Salt prices surged 42.8 percent in August from a year earlier, the highest growth since 1981, government data showed Monday.According to Statistics Korea, salt prices have increased for eight consecutive months this year. In August the prices jumped 13.6 percent from July. Fears over the potential r

Shinsegae Group said Monday it will build a multiplex shopping mall in Hanam, Gyeonggi Province, by 2015 in a partnership with a U.S.-based developer Taubman Centers. Located at a 117,000-square-meter site in Hanam, one of Seoul’s satellite cities, Hanam Union Square will be the largest shopping mal

This is the third installment of a series that spotlights Korean products enjoyed by people overseas. ― Ed. Cheng Sheng I, a Taiwanese dealer for Cheong Kwan Jang, the Korean red ginseng brand name solely owned by Korea Ginseng Corp., is currently busy dealing with soaring orders from stores nationw

The Fair Trade Commission said Sunday that it has fined five multinational drugmakers and one local firm a total of 11 billion won ($10 million) for illegal rebate activities. The financial and non-financial benefits given in return for prescriptions and drug orders between August 2006 and March 200

Bulgogibrothers, a local franchise specializing in Korean barbeque, said Thursday it will open its first overseas store in the Philippines on Sept. 8.The bulgogi store will be the first hansik, or Korean food, restaurant located in the city of Makati, the financial center of Manila, the company said

Kim Gi-hoKim Gi-ho, former CEO of GS Digital TV, has been named as the new chief executive of Yes24, Korea’s largest Internet-based book retailer.“I feel heavy responsibility as the new president in a time when the publishing market is facing a paradigm shift,” he said in his inauguration speech. “I

Korea’s high-end product markets expected to grow further in next 5 yearsKorean consumers’ love for luxury goods may have exceeded that of the Japanese, research found Wednesday.Koreans consumed 5 percent of their per capita income on high-end products, compared to 4 percent of the Japanese, accordi

The National Tax Service said Wednesday that it is investigating 38 people suspected of stashing personal wealth abroad for tax evasion. The large-scale probe came after the taxation agency for the first time in June had asked some 2,000 individuals to voluntarily report their overseas assets worth

 Baek Sung-hee, professor of biological science at Seoul National University, was on Tuesday awarded the Korea L’Oreal-UNESCO Awards for Women in Life Science in recognition of her study of cancer. Baek Sung-heeThe award, jointly given by the France-based beauty company’s Korean branch, UN

Two prominent figures in Korea’s instant noodle industry gambled with new products this year, with totally different consequences revealed on Tuesday. Nongshim, the nation’s largest instant noodle maker, announced Tuesday it has decided to stop producing Shin Ramyun Black, whose sales started four m

Amid soaring gold prices, companies maintain gold reward for long-term workersLotte Department Store, a leading retailer, has maintained a unique reward system for long-term employees for more than 20 years ― offering a gold nugget. Starting with the 10 dons of gold given to workers who have worked

Korean consumers will be able to enjoy sipping instant coffee offered by Starbucks from next month, the Seattle-based company’s Korean branch said Sunday. The Korean introduction of the Starbucks VIA Ready Brew is scheduled for Sept. 16 at 363 Starbucks coffee houses here, Starbucks Korea spokeswoma

BUSAN ― AD Stars 2011, which marks its fourth anniversary this year, is the world’s first on-offline convergence advertising festival held in Busan, Korea’s southeastern port city. “Unlike other international advertising events, the Busan festival actually takes place all year long,” said Choi Hwan-

BUSAN ― AD Stars 2011, an international advertising festival, kicked off its three-day event on Thursday in this southeastern port city of Busan.The event, which celebrates the fourth anniversary this year, was the world’s first on-offline convergence advertising festival. Some 700 advertising indus

By Lee Ji-yoonCaff Bene, a Korean coffee house chain, received the best reviews in a recent consumer survey, while other local coffee retailers also scored high compared to international rivals.Korea Consumer Agency and KAIST Center for Fair Trade and Consumer Protection announced Wednesday the resu

By Lee Ji-yoonHomeplus, a local supermarket chain, said Wednesday it will open a “virtual store” in a subway station in southern Seoul so that customers can buy products without visiting an outlet. The virtual store will start operation from Thursday at Seonreung Station in Yeoksam-dong. According t

“Jeonse” prices soared in the metropolitan area to exceed half the value of new homes last month, research found Tuesday. The lump sum deposit that a tenant has to pay to the landlord reached 50.1 percent of home prices last month, the highest since 2006, research firm Real Today said.  A passe

A growing number of Koreans are turning to online retailers to purchase gold items at cheaper prices amid skyrocketing prices of pure gold here. G-Market, a leading online retailer, said Monday that its sales of solid gold items had increased almost sevenfold as of Aug. 15 compared to the same perio

E-Mart, Korea’s No. 1 discount store chain, said Monday that it will invest about 400 billion won ($370 million) to establish a logistics complex in Gyeonggi Province by 2014. The complex, located at a 500,000 square meter site in Anseong, 77 kilometers south of Seoul, will become the nation’s large

Homeplus said that its COO Do Sung-hwan has been named as the chief executive of Tesco Malaysia.  Do Sung-hwanHomeplus started its operation here in 1999 as a joint venture between Samsung Group and Tesco. Currently, the U.K.-based retail giant holds almost 95 percent of company shares. In 12 y