Hiking, camping and golf, activities often associated with older people in South Korea, are gaining popularity among people in their 20s and 30s in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, a report said Tuesday. According to Gmarket, an e-commerce platform operated by eBay Korea, sales of items related to the three outdoor activities jumped by 24 percent in the first half of this year, compared with a year earlier. The e-commerce platform attributed the rise in popularity of the three activities am

GS25 said Monday the bestselling product from its mobile app for wine and liquor orders was Disaronno, an Amaretto-tasting liqueur. Over 70 percent of wine orders made via the app were made outside of Seoul, it added. The convenience store chain launched the mobile app Wine25 Plus on July 13, allowing customers to order alcoholic beverages and pick them up from a nearby GS25 store. Analyzing the data for the past week, the convenience store operator revealed that 28.8 percent of liquor order

Paris Baguette, South Korea’s biggest bakery brand operated by SPC Group, said Monday it is testing a new subscription business by launching a monthly discount service for its coffee and sandwich menus. Usable once every day for 30 days, the subscription offers either coffee or a sandwich and coffee set, respectively priced at 19,800 won ($16.40) and 48,900 won. There will be 12 sandwich menu choices. Users can subscribe to the service on Happy App, the SPC Group’s mobile applicat

After a German court ruled that Tesla’s advertisement on the capabilities of its autonomous driving system is “misleading,” a civic group in South Korea on Friday raised concerns and urged authorities here to inspect the firm. In a statement, Citizens United for Consumer Sovereignty, a nonprofit organization, urged the US-based automaker to withdraw its advertisement, which it claimed is exaggerated to misinform consumers as if Tesla cars can fully drive on their own. On Tu

Korea Yakult announced Friday it has signed a memorandum of understanding with a government institution to lay the groundwork for development of a marine microalga-derived material that improves cognitive abilities and helps prevent dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. The company -- a household name in the yogurt and fermented dairy product market in South Korea -- will join hands with Korea Institute of Ocean Science and Technology under the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries to jointly co

Craft beer is expanding its market share in South Korea, with sales at convenience stores seeing a surge in recent months. According to convenience store chain CU, the sales of craft beer products surged by 390.8 percent from January to June on-year. In March, the sales portion of craft beer products outstripped other brands produced by large liquor makers with 50.3 percent. Another convenience store chain GS25 also said the sales of beer products manufactured by microbreweries jumped by 293

Expanding the line of products sold on its platform, Coupang said Wednesday it has launched Rocket Mobile, through which customers can browse and choose subscription plans offered by mobile carriers. The South Korean e-commerce giant said the new platform is an addition to the current sales of smartphone devices, including those made by Samsung Electronics and Apple. Through Rocket Mobile, customers can now choose monthly call plans as they purchase mobile devices, a one-stop service that wa

Diageo Korea said Wednesday that it has launched two new products, W 19 and W Honey, the first spirits in the local industry with just 32.5 percent alcohol by volume. The liquor maker said it had decided to lower the alcohol content of the new products to meet the rising demand for drinks that are less than full strength, as the drinking culture is rapidly changing here. Both drinks have the optimal strength for consumers in their 30s and 40s who value smoothness and new flavors, the compan

While the COVID-19 pandemic has depressed the performance of many businesses, the opposite is true for South Korean food company SPC Group, which has expanded its overseas business in recent months. In June, SPC Group -- owner of the country’s biggest bakery brand, Paris Baguette -- announced that it would launch the brand in Canada. It will be the seventh country the company has entered. The COVID-19 pandemic means it will take longer than usual to find partner firms and conduct market

Joining South Korean President Moon Jae-in’s quest to pioneer new technologies and industries in the post-COVID-19 era, Hyundai Motor Group Vice Chairman Chung Euisun and Naver CEO Han Seong-sook on Tuesday presented their company visions via a teleconference broadcast at Cheong Wa Dae. Chung and Han, who lead the country’s biggest automaker and internet portal operator, respectively, expressed support for the government’s five-year “New Deal” policy drive, which

South Korean food maker Nongshim said Monday its US sales totaled about $164 million in the first half of this year, the firm’s highest-ever figure in the country, led by sales of Shin Ramyun. The company attributed the notable sales in the US to the brand power of Shin Ramyun, its flagship noodle brand. The company also said the popularity was helped by increased demand for instant food products amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The South Korean company’s instant noodle products are g

BAT Korea said Monday that it has appointed Kim Eun-ji as its new country manager. She is the first female chief in the South Korean tobacco industry. Kim, who served as the company’s brand director in Indonesia, joined the company in 2004 and has 16 years of experience in the tobacco industry, BAT Korea said. As the new CEO, she will be responsible for leading the domestic trade business of BAT Korea, aligned with the group strategy, the company said. The company said Kim will help

For public health, authorities around the world should adopt differentiated regulations for heated tobacco products and conventional cigarettes, as the two are too different to be grouped together, Philip Morris International Chief Executive Officer Andre Calantzopoulos said Monday. Speaking at a webinar media brief, Calantzopoulos hailed the recent decision of US Food and Drug Administration to authorize marketing of its heated tobacco product IQOS as a ”historic“ and ”impo

Coupang, an e-commerce giant here, said Thursday it will deploy 2,400 safety inspectors in all of its Rocket Delivery Centers, to watch over the disinfection processes to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Coupang has been upping its prevention measures after it closed several distribution centers found with employees confirmed with COVID-19. According to Coupang, the inspectors will monitor its distribution centers to make sure that all orders made are prepared and delivered under the safety g

COVID-19 has hit the global car industry harder than any other financial crisis, and car sales will not recover to last year’s levels until around 2023, a market analyst said Friday. Lee Bo-sung, the head of Hyundai Motor Group’s global business R&D center, delivered those predictions at a seminar organized by the Korea Automobile Journalists Association. Members of KAJA gathered at the AMG Speedway, a driving circuit in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, to attend the seminar and s

Hyundai Motor’s new, face-lifted version of the Santa Fe is here with a much different look and smarter system, set to regain its reputation as the first SUV to sell 100,000 vehicles in South Korea. The automaker released the refreshed version of its signature family sport utility vehicle on June 30, two years after it launched the fourth-generation model in 2018. For the year, the car sold over 100,000 units, making it the first SUV in the 100,000 club. As changes are often subtle

While South Korea’s tobacco market is expected to decline overall, the sales of heated tobacco products will edge up this year, a market research firm said Thursday. According to Euromonitor International, the Korean tobacco market reached 17.19 trillion won ($16 billion) in 2019. Of the total, 1.89 trillion won was spent on heat-not-burn cigarettes, which put the country as the second-largest market in the world after Japan. The industry tracker forecast Korea’s heating tobacco

BMW Korea said Wednesday it plans to launch the plug-in hybrid sports sedan New 330e, with a greater electric range. With the addition of the plug-in hybrid electric vehicle, the German automaker said it has completed its New 3 Series lineup. The BMW New 330e is equipped with 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine that can create up to 292 horsepower and 42.8 kilogram-meters of torque. It accelerates to 100 kilometers per hour in 5.9 seconds. With the Xtraboost function, the car can s

Philip Morris Korea Managing Director Paik Young-jay urged Tuesday for the government to come up with differentiated regulations for its heat-not-burn e-cigarettes, as the industry is largely misrepresented due to its “ideological” approach, rather than based on science. Speaking at his first press conference held live on YouTube, the new managing director emphasized that heated tobacco products are less harmful substitutes for conventional cigarettes. In the first quarter of this

Oriental Brewery’s flagship beer brand Cass unveiled the lineup for “Cass Blue Playground Connect 2.0,” its annual music festival, on social media Monday. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the concert will be livestreamed on its official YouTube channel and Facebook, on July 18 from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m., the company said. The lineup includes Sehun & Chanyeol of K-pop boy group EXO (EXO-SC), who were recently selected as Cass summer campaign models, K-pop girl group Red Velvet