Dunamu, the operator of Korea’s largest cryptocurrency exchange Upbit, said Tuesday it has donated 1 billion won ($820,000) to the United Nations World Food Program in a bid to provide food aid for war-torn Ukraine. According to Dunamu, it is the first Korean company to donate to WFP’s emergency assistance program that gives local food and food vouchers to civilians affected by the conflict in Ukraine. The donated funds will provide one day’s worth of food for over 1.6 milli

Naver Webtoon, South Korean tech giant Naver’s web-based cartoon platform, said Monday it will open a European branch in France by June in a bid to further expand its presence in the global market. “The branch, tentatively called 'Webtoon EU,' will oversee webtoon services in France, Germany and Spain, and discover new business opportunities in other European countries,” a Naver official said. “With Webtoon EU, Naver Webtoon will foster a strong foothold overseas with

After the blockbuster stock debut of Coupang last year, expectations had been growing for upcoming listings of the nation’s popular e-commerce platforms like SSG.com and Market Kurly until early this year. But uncertainties surrounding Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and its economic impact are prompting the firms to put their plans to go public on ice. SSG.com, the digital shopping platform owned by retail giant Shinsegae Group, is one of the hottest market debuts planned this year

Toss Bank, South Korea’s internet only bank, said Wednesday it will pay daily deposit interest to its customers for the first time in the banking industry. Toss Bank account owners can simply click on the “receive now” button to be paid with daily deposit interest, instead of receiving it monthly. With the service, users can withdraw their money including the deposit interest at any time they want. For instance, if customers deposit 1 million won ($805) into the account, the

Korea’s tech titan Kakao said Monday that its founder Kim Beom-su will leave his chairman post at the board to explore new business opportunities overseas and break the boundary of mobile-focused platform businesses. Kim’s resignation as the chairman of the board will be approved at the upcoming shareholders meeting on March 29. Kim will resume his post as the head of the company’s Future Initiative Center, Kakao said. The Kakao founder has chaired the board since 2015. Based

South Korea is likely to see a major change in its nuclear-free power policy with President-elect Yoon Seok-yeol‘s campaign pledge to bolster energy policies in use of atomic power. Yoon has vowed to make a U-turn from the Moon Jae-in administration’s nuclear energy phase-out policies, citing plans to use nuclear to account for 30 percent of total energy generation. “(I’ll make sure) Sin-Hanul No. 3 and No. 4 resume construction and operate old nuclear reactors after e

Korea’s metaverse real estate sales platform Metaverse 2 said Tuesday its virtual land price has surged in the last six months, amid the growing trend towards alternative ways to build wealth using the blockchain technology. The company said the price of some shares that own Lotte World Tower, the country’s tallest building and one of the most famous landmarks in Seoul, increased 180,000 times to $18,300 as of Friday. The average price of 10 square meters of land in New York City&r

Italian luxury fashion brand Gucci said Monday it will put on a metaverse exhibition and sell fashion items for avatars on Zepeto, Korean tech giant Naver’s metaverse platform. The fashion house has opened a virtual space on Zepeto, where users can enjoy a metaverse version of “Gucci Garden Archetypes,” an ongoing multimedia exhibition in Seoul. Gucci and Zepeto, following its first partnership last year, agreed to bring nine out of 13 offline exhibition spaces to Zepeto. Use

In Jongno-gu, central Seoul, one of the most historical districts in the city, lies a town that preserves the culture and art from the Joseon era. Walking alongside the town offers a glimpse of how low-level officials who worked for kings and queens of the Joseon Dynasty lived. Located between Bukchon Hanok Village and the Changdeok Palace, the town is called Wonseo-dong, meaning the western part of the palace’s backyard. Crossing a small road from the palace, visitors are welcomed by

Foreigners flocked to famous K-drama filming sites in Seoul last year, propelled by a rising global popularity for Korean TV series, a report showed Friday. Among some 80 tourist attractions visited by 1.6 million foreigners last year, 57.6 percent were filming locations of Netflix-aired Korean dramas, a LG Uplus report showed. Milal Fine Art Museum in Gangnam-gu, the filming site of “Guardian: The Lonely and Great God,” saw a 195 percent surge -- the highest figure -- in the num

Zepeto, the metaverse platform of Korea’s tech giant Naver, said Friday its number of domestic and international users reached 300 million since its launch, amid the burgeoning trend of interactions in virtual reality. “The number of international users alone is 285 million, accounting for 95 percent of users, while 15 million domestic users have subscribed to the app,“ a Naver official said. ”The number of monthly active customers reached 20 million.“ Companies

The old rivalry between Shinsegae and Lotte looks set to head to winemaking. The nation’s top two retail giants who also are the major importers of cheaper casual wines are gearing up to produce high-priced premium wines on their own. Shinsegae Property, the group’s property development arm, acquired US winery Shafer Vineyards for 299.6 billion won ($250.3 million) last month. The 80-hectare vineyard is known for luxury wines like Hillside Select, whose price tag is around 860,000

South Korea’s e-commerce giant Coupang said Thursday that it posted $18.4 billion (22.1 trillion won) in sales last year, a record not just for the company, but also for a local e-commerce operator. The figure jumped 54 percent from a year ago. In the fourth quarter alone, its sales soared to $5 billion. Coupang said its record has surpassed the sales of the country’ top retailer Shinsegae and its subsidiaries -– Emart, SSG.com, eBay Korea, and G Market -– whose sale

Korean space tech startup Space Star said Wednesday it will send the DNA of famous mountaineer Um Hong-gil to space, honoring his world record to have climbed the 16 highest peaks on Earth. After swabbing Um’s DNA from his mouth, the company plans to seal it in a capsule and send it to space by the end of this year. “Along with other world renowned celebrities, Um will be the first Korean celebrity to have his DNA sent to space. It is meaningful in the sense that their DNA will pe

Four out of 10 young Koreans consider themselves poor, citing familial transfer of wealth as a key factor aggravating the social divide, data showed Sunday. According to data from National Youth Policy Institute, 42.6 percent of 4,114 respondents aged between 19 and 34 said they think they’re are poor and of those, some 34.3 percent answered they believe that they won’t be able to get out of poverty. Only some 28.5 percent said they think they can. Some 41.4 percent said they earne

Hana Bank said Sunday it will expand its wealth management services to trading art pieces -- both physical and digital -- amid growing retail demand for alternative assets. Hana Bank has forged a partnership with Seoul Auction Blue, an online auction house, to jointly work on developing new businesses such as nonfungible tokens and metaverse platforms, and operating online education and community platforms on art. The two will also provide traditional art services including artwork sales, art

Kakao’s new CEO nominee Namkoong Whon said Thursday that he wishes to restore the company‘s stock price at over 150,000 won ($124.60) per share during his two-year term amid investors’ growing concerns over its underperforming stocks. 　 “We will be able to see (Kakao‘s stock price) to reach 150,000 won (per share) again if (we can) restore the market trust,“ Namkoong said during an online press conference. “I hope to see a boost in stock price within m

GS Retail, the operator of Korea’s convenience store chain GS25, said Wednesday it will deploy chicken-frying robots, joining the recent race to automate food manufacturing. The company forged a partnership with Roboarte, the food tech startup behind Robert Chicken that uses robot arms to fry chicken. GS25 plans to use the startup’s robots to fry frozen chicken from its own brand Chicken 25. “The robot arms will automatically put the bucket full of frozen chicken in a frying

Dunamu & Partners, the investment arm of Korea’s blockchain firm Dunamu, said Tuesday it has invested a combined 100.3 billion won ($83.9 million) in a total of 46 startups over the past three years. Dunamu said artificial intelligence and data startups make up almost half of the beneficiaries it has funded, while others in the fields of gaming, fintech, blockchain and digital healthcare are key recipients. Many of the startups showed strong performance in elevating corporate valu

South Korean medalists have shown excitement at not only winning medals, but also free chicken for the rest of their lives. The so-called “chicken pension” is backed by Yoon Hong-geun, CEO of Korea’s fried chicken franchise Genesis BBQ, and also the chief of South Korea’s athletic mission at the Beijing Olympic Games. Yoon promised to give free chicken for the country’s short track speedskating medalists Hwang Dae-heon and Choi Min-jeong at their requests. &ldquo