Korea‘s customs service finalized plans Thursday to grant the next round of duty-free licenses next week, despite growing pressure to change the schedule amid a political scandal that has also spilled over to the duty-free project.The Korean Customs Service alerted bidders for new licenses that the evaluation of their presentations would take place over three days, from Thursday to Saturday next week.  Lotte World Tower in souther Seoul, where Lotte would re-open a duty-free store if granted a l

Exports of Korean instant noodles are poised to hit $300 million this year, with strong growth in unique premium products.According to the Korea Customs Service on Monday, exports of Korean ramen so far in 2016 have totaled $232.7 million, up from yearly totals of $218.8 million in 2015 and $208.5 million in 2014. This was the first year that exports had broken $200 million by the end of the third quarter.Leading ramen producer Nongshim is riding on the surge in exports. It announced Monday that

Gone are the days of men waiting in the resting area while their wife or girlfriend shops for them. South Korea’s middle-aged men are redefining their culture from the outdated and unattractive image embedded in the term “ajeossi,” to a younger and less formidable “ajae.”The new trend is also filtering into industries that were once considered sanctuaries for women, such as fashion, cosmetics and even plastic surgery.(123rf)Industries that traditionally focus on the younger generation, such as g

The number of department stores in Korea hit 100 at the end of last year, according to data released by the Korea Chainstores Association on Friday.The landmark number comes 85 years after Korea opened its first-ever department store, the Mitsukoshi Department Store Gyeongseong Branch, in 1930. As of October this year, Lotte Department Store had the most branches, with 33 outlets, followed by E-Land’s NC with 19, Hyundai at 15, and Shinsegae at 12. An interior shot of Shinsegae Department Store'

As the Korean population rapidly ages, government agencies and corporations alike are looking for ways to ease the social burdens that comes with it. Household products maker Yuhan-Kimberly is among the leading companies that have been actively promoting programs aimed at improving the lives of seniors.“Yuhan-Kimberly views the issue of aging as an opportunity rather than a crisis, and has been pursuing Creating Shared Value management since 2012 to create opportunities for senior business,” sai

Prosecutors on Thursday morning raided 10 offices, including those of Lotte, SK, the Korea Customs Services and the Ministry of Strategy and Finance, in its investigation of suspected foul play in the companies’ bid for duty-free licenses. Lotte headquarters in Seoul (Yonhap)The Finance Ministry and the Customs Service are responsible for deciding which corporations receive licenses to operate duty-free stores here. This is the first time in ten years that the Finance Ministry has been raided by

(Shinsegae Duty Free)SHINSEGAE’S PARTNERSHIP WITH ALIPAY -- Shinsegae Group signed Wednesday an agreement with Chinese mobile payment solution Alipay, expanding their cooperation beyond department stores and duty-free stores to include five major affiliates including Shinsegae Property, E-mart, Withme, Starbucks Coffee Korea and Shinsegae Simon. From left: Yang Chun-Man, CFO and executive vice president of corporate office at Shinsegae Group, Kweon Hyeuk-Goo, president of Shinsegae Corporate Off

Korean Air is pulling back on its destinations in the Middle East, instead opting to focus on in-demand routes to the western United States, the company said Wednesday.The airline said that it would temporarily cut flights with low demand. These include the Incheon-Riyadh-Jeddah route from Korea to Saudi Arabia, which will be indefinitely suspended starting February. Korean Air said in a statement that Saudi Arabia’s recent economic hit from low oil prices and decreasing plant projects had reduc

Competitiveness in the retail sector will increasingly hinge on the ability of companies to integrate their online and offline strategies, according to experts speaking at the second “New Retail Trends and Future Growth Strategy” conference Tuesday.The conference, hosted by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, invited specialists from Korea, China and Japan to share their insights on the developments of the retail industry in each country and their future direction. Accenture Managing Dir

Korean cosmetics giant AmorePacific announced Monday that total sales of its iconic cushion compacts have surpassed 100 million worldwide. The compacts, which include a patented sponge cushion soaked with various liquid cosmetic products including sunblock, makeup base, and foundation, have become a sensation after reaching blockbuster status here. AmorePacific's cushion compacts (AmorePacific)After selling more than 33 million cushion compacts in 2015 alone, the company surpassed the 100 millio

Herald Corp.’s organic food developer Organica has acquired convenience food producer Damyeon to expand its premium fresh food offerings, the company said Monday.Damyeon is a supplier of food such as lunch boxes, triangle gimbap and sandwiches to major convenience store chains such as CU and 7-Eleven. Its best-known products include the Hyeri lunch box sold through 7-Eleven and the Baek Jong-won lunch box sold through CU. The company has forecasted 47 billion won ($39.7 million) in sales this ye

Hotel Shilla, which operates The Shilla Duty Free, has opened its first overseas city outlet in Phuket, Thailand, the company said Sunday. Shilla Duty Free in Phuket(Hotel Shilla)The Shilla Duty Free in Phuket is Hotel Shilla's first duty-free store outside of an airport. Hotel Shilla currently operates outlets in Changi Airport in Singapore and Macau International Airport. Its overseas operations make up more than 15 percent of total revenue.The Phuket outlet is a 15-minute distance from the fa

Korea’s two full-service airline carriers are seeing different outcomes in conflicts with their respective pilot unions as they face a market that is becoming increasingly dominated by low-cost carriers.Korean Air and Asiana Airlines have long been suffering from struggles with their pilot unions as negotiations about wage increases came to a standstill.On Wednesday, Asiana Airlines’ pilot union announced through its website that it had reached a tentative agreement with its management for the y

The Korean government is set to decide Friday whether it will allow Google to put a detailed map of the country on the company’s global servers.The decision, delayed by the government from an initial August deadline, comes aid trade uncertainties following Donald Trump’s election as the next US president. It will be the first time a joint government committee provides a decision on whether detailed cartographic information supplied by the government can be exported by the foreign firm.Ahead of t

Seoul’s Myeong-dong street was ranked the eighth most expensive retail street in the world, according to a report by real estate service company Cushman & Wakefield Thursday. (Cushman & Wakefield)Cushman & Wakefield’s “Main Streets Across the World 2016/2017” priced real estate in Seoul’s shopping district Myeong-dong at $908 per square foot (0.093 square meter) per year, with an outlook to further rise. Although consumers in South Korea are increasingly turning online for shopping, the report s

Employee diversity and exposure to global markets are two major areas that need to be improved in Seoul‘s growing startup ecosystem, according to the first edition of a white paper released by the Korea Startup Ecosystem Forum Wednesday.The research found that just 9 percent of surveyed startup founders were female, and only 17 percent of the surveyed companies had one or more non-Korean employee. This is low when compared to Silicon Valley where female CEOs account for 24 percent and 45 percent

Tous Les Jours has opened its first two branches in Mongolia, making it the first Korean bakery chain to enter the Mongolian market, the company said Tuesday.Both new branches are located in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia’s capital, and opened within two weeks of each other. Tous Les Jours signed a master franchise contract to open the stores with a local company in May.   Customers crowd Tous Les Jours’ first branch in Mongolia on its opening day. (Tous Les Jours)According to the company, over 2,000 peo

Starbucks Korea is on its way to recycle 100 percent of its stores’ used coffee grounds by 2018, furthering its efforts to contribute to environmental conservation, the company said Tuesday.  The company has launched an environmentally conscious campaign to make and donate compost from used coffee grounds to help local farms and communities. This year, the campaign will collect 3,500 tons of used coffee grounds from Starbucks stores here.  Starbucks employees and volunteers pose at Seoul Forest

South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se left for New York on Saturday to attend the U.N. General Assembly meeting, part of his brisk diplomacy to craft tough international sanctions against North Korea over its latest nuclear test.During his attendance at the U.N. meeting between Saturday and Thursday, Yun plans to hold a series of bilateral and multilateral meetings with his foreign counterparts, including U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida, to dis

UNITED NATIONS -- The UN Security Council on Friday canceled an urgent meeting on Syria over disagreements between Russia and the United States over disclosing details of a ceasefire deal.During the scheduled meeting, US and Russian envoys were to present details of the joint agreement that calls for a ceasefire, the delivery of aid and joint targeting of Islamist rebels in Syria."Since we could not agree on an approach to briefing the council that would not compromise the operational security o