South Korea's mid-sized cosmetics companies suffered losses in the third quarter of this year as they strived to reform their business structures in the face of tough competition at home, industry sources said Sunday.Able C&C, which operates budget cosmetics brand Missha, swung to the red in the July-September period, posting a net loss of 9.4 billion won ($8.3 million), it said. Its sales dropped 12.1 percent to 73.1 billion won and operating income swung to loss of 13.2 billion won.  (Yonhap)T

On the Bar is a regular column written by attorneys at Yoon & Yang LLC on various laws and regulations that affect running a business in Korea. The content provided here is general legal information. -- Ed.The Act on External Audit of Stock Companies has undergone numerous amendments since its enactment in 1981.The latest amendment, which took effect on Nov. 1 this year, contains the most sweeping reform measures affecting all stakeholders in the accounting industry -- companies, auditors and re

Affiliates and subsidiaries of South Korea’s top 30 conglomerates spent a combined 64.9 trillion won ($57.3 billion) on acquiring business assets, such as facilities and projects for research and development, in the first three quarters of this year, data showed Sunday.  (Yonhap)The conglomerates’ volume of capital expenditure -- spending on tangible assets -- and operating expenses -- of intangible assets -- combined rose 10.9 percent compared to the first three quarters in 2017, according to d

Police on Friday referred to the prosecution a venture company chief accused of abetting online circulation of obscene videos and cruelly assaulting company employees.Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency recommended an indictment against Yang Jin-ho, chairman of robot developer K-Technology, who also owns two online file storage service providers.Police found more than 52,230 obscene and illegal files including spycam and revenge porn circulated via the sites since December 2013. Yang earned

The number of people who own two or more houses has increased by 140,000 in a year, with the number of those owning five or more houses surpassing 110,000, data by Statistics Korea showed Friday.Meanwhile, 44.1 percent of households nationwide did not own a house, the data also showed. According to the home ownership statistics for 2017, a total of 14,964,000 people owned houses as of Nov. 1 last year. Of them 84.5 percent owned one home, while 15.5 percent owned two or more. (Yonhap)The number

South Korean internet giant Naver said Friday that it would use a new “green dot” interactive search button as the core of its new design direction for its mobile site, aiming to bring smarter and more integrated web search functions to users.　“The ‘green dot’ is Naver’s new design identity and a central part of the company’s efforts to address various changes (in the internet space) that will continue to evolve in the future,” Kim Seung-eon, Naver’s Head of Design, said during a keynote speech

The inaugural esports competition for the globally popular survival shooting game “Fortnite Battle Royale” will take place in South Korea next month, bringing a new addition to the country’s active competitive gaming landscape. 　Epic Games, the US-based video game company behind “Fortnite,” plans to hold “Fortnite Korea Open 2018” on Dec. 15 at Korea University’s Hwajung Gymnasium. Players will compete for a 1 billion won ($885,000) donation to charity, according to the company.“The event marks

South Korean bakery chain Paris Baguette, operated by SPC, said Friday it sold 2,255,000 loaves of its Silky Roll Cake from October last year to September this year. This translates into 4.3 roll cakes sold every minute, with the combined length of the sold cake stretching some 541 kilometers, longer than the distance between Seoul and Jeju, the company said. The Silky Roll Cake has been a steady seller for the firm since 1988. Silky Roll Cake (Paris Baguette)The company said it plans to registe

Hyundai Motor Co., South Korea's biggest carmaker by sales, on Friday showcased an upgraded version of the Santa Fe sport utility vehicle in China as it is struggling to increase its sales in the world's largest automobile market. This photo shows Hyundai Motors Co.`s fourth-generation Santa Fe sport utility vehicle (SUV) introduced in China. (Yonhap)The fourth-generation Santa Fe SUV unveiled at the 16th China Guangzhou International Automobile Exhibition is tailored to satisfy the needs of Chi

The World Trade Organization should tackle escalating nontariff barriers to stem the spread of protectionism and nationalism, the deputy head of South Korea's top business lobby said Friday.Kwon Tae-shin, vice chairman of the Federation of the Korean Industries, made the call during the globalization session of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation CEO Summit in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, the FKI said, which lobbies for the country's family-controlled conglomerates. "Populism and nationalis

The stock trading suspension of Samsung BioLogics starting Thursday seemed to wrap up a chapter in the yearslong brawl over alleged accounting fraud, apparently with the defeat of the biotech company.Market observers, however, remained divided on the impact that the case may have on the domestic stock market and the biopharmaceutical industry. Some optimistically suggested that the sanction may act as a turning point for the Samsung Group affiliate to end the prolonged uncertainty factor.The dow

In an effort to expand its presence in the Chinese market, Samsung Electronics hosted its first forum on artificial intelligence in Beijing on Thursday, presenting its newest technology solutions to tech leaders. The first such forum by Samsung drew around 500 officials from the country’s leading tech firms, such as Baidu, Xiaomi and Hikvision. Samsung’s choice of venue also drew attention, as China is intensifying competition with the US in attracting and fostering AI startups.Choi Cheol, execu

South Korean health care group Bodyfriend’s Lamborghini-themed massage chair won an innovation award at the International Consumer Electronics Show 2019, the firm said Thursday. It is the first time a massage chair has won an award in the home appliances category at CES.  Bodyfriend’s Lamborghini-themed massage chair LBF-750 (Bodyfriend)The company said its premium massage chair won high points in terms of technical skills, design, consumer values, competitiveness and uniqueness. Bodyfriend laun

South Korean retail giant Lotte’s duty-free operator Lotte Duty Free posted a rapid hike in overseas sales in its quarterly performance report, the firm said Thursday.  Lotte Duty Free store in Vietnam (Lotte Duty Free)According to the company, sales for the third quarter this year hit a record-high 4.1 trillion won ($3.6 billion), a 25 percent on-year increase. The sales from its downtown city stores and its overseas stores amounted to 3.8 trillion won and 164 billion won, respectively. Lotte D

South Korea’s second-largest chipmaker SK hynix said Thursday that it has developed next-generation dynamic random-access memory, 16 gigabits DDR5, which offers speed and improved power efficiency to meet demand from sectors with intensive computing needs, such as big data analytics and artificial intelligence.The chipmaker plans to mass produce the new product from 2020, when demand for DDR5 RAM is expected to peak on the back of a growing number of data-intensive apps requiring faster and more