For Hwangbo Kyung-sun, a 29 year-old office worker in Seoul, it has become a routine to take omega-3 supplements or krill oil pills along with bringing a face mask and hand sanitizer to protect herself against the fast-spreading COVID-19. “It is basically the most I can do to not get infected from the coronavirus,” Hwangbo told The Korea Herald. Like Hwangbo, more people in South Korea are buying health functional foods, also known as nutraceuticals, which are not pharmaceu

Even as the new coronavirus outbreak is dampening consumer sentiment, imported car sales bucked the trend in South Korea rising 5.3 percent in February on-year, latest data showed Wednesday. According to Korea Automobile Importers and Distributors Association, the number of newly registered imported cars in the country recorded 16,725 units in February. For the first two months of this year, sales increased by 0.8 percent from the same period in 2019 -- from 34,083 units to 34,365 units.

South Korean liquor maker HiteJinro said Wednesday that it had once again chosen singer-actor IU as its model for prominent soju brand Chamisul. IU previously modeled for Chamisul for four years, from 2014 to 2018. “IU is popular and has considerable stature as a singer and actor, and her unique ‘clean’ image (presented as a TV personality), goes along well with the brand,” HiteJinro said. The brand’s IU ads differed from the industry norm when she was first c

McDonald’s Korea said Tuesday it donated 4,200 burger sets to firefighters in Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province, as the region struggles in handling COVID-19. According to the company, it delivered 4,200 coupons that can trade for 1955 Burger set menu to Daegu Fire Department and Gyeongbuk Fire Service Headquarters on Monday. With the number of patients increasing in the region that is hit hardest by the epidemic in South Korea, firefighters have been taking the role to transport the

LS Cable and System said Tuesday it has won a contract worth about $85 million for a subway cable project to connect Bahrain’s islands. The company said it clinched the deal on a turnkey basis, to supply the submarine cables needed to connect 25 kilometers between the Bahrain’s main island and its Hawar Islands in the southeast. The contract was finalized by Al Gihaz, a Saudi Arabian engineering, procurement and construction company. The company will take charge -- from product s

South Korea’s cosmetics giant Amorepacific said Monday it will seek a new buyer for its office building in Nonhyun, southern Seoul, as the preferred bidder has backed out. According to the firm, Hanyang Construction -- which was chosen as the preferred bidder -- canceled the contract to buy Sungam Building for 160 billion won ($131.2 million). Amorepacific had said it decided to sell its building to secure liquidity and to improve solvency. The contracted price accounted for about 2 per

With the COVID-19 virus spreading across the country, department stores and malls are temporarily shutting down branches that confirmed patients are found to have visited. On Friday, Shinsegae Department Store closed its Gangnam branch in Seoul, when one of the employees of its partner company was confirmed to be infected by the new coronavirus. According to the department store, the employee had been off duty for personal reasons since Monday, and then went into self-quarantine on Thursday

The bidding for duty-free store licenses at Incheon International Airport failed to attract tenders to fill all of the cosmetics and apparel sections, the airport operator said Friday, the first time . According to Incheon International Airport Corporation, the operation licenses for two of the eight airside sections in the airport’s Terminal 1, DF2 and DF6, failed to attract bids. DF2 is designated for perfumes and cosmetics, and DF6 for apparel. IIAC opened the bidding on Wednesday,

With the coronavirus outbreak prompting many to wear face masks, demand for smudge-proof makeup has soared, according to Lalavla on Friday. According to the health and beauty chain operated by GS Retail, sales of lip-stain products, face powder and makeup fixers rose 91 percent, 89 percent and 74 percent, respectively, in the period from Feb. 1 to Wednesday compared with the same period the previous year. Sales of products related to a healthy diet also went up 96 percent in the same period

Hanwha Galleria said Thursday it will open Galleria Gwanggyo in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, on Monday, making it the first new department store to open in 10 years and the biggest among the five franchises it operates. According to the company, the store will be located in the Suwon Gwanggyo Convention Complex area, and it will present the best lineup of luxury brands in the Gyeonggi Province area. Galleria Gwanggyo will be the biggest department store for the company, with its building takin

Starbucks Korea will roll out a new set of goods -- a mug, tumbler and card -- designed with mugunghwa, or hibiscus, to celebrate the March 1st Independence Movement Day, the company said on Thursday. The company said it will donate 100 million won ($82,200) from the profit made to the descendants of independence fighters. (herim@heraldcorp.com)

The COVID-19 outbreak has triggered a big demand on “untact” services, which do not require direct contact between businesses and customers, with large retailers expanding their stock for delivery. According to big data analysis firm Appminder, users of food delivery and online shopping apps increased significantly since Korea confirmed its first COVID-19 case on Jan. 20. Before the outbreak in Jan 17-19, about 2.73 million people used food delivery apps including Baedal Minjok a

Disinfection service companies are seeing a threefold spike in fumigation requests as the new coronavirus continues to spread, according to the industry on Wednesday. But with COVID-19 cases increasing in regional communities across the country, the disinfection companies are slogging away to meet the soaring demand. “Before the first confirmed case (of the new coronavirus) came up, we would have around five disinfection jobs a day. But now, we get some 30 orders every day,” Lim

Phillip Morris Korea said Tuesday that it had appointed Paik Young-jay, formerly global director of Google Korea, as its new managing director. Paik, who has a doctorate in cultural anthropology from Yale University, has worked in various industrial sectors over the past 20 years, according to the company. He started his career at McKinsey & Company Korea in 2000 and joined South Korea’s CJ Group in 2003. He also led Blizzard Entertainment Korea as country managing director from 2011

With more people choosing to stay at home amid the rising fear of the fast-spreading COVID-19, delivery apps are seeing a surge in the number of daily orders. But at the same time, many delivery persons are increasingly worried, as food deliveries, in particular, often require direct contact with customers. “It will be a road to disaster if delivery persons get infected with the coronavirus,” an anonymous delivery person said in the open chatroom of a labor union on mobile messeng

South Korea’s leading steelmaker, Posco, said Monday that it had established a matching fund called “Emerald” with Xcoal Energy and Resources, a US-based coal producer, as part of Posco’s GEM matching fund initiative. The two companies signed the agreement Monday, with each promising to pay $50,000 a year into the one-on-one matching grant system. The money will be used for social causes in the two countries on an alternating basis. Posco started its GEM matching fund

South Korea’s leading household electronics rental service company  Coway attributes its competitiveness to the high-tech analyses at its Environmental Technology Research Institute, the biggest such facility in Asia. According to the company, the institute is at the center of its research and development of cutting-edge technologies and products, as the organization spearheads the entire product development process, starting from research to product design and development, to cond

More companies around the world are purchasing renewable energy directly from power producers, under the corporate renewable power purchase agreements, data from Bloomberg New Energy Finance showed. The global market for corporate renewable energy reached 19.5 gigawatts of new deals in 2019, a leap by more than triple from 2017, when the deals made amounted to 5.4 gigawatts. The total size of corporate renewable power purchase agreements has been showing an increasing trend, since it surpasse

Samsung C&T, the construction arm of Samsung Group, said Wednesday it clinched a 1.15 trillion won ($960 million) power plant deal in the United Arab Emirates. According to the company, it won the order placed by Emirates Water and Electricity Co. to build a 2,400-megawatt combined cycle power plant in Fujairah, some 300 kilometers northeast of Abu Dhabi. The envisioned power plant, under the project Fujairah F3, is expected to provide power for 380,000 homes in the region. Construction i

Retail and travel giant Lotte said Wednesday it has prepared a new environment friendly campaign for all of its affiliates, under a five-year plan to reduce food waste, minimize packaging and reuse resources. Lotte Holdings, and four of its business units -- food, retail, chemical/construction/manufacturing and tourism/service/finance -- will take part in the project. Lotte has three main action plans: establishing a plastic recycling system; expanding the use of environment friendly materia