South Korean cosmetics giant Amorepacific is reconstructing its brand image in a bid to wean its sales off a dependence on China and ramp up its sales in North America and Europe. According to Amorepacific, the company on Wednesday released First Care Activating Serum VI, the six edition of Sulwhasoo's flagship serum. Sulwhasoo is Amorepacific's luxury skincare subsidiary brand that accounts for some 40 percent of the Korean beauty giant's total annual cosmetics sales. The company

South Korean construction giant Booyoung Group said Wednesday it has donated a total of 200 buses to the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh as part of its ongoing social contribution activities in the Southeast Asian country. Booyoung Group founder and Chairman Lee Joong-keun and Phnom Penh Municipal Gov. Khuong Sreng attended the delivery ceremony held Tuesday (local time), with dozens of city and company officials and Korean residents there present. The latest donation, worth $8.83 million, aims

South Korean e-commerce giant Coupang is extending its winning streak in earnings, posting a profit for the second consecutive quarter in the fourth quarter 2022, according to its earnings report on Wednesday. The US-listed company said it posted quarterly operating profits of $83.4 million in the September-December period, an almost 10 percent growth from $77 million in the third quarter when the company first turned a profit since launching its ultrafast Rocket Delivery service in 2014. The co

South Korean duty-free retailers are expected to see a bump in profits this year with the return of Chinese tourists, according to a Bank of Korea report released Tuesday. This year the number of Chinese tourists visiting Korea is estimated to reach 2 million –10 times last year’s 200,000. The Korean government’s lifting of mandated PCR tests for Chinese tourists upon arrival and the recent resumption of short-term visa issuance for Chinese nationals were cited as key driving

Four years since the “No Japan” boycott in South Korea, Japanese goods are making a comeback in the local market. The boycott, which followed Japan's introduction of control on exports of some of its key products to Korea, was one of Korea's biggest economic boycotts conducted on imported goods. Japanese clothing retailer Uniqlo, one of the brands hit the hardest in the nation by the “No Japan” boycott, said through its annual earnings report for 2022 that the b

South Korean commodities trader Posco International said Friday it will strengthen its food business overseas by cooperating with Korean food giant Daesang. The two companies signed a memorandum of understanding to review joint investments in new overseas starch sugar businesses on Thursday. "We hope that this cooperation with Daesang, who conducts the largest starch business in the country, provides us with the opportunity to expand the value chain of the food business," said Lee Sang

This is the first installment of a series of interviews with global business chiefs of South Korean food companies that are expanding aggressively in overseas markets. -- Ed. Paris Baguette is a bakery as common in South Korea as Dunkin Donuts is in the United States. The nation’s No. 1 bakery chain, operated by food giant SPC Group, boasts a whopping 3,400 outlets nationwide, which means almost one in five bakeries in Korea is a Paris Baguette store. In recent years, Paris Baguette ha

SK Networks said Wednesday it has invested an accumulative $176 million in some 20 global projects as of 2023, disclosing its global investment performance for the first time at an investment briefing session. “Based on our investment experiences in Silicon Valley, we will play a gate-keeper role in global innovation,” said SK Networks General Executive Director & President Choi Sung-hwan in his opening remarks at the event held in Seoul. “We will use our influence not just

CJ Logistics, South Korea’s largest logistics firm, said Tuesday it has opened a regional office in Wroclaw, Poland, in a bid to target the European logistics market. According to CJ Logistics, Wroclaw is the largest industrial city and logistics hub in southern Poland. The company explained that the city functions as an important crossing region for European companies, as it is located right in the middle of Europe. Moreover, CJ Logistics explained that Poland is home to Gdansk port, wh

South Korean builder Ssangyong Engineering & Construction said Tuesday it has completed the construction of Atlantis the Royal, a $1.2 billion ultraluxury resort complex, after almost seven years of work. Atlantis the Royal, set on the crescent of the human-made island Palm Jumeirah in Dubai of the United Arab Emirates, comprises three 44-story five-star hotels and three residence hotels. The hotel buildings consist of 791 rooms, 94 pools and penthouses with their own private infinity pools,

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport on Monday unveiled a slew of long-term plans to establish smart logistics infrastructure across the country, which will enable one-hour delivery services using drones and artificial intelligence. The government said it first plans on commercializing robot deliveries by 2026 and drone deliveries by 2027. "We will support the development of technologies to commercialize unmanned deliveries, and create a test bed made exclusively for the pract

South Korean food companies reported robust sales last year, but high raw material prices weighed down their profit growth. In 2022, Korean food companies Lotte Confectionery, SPC Samlip, Ottogi and Nongshim newly joined the short list of Korean food companies who posted annual sales of 3 trillion won ($2.3 billion) or more -- a feat achieved by only four Korean food companies so far. The top four food companies leading the country in terms of sales, which include CJ CheilJedang, Dongwon F&B

Posco International's pharmaceutical joint venture in Sudan reported a profit in 2022, logging sales of 30.1 billion won ($23 million), up 36 percent increase from the year earlier, the firm said Thursday. In its earnings report, the company said General Medicines Co., the Sudanese joint venture it established with Shinpoong Pharmaceutical recorded an operating profit of 10.3 billion won, a 42 percent increase on-year. According to Posco International, its sales were buoyed by GMC's sa

The Korean retail industry is busy preparing measures to erase actor Yoo Ah-in from their brands' promotions, after the actor tested positive for marijuana use and became embroiled in an open drug test investigation for the illegal use of propofol. Musinsa, the largest online fashion platform in Korea by sales, told The Korea Herald that the company is currently reviewing the termination of its brand model contracts with the actor. "With the investigation currently underway, we first d

Hyundai Mobis, a car parts maker under Hyundai Motor Group, unveiled its investment strategies and shareholder return policies for 2023 on Tuesday. According to Hyundai Mobis, the company is to invest a total of 10 trillion won ($7.9 billion) over the next three years, mainly investing 5 trillion to 6 trillion won of cash to secure competitiveness in the electrification of automobiles and acquisition of key components used to make cars. In addition, it will be investing 3 trillion to 4 trillion

Posco Holdings said Tuesday it is pushing for a project in the United States to extract lithium, a key battery material, from lithium clay deposits. Posco Holdings recently signed a memorandum of understanding with Jindalee Resources to have the Australia-based mineral exploration company provide Posco with lithium clay, while Posco jointly develops lithium extraction process technology with Pohang Institute Industrial Science. Jindalee Resources currently owns a 100 percent stake in the McDermi

By Song Sang-keun Football, Pho noodles, and Ao Dai first come to Korean minds when it comes to Vietnam, but the country is less well-known for its natural environment that favors fisheries development. The northern part of Vietnam is home to expansive mangrove forests and mudflats, which has enabled the growth of shellfish aquaculture that has supported local economies since the mid-1990s. In recent years, however, Vietnam has suffered a drastic decrease in shellfish production due to overfishi

South Korea’s largest cigarette and ginseng maker KT&G said Thursday its 2022 sales hit a record high of 5.85 trillion won ($4.65 billion), a 12 percent jump from a year prior, largely driven by its hot-selling heat-not-burn tobacco products. During the same period, the company reported 1 trillion won in net income, up 3 percent on-year. The company was especially buoyed by upbeat sales of HNB products abroad that also stood at a record of 1.42 trillion won, a 13.8 percent growth year-

The South Korean unit of international tobacco company Philip Morris Korea said on Wednesday it will release Iqos Iluma One in Korea this month, amid the tobacco companies' heated competition for market share in Korea. "The newly released Iqos Iluma One, which is the latest addition to our flagship heat-not-burn electronic cigarette brand Iqos, is most characterized by its all-in-one design," said PMK managing director Paik Young-jay during a press conference. According to Paik, u

Korean food giant Pulmuone is in talks with US food-tech company Yokai Express to sign a deal before July for the launch of vending machines that can cook instant meals, the firm said Tuesday. "Pulmuone is in due process of securing exclusive rights to distributing and installing Yokai Expresss' vending machines that will sell Pulmuone's products in Korea," a Pulmuone official told The Korea Herald. "We aim for the contract to be signed during the first half of this year