Retailers are anticipating a surge in online shopping in the coming weeks ahead of this year’s Lunar New Year holiday, widely known as Seollal in South Korea. Leading Korean e-commerce business Tmon said Monday that the volume of orders generated from its “contactless gift-giving” service saw a 452 percent increase during the past two weeks. Nearly 7 in 10 shoppers purchased items priced below 30,000 won ($27.20), the data also showed, up 7 percent from last year’s figu

Two major South Korean duty-free operators, Lotte and Shilla, will close their stores at Incheon Airport’s Terminal 1 next month, leaving more empty space at the airport. Both Lotte Duty Free and Shilla Duty Free’s leases expired in August but were extended for an additional six months after new bidders backed out before signing contracts, as the worsening coronavirus pandemic threatened prospects for duty-free shopping businesses. With the possibility of further extensions off th

Once the symbol of South Korea’s K-beauty boom, cosmetics franchise stores are now declining at an alarming rate as international tourism dwindles and online shopping takes the spotlight during the pandemic. Myeong-dong, one of the most popular downtown shopping districts, took the shopping crunch hard. Its stores, which used to bustle with tourists from China, Japan and various Southeast Asian states, are now struggling to survive in the high-rent district amid a dwindling number of visi

Low-cost carrier Jin Air has sold over 10,000 of its in-flight themed ready meals in their first month, according to the airline -- nearly one every four minutes. The ready-meal series including beef goulash pasta, rice with cashew chicken chwinamul (aster leaves) and cream pasta was released in November, themed after in-flight meals to cater to those who miss airplane food. “It appears many customers are enjoying our ready-meals to remember the excitement of traveling and quench the thi

EBay Korea appointed Chun Hang-il as its new chief executive officer on Wednesday, amid growing speculation that the US e-commerce firm is poised to sell its business interests in South Korea. Chun, who previously led the Japanese unit of eBay, will take over from outgoing CEO Byun Kwang-yun from Thursday. The leadership shakeup comes a day after the online retail giant announced it was looking at “alternatives for its Korea business” amid growing competition from the likes of Cou

Two-term Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Kwon Chil-seung was named President Moon Jae-in’s nominee for minister of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises and Startups on Wednesday. If confirmed, he will take over the role previously held by Park Young-sun since April 2019 and will oversee the organization to strengthen competitiveness and support innovation of SMEs and micro enterprises. Park resigned from her position early on Wednesday amid speculation that she will soon announce her bi

South Korea’s budget airline industry is poised for a seismic change this year, with two new players ready to enter the competition amid a pandemic-induced market consolidation. Aero K, one of the two, is set to begin operations next month. “Our first Cheongju-Jeju flight is scheduled on Feb. 19 after receiving permission for the route from the Transport Ministry yesterday,” one Aero K official told The Korea Herald. Two round-trip Airbus A320 flights between Cheongju Airp

Samsung heir Lee Jae-yong was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison for bribing former President Park Geun-hye on Monday, joining a long list of conglomerate owners who have been charged with a similar offense in the past. While Lee is the first Samsung chief to be imprisoned and has been sentenced twice -- in a retrial Monday as well as in February 2017 -- Lee Byung-chul, the late founder of Samsung Group, was similarly investigated though without being indicted. Lee Jae-yong’s late father

Bustling, noisy and lively -- it is how Myeong-dong used to be described as Seoul’s premier shopping district. Packed with tourists, food stands and long lines of shops, it is one of the most expensive shopping streets in the world, according to global property firm Cushman & Wakefield’s annual Main Streets Across the World report. But a quick walk around the shopping district nowadays makes it clear that things have drastically changed -- and for the worse. With many shoppe

Grocery delivery firm Market Kurly has won an award for its insulation packaging from the World Packaging Organization, the company said on Friday. The WorldStar Global Packaging Award was given to 194 recipients this year, including Market Kurly, which won the prize in the transit category for its eco-friendly insulated corrugated box. The recyclable, corrugated packaging mimics the insulation effect of a cooler with a pad attached to the insides of the box, allowing a layer of air to form b

Low-cost carrier T’way Air said Friday it will fly two more international flights to nowhere later this month, flying over Fukuoka, Japan. Passengers for the flights scheduled to take off from Incheon Airport on Jan. 30 and 31 will enjoy special deals for shopping at Lotte Duty Free stores as well as coupons and souvenir goods such as a calendar and blanket, the company said. “You will be able to enjoy the feelings of traveling as well as shopping with this new flight and have a un

The nation’s flagship air carrier Korean Air on Thursday filed documents to the Fair Trade Commission and antitrust authorities in eight other countries for a review of its planned takeover of the debt-laden Asiana Airlines. “We’ve had a business combination application submitted by Korean Air regarding the purchase of Asiana Airlines’ shares,” the FTC said in a statement. The airline also took the same steps in eight other countries including the United States,

As people looked for ways to enhance their immune system amid the coronavirus pandemic, red ginseng is enjoying a surge in popularity both in Korea and elsewhere, according to Korea‘s leading red ginseng brand CheongKwanJang. “Since the coronavirus outbreak, consumption of red ginseng in Korea has risen for its immune-boosting and other health benefits,” one official at Korea Ginseng Corp. said on Wednesday. “Korean Red Ginseng Concentrated Extract, made of 100 percent

South Korea, China and Japan have agreed to a new air corridor over the sea south of Jeju Island following safety concerns over the growing air traffic in one of the busiest airspaces in the world, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. The new move, which is set to take effect in late March, will give Korea air traffic control over parts of the airspace previously controlled by air traffic authorities in Japan with dual airways set to be established in the section con

Korean food overtook fried chicken as the second-most-popular delivery food last year, according to on-demand delivery platform Vroong on Monday. While burgers remained the most popular food ordered via Vroong in 2020 and fried chicken was pushed to third place, desserts swapped places with “bunsik” -- a category that includes popular street food items such as gimbap, tteokbokki and fish cakes. Mesh Korea, the company behind the food delivery app, attributed the greater popularit

Hyundai Motor has sold over 2 million units of its signature sedan Grandeur, the company said Sunday. As of last year, the Grandeur sold a total of 2,000,573 units since the release of its first model in 1986, the automaker said. The sedan sold 145,463 units during last year alone, breaking its annual sales record and becoming the best-selling car in the country for the fourth consecutive year. The Grandeur was initially seen as a luxury car symbolizing success, but the sedan has more recen

Korean Air on Thursday unveiled its redesigned official website and mobile app, enabling customers to access the cheapest tickets for any given date or destination. The “cart saving” feature will allow customers to save details when they decide to leave the website during the process of booking so that they can come back and continue the process later. The revamped mobile app dubbed “Korean Air My” has adopted a simpler design and made main services more accessible, the

Shareholders of Korean Air Lines Co. agreed to change its corporate mandate to clear a hurdle for its takeover of Asiana Airlines, the airline said on Wednesday. In a meeting at its headquarters in Seoul, nearly 70 percent of stockholders who were present voted to pass an amendment of an article, drastically lifting the cap on total outstanding stocks from 250 million to 700 million. With the amendment, the company can push ahead with its plan to issue 173.6 million new shares to raise capita

South Koreans’ spending on drinks and cigarettes reached a record high during the third quarter of last year, the Bank of Korea said Tuesday. Households spent 4.3 trillion won ($3.96 billion) on liquor and cigarettes between July and September – a 6.2 percent increase from the same period a year prior, data from the country’s central bank revealed. The figure marks the highest quarterly figure since records began at the central bank in 1970. The year-on-year jump is also th

GS Group will focus on digital competency and environmentally-friendly management to discover new business projects, the chairman of the group Huh Tae-soo said on Monday. In a livestreamed New Year’s address from the company‘s headquarters in Seoul, Huh said his company will push for “new businesses in various fields” and urged employees to adjust their ways of working to adapt to change. While last year was a “period of change” marred by the uncertainty sur