking photographs of the scenery and people he met, and writing abo

　More and more Incheon International Airport users are using the Airport Railroad Express that takes them from Seoul Station to the airport in less than an hour, according to the authorities. 　 The number of daily AREX users marked 236,907 on Oct. 8., the highest since the launch of the service in 2007, latest data showed.  Airport Railroad users check in for their flights at the City Airport Terminal inside the AREX terminal in central Seoul. (AREX)　“The regular ticket with 11 stops is priced a

　Shinsegae Department Store announced Tuesday that it will hand out cash vouchers that can be used at traditional markets -- known as “onnuri gift certificates” -- to its foreign customers at its main branch until the end of this month.　For customers who hold foreign passports, the department store is issuing 5,000 won ($4.40) cash certificates for purchases over 100,000 won and 10,000 won vouchers for purchases over 200,000 won at its main branch located in central Seoul. Shinsegae’s main branc

　Lotte Group has officially rejected the request of former vice chairman of Lotte Holdings Shin Dong-joo to begin sending him business reports on its core affiliates, dismissing the move as “lacking legal grounds.”　The elder son of the group founder is engaged in a bitter feud with his younger brother, Lotte Group chairman Dong-bin, over control of the group since he was ousted from key posts at its Japanese units in January.  Lotte Group founder and general chairman Shin Kyuk-ho (left) and his

　SK Group is looking to bolster its core businesses and seek new growth by actively pursuing global expansion in partnerships with major companies from around the world. Faced with unfavorable market conditions and stagnant growth, SK has pledged to overcome such economic hurdles by stepping up its efforts to widen its presence in overseas markets this year.Participants celebrate the completion of SABIC SK Nexlene’s new polyethylene plant in a ceremony at the plant site in Ulsan on Wednesday. Fr

　SK Group has been stepping up its efforts to support the growth of new venture firms in the field of information and communications technology as part of its aim to support South Korea’s ongoing drive to establish a creative economy.　In collaboration with the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning, the group operates two provincial Creative Economy Innovation Centers, one in Daejeon and another in Sejong.Venture firms participating in SK’s Dream Venture Star program at the Daejeon Creativ

　When the patent for U.S.-based Eli Lilly’s blockbuster erectile dysfunction treatment drug Cialis (tadalafil) expired in South Korea early last month, 60 domestic pharmaceutical companies immediately rolled out more than 150 cheaper, generic copies of the drug.　About a month has since passed, and data shows that generics launched by Hanmi Pharmaceutical and Chong Kun Dang Pharm have risen above their competition to take the lead in the segment, shaking up the market previously dominated by Cial

AMORE BREAST CANCER AWARENESS CAMPAIGN — AmorePacific, in partnership with the Korea Breast Cancer Foundation, kicked off the 2015 Pink Ribbon Love Seoul Marathon in western Seoul on Sunday. Attended by some 10,000 participants this year, the event aims to spread awareness on breast cancer -- the most common form of cancer among women -- and raise funds for low-income breast cancer patients. (AmorePacific)

　Lotte Chemical, the petrochemicals manufacturing unit of South Korea’s Lotte Group, is seeking to expand its global business as production begins at its newly-established gas field and chemical complex in Surgil, Uzbekistan.　“Based on our success in Uzbekistan, we will continue to expand our ongoing businesses at home and abroad to rise up as a global petrochemicals company,” said Lotte Chemical CEO Huh Soo-young at a news conference in Seoul Thursday to mark the completion of the new plant.Lot