South Korean beauty giant Amorepacific is mulling drastically reducing the number of its Chinese stores amid faltering sales, while also ramping up efforts to expand its luxury portfolio and online sales. President Kim Seung-hwan reportedly hinted at a strategic shift in the company’s China business in a meeting with local analysts this week. As of 2019, Amorepacific operated 1,280 stores of five budget brands -- Hera, IOPE, Mamonde, Etude and Laneige -- in China. In 2020 that number fe

Defense Minister Suh Wook will visit Thailand and Singapore next week for talks with senior officials there on bilateral defense cooperation, his ministry said Thursday. On Sunday, Suh will visit Thailand for a four-day visit at the invitation of Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, who doubles as defense minister. They plan to discuss the security situations on the Korean Peninsula and in the region, and discuss arms industry cooperation between Seoul and Bangkok, according to the ministry.

After a rare 4.9 magnitude earthquake rattled the southern island of Jeju on Tuesday, social media is abuzz with what some say could have been Mother Nature’s warnings of the incoming quake. Photos of purported “earthquake clouds,” allegedly taken hours and minutes before the quake struck at 5:19 p.m. Tuesday, have gone viral, prompting the weather agency to clarify them as just regular “cirrocumulus” clouds.  “Such clouds are spotted everywhere. There

Integrating the world of finance and the virtual space of metaverse is currently the biggest challenge for the global finance sector, among other tasks in the path towards digital transformation, the chief strategist for Shinhan Financial Group’s digitalization said Wednesday. “The biggest issue at hand for the global finance sector is metaverse,” said Sunny Yi, chief digital officer of Shinhan Financial Group, at The Korea Herald’s Eurasian Economic & Cult

Central bank chief expresses concerns as consumer inflation is projected to hover in the 2 percent range next year

South Korea's new Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Kim Jung-soo vowed Thursday to forge ahead with the Navy's long-cherished project to secure a light aircraft carrier, as he took the helm of the armed service. Kim made the remarks amid expectations that the Navy will embark on the project to acquire the coveted vessel by 2033 next year, as the National Assembly passed a 7.2 billion won ($6.08 million) budget earlier this month to begin a process for its basic design. "Given that a light ai

South Korean stocks advanced for a second straight session Thursday amid eased uncertainties from the FOMC meeting results. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) rose 17.02 points, or 0.57 percent, to close at 3,006.41 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 397 million shares worth some 8.4 trillion won ($7.1 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 416 to 406. Foreigners bought a net 183 billion won, while institutions sold

The main opposition People Power Party's presidential candidate, Yoon Suk-yeol, saw his lead over ruling Democratic Party rival, Lee Jae-myung, narrowed to a margin of 3.9 percentage points, an opinion poll showed Thursday. Yoon was leading Lee 42.3 percent to 38.4 percent in the survey by RnSearch, commissioned by Maeil Business Newspaper and its affiliated broadcaster MBN. The 3.9 percentage point gap is smaller than a 5.4 percentage point margin in favor of Yoon seen in the previous survey

The world's largest and most influential professional association for police leaders opened its Asia-Pacific office in South Korea on Thursday, the National Police Agency (NPA) said. The Asia-Pacific World Regional Office of the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) began its operations at the NPA in central Seoul, the agency said. The United States-headquartered IACP is the world's largest nonprofit organization of police commanders and currently has about 31,500 members in 168

South Korean mobile realtor app operator Dabang said Thursday it has unveiled a contact-free signing service for real estate contracts, accelerating innovation in the country’s property technology industry. According to the property technology company, the mobile signing service, Dabang Sign, offers users the ability to sign real estate contracts via Dabang’s app. If landlords request to register their houses or apartments with Dabang Sign, the company’s inspection team chec

SK Inc. said Thursday it has joined in on a $50 million investment into Fulcrum BioEnergy, a US-based firm that turns household waste into low-carbon transportation fuels including those for airplanes. According to the holdings company of South Korea’s third-largest conglomerate SK Group, the investment will allow SK Inc. to make a foray into the Korean bioenergy market. SK Inc. is jointly investing in Fulcrum with a Korean private equity fund and did not disclose the exact amount it h

South Korea's military recruitment agency on Thursday disclosed personal information about 342 people accused of dodging mandatory military service. The disclosure of their names, ages, addresses and other details came as part of the efforts by the Manpower Administration to pressure them to fulfill their service and prevent potential draft dodgers, officials said. The list included 92 men who apparently dodged their service as active-duty soldiers and 30 others who attempted to evade their al

Apple, LG Uplus under fire for failing to address problems with incoming calls