Yakult, a sweet probiotic drink in a tiny pale peach bottle, has been Koreans’ favorite beverage for more than 40 years, even creating its own culture through “Yakult ajumma.” While it sounds similar to yogurt and also contains lots of probiotics -- as much as around 20 billion lactic acid bacteria per bottle -- yogurt and Yakult are different products. Yakult originates from Japan, referring to a drink brand made of skim milk powder that contains probiotic culture with su

When social media influencers are paid to post recommendations or reviews on social media, they must clarify that fact and make sure the disclosure is easy to read, the nation’s antitrust watchdog said Tuesday. The Fair Trade Commission said it had finalized revisions to its advertising guidelines, which deal with how to disclose financial interests when posting reviews on social media. The revisions will take effect Sept. 1. The guidelines are designed to prevent violations of the law

South Korean exporters are likely to benefit from rising opportunities in China due to diverse government policies this year, a report suggested Monday. According to the report on China’s six major policy directions and implications released by the Korea International Trade Association’s Institute for International Trade, China’s economic growth rate in the first quarter was minus 6.8 percent, down 12.8 percent from the previous quarter. To revive the economy, the Chinese go

Hyundai Engineering & Construction has been selected as a contractor for Hannam newtown district 3 by the association of housing redevelopment of the region in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, Sunday. At the first round of voting, Hyundai won 1,167 votes, Daelim Industrial had 1,060 votes and GS Engineering & Construction won 497 votes, respectively. Hyundai was selected in a runoff with 1,409 votes. Daelim had 1,258 votes. The construction of Hannam 3 District is estimated to cost 1.8 trillion w

Local golf courses and ranges are booming here as overseas travels remain restricted while outdoor activities are considered relatively safer amid the coronavirus pandemic, industry sources said Sunday. Golf tour reservations rose 300 percent on-year in June, according to Korea’s travel agency Very Good Tour. “The actual demand must be a lot higher considering how Koreans do not tend to hire travel agencies to play golf here. It is very difficult to book a golf course even on week

Liquor, which once lost ground to beer, soju and wine, is recently gaining popularity as people are enjoying drinking at home amid the pandemic, according to industry sources Sunday. E-mart said liquor sales increased 23 percent year-on-year after analyzing alcoholic beverages sold between March and May this year. Sales, in particular, rose 36.4 percent and 36.5 percent in April and May, respectively. Lotte Mart also saw its spirits sales grow 30.8 percent from May 1 to June 17 on-year. B

South Korea’s full service airlines have decided to extend the validity of their mileage points by one year as customers are finding it difficult to use them amid the virus pandemic, officials said Thursday. Korean Air and Asiana Airlines decided to extend the validity period that expires on January 1, 2022, after consultation with the Fair Trade Commission and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. The move comes after persistent criticism that the expiration is unfair as

Despite public apathy and tougher shareholder censure, South Korea’s chaebol groups are preparing a generational shift in leadership. The Korea Herald looks at different conglomerates and succession scenarios. -- Ed. South Korea’s largest conglomerate Samsung’s de facto leader Lee Jae-yong made headlines last month by announcing that he would not pass on managerial rights to his children. Although Lee is the first conglomerate head to officially declare an end to family s

The Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry is set to hold its seventh photo contest under the theme of “the workplace and life of businesspeople” along with an additional contest for “COVID-19,” the business association said Thursday. The nation’s largest photo contest in terms of prize money, began in 2014 to capture images of companies and workers leading the Korean economy. Annually, the contest recieves the highest number of entries among paid photo contes

YouTube is seen to be the biggest online platform through which misinformation and fake news is being spread in South Korea, according to a new survey. The latest “Digital News Report 2020” released by the UK-based Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism noted that 31 percent of online news consumers surveyed picked YouTube were most concerned about the platform being used to spread false information. It was followed by Facebook (10 percent), KakaoTalk and other messenger se

GS Group Chairman Huh Tae-soo urged company executives Wednesday to pay more attention to new consumer trends, adding digital transformation based on mobile and artificial intelligence will become more active in the future. His remarks came at the GS executive forum held for the second time since he took the helm early this year. The forum was attended by around 30 senior executives from all affiliates. “The political, social and economic shocks and changes caused by the pandemic are

Housing polarization is rapidly deepening in South Korea, with the price gap between high and low-priced apartments widening to the highest levels in 10 years, latest data showed. According to the monthly housing price trend released by Kookmin Bank, prices of low-cost apartments nationwide have fallen by 2.2 percent, or 2.5 million won ($2,069), while those of expensive apartments have risen by 15.5 percent, or more than 100 million won, over the past year. 　 Compared to two years ago, the

Asiana Airlines held an extraordinary shareholders meeting Monday, and voted to raise capital by increasing shares and issuing convertible bonds. The South Korean flag carrier put to a vote its decision to revise its articles of association, calling for an increase in the total number of issued shares and a higher limit on CBs. The amendment was passed with the approval of all shareholders present. With the shareholders’ approval, Asiana will increase the total number of its shares to 1

Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering said Monday it is applying domestically developed technologies at its shipbuilding sites to reduce person-to-person contact amid the coronavirus pandemic. The shipbuilder said it recently completed testing liquefied natural gas carriers by utilizing its own remote maintenance support system called DS4 AR Support. Its pilot tests were successful, which were done with engineers from overseas via an online application.  This system combines au

Coupang is set to pay 1 million won ($828) to each of its 2,600 temporary workers who have had to self-quarantine because of the COVID-19 pandemic. On Thursday, the country’s leading e-commerce operator issued an in-house notice from Representative Director Sam Ko, saying, “We thought we had weathered the crisis. But COVID-19 has started spreading again, mainly in the metropolitan areas.” He added, “This is not an easy battle.” Coupang has made various so

With no companies bidding for the sale of Korean Air’s land in Songhyeon-dong, Seoul, the government unveiled plans to launch a corporate asset purchase program worth 2 trillion won ($1.6 billion), raising expectations that the carrier may have a new option.　 According to industry sources, there were no participants in the preliminary bidding for Korean Air’s land, which closed Wednesday. That outcome was deemed to have been influenced by the Seoul Metropolitan Government’s p

The emergency disaster relief funds for citizens provided by the government to combat the impact of COVID-19 pandemic were mainly used for dining out and shopping while sales for opticians, hospitals and pharmacies grew the most last month, data showed. The Ministry of the Interior and Safety data, which analyzed the use of credit and debit cards for availing the emergency funds from May 11-31 by eight companies, including KB Kookmin, NongHyup, Lotte, BC, Samsung, Shinhan, Hana and Hyundai

The Korea International Trade Association said Wednesday it has submitted an official opinion to the US Department of Commerce to exclude Korean electric transformers from its investigation on imported transformers and parts. According to the business association, the US launched an investigation into imported transformers and parts, viewing them as national security threats under Article 232 of the Trade Expansion Act. Imports make up around 85 percent of transformer and relevant parts supp

As the private and public sectors join hands to increase trade during the COVID-19 pandemic, South Korean exporters are expected to see wider access to trade financing, as well as increased cargo shipments and fast-track entry procedures for major trading partners. At the forefront of these efforts is the Korea International Trade Association, which recently surveyed 722 exporters to better understand their concerns and draw up policy suggestions for the government. According to the survey, c

LS Cable & System is promoting activities with the local community near its workplace, focusing on areas such as recovery from COVID-19, “talent donations” from executives and employees and support for welfare organizations. The cable maker recently provided 100 million won ($83,451) to the food pack business in Sejong City. It is a project to provide food and household goods to the elderly living alone, children without parents and people on low-incomes, all groups that are ha