Convenience store CU said Thursday it will roll out a drive-thru order pickup service sometime this month, in the latest in a series of moves by the retail industry to reduce human-to-human contact amid the pandemic. Using a mobile app, customers can browse through products and place their orders at the location they choose. As they drive to the store, staff will prepare the order then step out of the store to hand over the merchandise to shoppers in their vehicle. The move comes as retailers

The year 2020 has been one marred by a global pandemic. For the aviation industry, it was a time of unseen hardships. Countries around the world took a different approach to the virus crisis as some tried to maintain the flow of people while others were quick to close down the borders. South Korea‘s strategy was to balance the two apporaches, said Kim Sang-do, deputy minister for civil aviation at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. “We did a great job preemptive

In a country first, Korean Air transported raw materials used to make COVID-19 vaccine from Korea to the Netherlands on Tuesday, the company said Wednesday. The South Korean flag carrier used a cold-chain system to deliver the packages weighing 800 kilograms, including containers and dry ice. Of the 800 kilograms, 208 kilograms is dry ice in special containers to keep temperatures below minus 60 degrees Celsius for some 120 hours – a threshold required to safely transport raw materials f

From facial masks to BB creams, Korean beauty products -- often dubbed K-Beauty -- have become one of South Korea’s biggest exports in recent years, riding the wave of the country’s rise in soft power typified by TV shows and K-pop. But one brand is making small waves in a way unprecedented by any others in the country before. Launched by a former advertising director in 2018, LAKA Cosmetics is South Korea’s first gender-neutral makeup brand. “Every product of ours do

The Korea Maritime Institute will hold a forum on the Yellow Sea and the important role of oceans in achieving the UN sustainable development goals, in Seoul on Thursday. The 2020 Sustainable Development Forum for the Yellow Sea will see a group of environmental experts -- including Ban Ki-moon, former secretary-general of the United Nations and current chair of the National Council on Climate and Air Quality of Korea -- put their heads together to discuss the challenges facing oceans, particul

SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won said Thursday that it was important to embrace environmental, social and corporate governance and nurture empathy to overcome the current environmental crisis. Speaking at Tokyo Forum 2020, an event held jointly by the Chey Institute for Advanced Studies and the University of Tokyo, he said people are now living in the Anthropocene Epoch, a time when human activity has begun having a major impact on the environment. Chey said the “world is in urgent need&r

South Korea’s leading ginseng manufacturer, Korea Ginseng, has signed a memorandum of understanding with the International Vaccine Institute to develop an adjuvant -- an agent that can improve the performance of a vaccine. The two will work together to develop an adjuvant using Korea Ginseng’s popular red ginseng brand CheongKwanJang, the company said Friday. Korea Ginseng will provide 12 types of ginsenosides while the institute, a nonprofit organization that is working with vacci

Starbucks Korea opened a new store on Thursday with a commitment to prioritize disabled workers, in a first in the country. The new location at the Seoul National University Dental Hospital will run with a staff of 12, six of whom are employees with disabilities The coffeehouse giant also said sign language training and disability awareness education was given to staff as part efforts to improve the perception of those with disabilities. Launching on the International Day of People with Disa

South Korean cable maker LS Cable & System has recently released a series of new smart cables, including a long-distance Power over Ethernet cable and a hacker-proof optical fiber cable. PoE cables are capable of delivering both data connection and electric power, and are easy to install in places such as in ceilings and between gaps. But their standard distance has remained 100 meters. LS Cable & System’s SimpleWide cable, however, has extended the distance to 200 meters. The c

Korean Air’s president has said there would be no layoffs as a result of its takeover of Asiana Airlines. Woo Kee-hong, the airline’s president, said during a press briefing on Wednesday that most staff at both airlines would stay despite the takeover as Korean Air had “no plans to reduce supply.” His remarks come one day after a court ruling cleared the first legal hurdle for the acquisition. The share price of Asiana, which had been on the rise since the announcement

Nearly two-thirds of South Koreans are hoping to travel to another country next year, according to a new survey by e-commerce platform TMon Inc. Among those 1,800 surveyed over a five-day period last month, 64 percent said they wanted to travel abroad in 2021, of which 57 percent said they will do so after getting vaccinated against COVID-19. Over half of respondents said they wanted to go on holiday with family and spend at least five days traveling. The findings come as reports of a breakth

A court on Tuesday rejected an injunction request against Korean Air’s plans to take over Asiana Airlines, in the latest step giving a boost to the high-profile acquisition deal involving South Korea’s two national flag carriers. “The case involving issuance of new shares is in accordance with the commercial law and Hanjin KAL’s articles of incorporation and has been done within necessary boundaries to achieve the goal of managing a consolidated airline,” the Seou

With the end-of-year shopping season in full swing, South Korea’s major online shopping platforms including Coupang, WeMakePrice and Olive Young have announced big discounts and special deals. Coupang, the largest e-commerce platform in the country, is holding a Christmas sale until Boxing Day offering a range of Christmas-related items at a special price including home decor products and gifts. Discounts of up to 50 percent are being offered for some of the most popular kids’ toys

Shipping company HMM said on Monday that it is dispatching a fifth vessel for the US West Coast sea lane in an “emergency move” to help South Korean exporters to the US market. The 4600-twenty-foot-equivalent-unit container vessel named Integral will depart from the Port of Busan on Monday evening and head to Los Angeles, the company said. HMM said nearly 64 percent of the vessel’s shipping capacity is products from small and medium-sized enterprises, including air purifiers

The state-run Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency said Sunday that it has conducted over 30,000 teleconsulting sessions to help connect local businesses and foreign buyers since the pandemic began earlier this year. With over 7,700 South Korean businesses and over 14,000 foreign buyers having taken advantage of KOTRA’s business consulting services, which began in February, a total of 446 business deals have been struck so far, worth 80.2 billion won ($72 million), KOTRA explained. Ea

Consumption of alcohol at home has been growing amid the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic. According to Statistics Korea earlier this week, households spent an average 19,651 won ($17.75) a month on alcoholic beverages, the highest figure since the agency began collecting relevant data. With that, the demand for better convenience in drinking has also surged, further accelerating the growth of ready-to-drink alcoholic beverages since before the pandemic. The ready-to-drink market in the US, for inst

South Korean general foods company Daesang said Thursday that it is branching out into the Middle Eastern market, which serves a population of about 4 billion, with popular food products such as halal-certified kimchi and tofu. Daesang said it has teamed up with 21 stores in Qatar, including Carrefour, Lulu and Spar. In Iraq its products are being distributed through Carrefour and Majidi Mall, with plans underway to expand its presence in the region to countries including Saudi Arabia and Israe

Posco International, a South Korean general trading company, celebrated the achievements of its corporate social responsibility project known as “pro bono volunteers” Thursday. The volunteer team -- made up of employees skilled in the fields of marketing, human resources and finance -- worked with social enterprises for the last six months, offering them mentoring. Some of the beneficiaries included Dodohan Collabo, a media content platform focusing on youth policy; Eunhasoo Art Mu

The International Air Transport Association’s regional vice president said on Wednesday that the aviation industry could see more consolidation between airlines from the same country in the wake of Korean Air and Asiana Airlines acquisition deal. “We’ve had a number of airlines who’ve tried to set up regional operations but they’ve tended to be challenged by the ownership and control rules that apply in different countries with respect to air operator certificates,

The Transport Ministry and Incheon International Airport Corp. said Wednesday that IIAC has been chosen as the strategic advisory consulting partner for Poland’s new airport project known as the Solidarity Transport Hub.  With the 5.6 billion-won ($5.06 million) deal set to be signed later this year, IIAC will take on multiple responsibilities, including reviewing the master plan and writing a white paper for the development and operation of the new airport that is set to replace War