Travelers trying to get from Incheon International Airport to Seoul can do so with ease by using the Airport Express railway system, which can take them directly to Seoul Station. According to data from the Korea Tourism Organization, 98 percent of tourists from English-speaking countries find their way from the airport to Seoul by themselves. Travelers receive information about the airport railroad at the transfer gate at Seoul Station.(AREX)Although there are several ways to get to the city fr

This is the second installment of a series of articles on companies in Korea striving to enter the world’s luxury market. -- Ed.From outside, the building seems nondescript. It sprawls wide and low amid the serene natural scenery of Buyeo in South Chungcheong Province, looking like a government building or perhaps a school.But once inside, the rumbling hum of machinery, bright clean rooms and head-to-toe white paper gowns make it clear that this is a factory where something precious is created.

Furniture-maker Ikea is facing public outcry over its refusal to recall dressers that have been linked to six deaths in North America from its Korean stores, despite recalling the line from its stores in the U.S. and Canada.The problematic Malm dressers are still available for purchase in Korean Ikea stores. Roughly 40,000 of them have been sold in Korea since they were first released in December 2014.The dressers must be firmly attached to the wall before being used to prevent them from tipping

The production of soju has hit a record high this year, surpassing 581,000 kiloliters from January to May, data showed Thursday.According to Statistics Korea, soju production rose 0.4 percent on-year to reach 581,563 kiloliters. This is equivalent to nearly 30 bottles of soju per Korean person.The number includes different variations on soju, such as those infused with fruit flavors.The spike in soju production is attributed by many industry watchers to a sluggish economy. Soju is one of the che

In the lobby of AmorePacific‘s Beauty Campus in Osan, Gyeonggi Province, stands the gigantic installation “Fractal Turtleship” by media artist Paik Nam-june, created to commemorate the opening of the Korea exhibition at the Venice Biennale in 1995.“It presented what Korea had to the world, and embodied the philosophy of breaking down barriers between East and West, between science and art, the everyday and the artistic,” AmorePacific chairman Suh Kyung-bae said about his choice to Maeil Business

The numbers say it all: cosmetics is hot right now in Korea, soaring above the country’s struggling traditional sectors that include manufacturing, shipbuilding, electronics and construction.Behind the success of Korea’s booming cosmetics industry stand two men who made it all happen: Suh Kyung-bae, the 53-year-old head of leading cosmetics company AmorePacific, and Cha Suk-yong, 63, of rival LG Household & Healthcare.The two companies have major differences. AmorePacific is almost exclusively a

In the early 1960s, Korea’s top export product was iron ore, but this eventually changed over the decades to apparel and then to semiconductors, data from the Korea International Trade Association showed Tuesday.Over the same period, Korea’s biggest export market also changed from Japan to the U.S. and then to China, which bought 26 percent of all Korean exports last year. When KITA was established in 1946, Korea had just four countries as trade partners, but this has since grown to 240, as of l

Cho Hyun-min, the youngest daughter of Hanjin Group chairman Cho Yang-ho, has been promoted to vice president of Jin Air, the group’s low-cost carrier, the company said Friday.The 33-year-old Cho, who was the marketing director, will continue to oversee the company’s marketing operations as vice president.  Cho Hyun-min (Jin Air)Cho is the younger sister of Cho Hyun-ah, 42, the former executive vice president of Korean Air who made international headlines for the “nut rage” incident. Her older b

Prosecutors on Thursday morning arrested Shin Young-ja, the chairwoman of Lotte Foundation and older sister of Lotte Group chairman Shin Dong-bin, as they investigate allegations of her involvement in bribery and embezzlement. The Seoul Central Court issued the arrest warrant at around 2 a.m. on Thursday, and Shin was immediately taken into custody.She is the first member of the Shin family -- which rules over the Lotte empire in Korea and Japan -- to be officially arrested in prosecutors’ inves

Consumers in South Korea are reportedly preparing to file civil and criminal suits against local water purifier rental company Coway over its cover-up of defective ice water purifiers containing nickel.Thousands of Coway customers have formed legal action groups through online communities and are getting in touch with lawyers to determine further actions, according to local news reports.One online community against Coway has already amassed 2,700 members in just two days, with more than 400 peop

Food and beverage products that are traditionally considered to be low-cost choices when eating out have seen a price spike in the second quarter of this year, according to Statistics Korea.The largest increase was in the price of soju, which leaped 12.5 percent relative to last year. This is the second consecutive quarter in which soju has seen the biggest on-year price jump.Other popular foods when eating out such as gimbap and ramen have also risen significantly. Gimbap prices rose 5.2 percen

TV shopping company Lotte Home Shopping, which is currently under investigation for bribery, spent nearly 3.3 billion won ($2.83 million) on lobbying fees last year, according to a corporate information tracking website.According to Chaebul.com, that was the largest sum spent on lobbying by the company since 2008, surpassing the 2.9 billion won spent in 2014 when the company was preparing to receive an extension on its home shopping license. Prosecutors move seized documents from Lotte Home Shop

South Korea's meteorological agency said Tuesday it has detected a magnitude 5 earthquake in the water only 52 kilometers off the coast of the southeastern industrial city of Ulsan.  The Busan Regional Office of Meteorology said the earthquake was detected around 8:33 p.m.. The shock was detected across South and North Gyeongsang Province including in major cities such as Busan and Daegu. Sources said the earthquake was strong enough to shake buildings and make objects fall from tables and shelv

Coway, which rents out household products, has reportedly kept consumers in the dark for an entire year regarding nickel found in its ice makers, causing outrage and fears about health risks. On Monday, Coway posted an official apology on its website regarding the controversy. The statement said that the company had found that if the nickel coating on its products’ tubes had worn off, nickel might have been mixed with the ice and water produced. “(Nickel has been found in) some of the ice makers

Prosecutors on Monday requested an arrest warrant for Shin Young-ja, the sister of Lotte Group chairman Shin Dong-bin on charges of bribery and embezzlement.Shin Young-ja is accused of embezzling money from a luxury consulting company owned by her son and naming her daughters as executives at the company to receive salaries. She is also suspected of taking kickbacks totaling approximately 3 billion won ($2.6 million) from cosmetics company Nature Republic in exchange for granting favors regardin

GAS PRICES SLIP -- Drivers fill up on gas at a gas station in Gwanak-gu, Seoul on Sunday. International oil prices fell slightly as the dollar grew stronger after the Brexit vote, but domestic gas prices are holding relatively steady. (Yonhap)

Lotte Group chairman Shin Dong-bin returns to Korea via Gimpo International Airport Sunday. (Yonhap)Lotte Group chairman Shin Dong-bin returned to Korea on Sunday afternoon after nearly a month away from the country, sparking questions about how he will handle the current investigation into the group.Shin, who landed at Gimpo International Airport at 2:38 p.m., was largely silent when questioned by reporters on his stance on prosecutors’ ongoing embezzlement investigation.Shin said only that he

LG Life Science‘s premium health supplement brand Re:Tune has released a new probiotic supplement optimized for improving intestinal health and immunity, the company said Sunday.Probiotics Dual Premium utilizes a patented probiotic strain called DDS-1 produced by the American UAS Labs, and contains 50 billion lactic acid bacteria -- providing the maximum amount of probiotics recommended by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety. http://theinvestor.koreaherald.com/companies_detail.php?q=LGLS(068870

Korea’s hot and humid summer weather makes keeping food fresh a challenge during the summer, and beverage brands are lining the shelves with specially packaged products to put health-conscious consumers at ease.Focusing on popular natural beverages like fruit juices and dairy, the packages are specially designed to keep heat and moisture out even when the products are kept at room temperature.Beverages using aseptic packaging. Clockwise from top left: Dole’s 100% Ice Juice Bar, Del Monte’s Farme

Whether Lotte founder Shin Kyuk-ho has dementia has become a hot button in the Lotte drama that involves his two sons fighting over who should succeed him in the 90-trillion won conglomerate. A source from Shin Dong-joo’s side -- the older brother ousted from the Lotte helm by his younger brother -- revealed to the media earlier this week that the 92-year-old father had been taking medicine for dementia since 2010. It was the first time in the Lotte Group’s prolonged family feud that the older b