With the COVID-19 virus spreading across the country, department stores and malls are temporarily shutting down branches that confirmed patients are found to have visited. On Friday, Shinsegae Department Store closed its Gangnam branch in Seoul, when one of the employees of its partner company was confirmed to be infected by the new coronavirus. According to the department store, the employee had been off duty for personal reasons since Monday, and then went into self-quarantine on Thursday

The bidding for duty-free store licenses at Incheon International Airport failed to attract tenders to fill all of the cosmetics and apparel sections, the airport operator said Friday, the first time . According to Incheon International Airport Corporation, the operation licenses for two of the eight airside sections in the airport’s Terminal 1, DF2 and DF6, failed to attract bids. DF2 is designated for perfumes and cosmetics, and DF6 for apparel. IIAC opened the bidding on Wednesday,

Korean Air Lines Co., the country's biggest airline by sales, said Friday it will reduce flights on US routes next month and use smaller planes due to declining demand amid the spread of the new coronavirus. Korean Air will temporarily reduce the number of flights on the routes from Incheon to San Francisco, Honolulu and Boston from March 7-28 to minimize the impact of COVID-19 on its business, the company said in a statement. "We may reorganize further flight schedules depending on cor

With the coronavirus outbreak prompting many to wear face masks, demand for smudge-proof makeup has soared, according to Lalavla on Friday. According to the health and beauty chain operated by GS Retail, sales of lip-stain products, face powder and makeup fixers rose 91 percent, 89 percent and 74 percent, respectively, in the period from Feb. 1 to Wednesday compared with the same period the previous year. Sales of products related to a healthy diet also went up 96 percent in the same period

Hyundai Motor Group stopped operations of its Ulsan manufacturing plant’s second factory Friday after an employee who works there was confirmed with COVID-19. According to the automaker, the factory has suspended operations since 11:30 a.m. Friday. The worker was confirmed to be infected that morning. The company said it has disinfected the site and put five co-workers into self-isolation.  A Hyundai Motor employee said the duration of the shutdown will be decided later based on t

Samsung Electronics and its 16 affiliates on Friday apologized for accessing employees’ records of donations to civil organizations without their permission. In a statement, they said the former control tower of Samsung Group -- called the Future Strategy Office -- had unauthorized access to the records of Samsung executives and employees regarding donations to 10 civic groups in May 2013. “The office defined the 10 civic groups as ‘rebellious’ and browsed employees&r

Amid the falling number of passengers and suspension of routes due to the coronavirus outbreak, chief executive officers of Korean budget carriers on Friday released a joint statement asking for the government’s support.  The country’s six low-cost carriers -- Air Busan, Air Seoul, Eastar Jet, Jeju Air, Jin Air and T’way -- said in a joint statement that the “aviation industry has been falling apart” since the nationwide boycott of trips to Japan last year an

Sales of Samsung Electronics Co.'s Galaxy S20 smartphones were lackluster on their first day, 50 percent lower than their predecessors, amid the spreading coronavirus outbreak, industry sources said Friday. Samsung Electronics sold an estimated 70,800 units of the latest smartphone series in the domestic market on Thursday, sharply lower than first-day figures for the previous series, the Galaxy S10 phones, launched in March last year, according to industry insiders. The Galaxy S10 series s

Robots delivering food to doorsteps and serving tables at restaurants may not be that far in the future. LG Electronics and Woowa Brothers said Friday they will jointly develop food delivery-and-serving robots, combining LG’s artificial intelligence and automated indoor driving technologies with Woowa Brothers’ food delivery know-how. Woowa Brothers operates Baedal Minjok, Korea’s biggest food delivery app by market share. The unicorn was acquired by Germany’s Deliver

Celltrion said Friday it has begun research for a drug candidate to fight the new coronavirus. The company has obtained a blood sample from a patient confirmed with COVID-19. Having discovered a drug candidate for the Middle East respiratory syndrome, the company will search for a new potential molecule that can help prevent the spread of the coronavirus. “We’re in the initial phase. It will take time for any results,” said a Celltrion official. “Since viruses mut

  South Korean companies, although they are also feeling the pinch of the fast-spreading coronavirus, are rushing to join the nationwide virus fight with relief efforts, industry sources said Friday. South Korea has so far reported more than 1,700 COVID-19 cases, with most of them identified in the southeastern city of Daegu and surrounding North Gyeongsang Province. Samsung Group, the country's largest conglomerate, on Wednesday decided to donate 30 billion won (US$24.7 million) to the

PC rooms, almost solely dependent on gaming contents, seek ways to stay relevant

South Korea's overall industrial output rose in January, but the rapid spread of the new coronavirus is widely expected to have an impact on industrial activities this month, data showed on Friday. The country's overall industrial output continued to rise for a fourth straight month, posting a 0.1 percent gain in January from a month earlier, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. But production in the mining, manufacturing, gas and electricity industries fell 1.3 percent from a

The license bidding for duty-free stores at Incheon International Airport fell through due to a lack of tenders, the airport operator said Thursday. The biddings to run a section for perfume and cosmetics and another for apparel in the airport's first passenger terminal failed, according to Incheon International Airport Corp. (IIAC). Located west of Seoul, the Incheon airport is South Korea's main gateway. IIAC opened the bidding for five sections at the airport, as the contracts of the c

GS Group said Thursday it has donated 1 billion won ($820,000) to the Community Chest of Korea to prevent and deal with the spread of COVID-19 outbreak. “We hope that the donation will help the medical staff and victims who are struggling under difficult circumstances,” said Chairman Huh Tae-soo. “We will continue to do our best to support those vulnerable to the virus, especially in Daegu and low-income people who suffered from the contraction due to economic activities,&r