South Korea's leading convenience chain said Monday it has opened the country's first-ever drug store-type shops that incorporate pharmacies into convenience stores.The new type of stores was set up after the South Korean government passed legislation in May to allow sales of some non-prescription drugs at convenience stores and supermarkets.Two CU stores run by BGF Retail Co. have opened in Chang

The number of "active" stock trading accounts in South Korea declined in recent weeks amid relatively stagnant market situations, a trade association said Monday.Stock trading accounts -- accounts holding more than 100,000 won ($90) and being used at least once in the past six months -- totaled 19.9 million last Thursday, according to the Korea Financial Investment Association.The number of active

South Korea's trade surplus widened from a year earlier last month as its imports shrank at a faster rate than exports, the government said Monday.The country's trade surplus reached an estimated $3.15 billion in September, compared with a $1.6 billion surplus the same month last year, according to the Ministry of Knowledge Economy.The figure also marks a growth from $2.04 billion in August.Export

Half of the flat panel televisions (TV) sold in the Middle East and Africa were made by Samsung Electronics Co., reflecting its strong market presence in the region, a survey showed Sunday.The market survey, released by the world's top flat screen maker, showed that its flat screen TV sales eclipsed other competitors to account for a 49 percent share of the markets in the second quarter."Sales of

The growth of household debt in South Korea lost steam for a 11th consecutive month as of July from a year earlier, largely due to government efforts to curb its increase, central bank data showed Sunday.Household loans extended by depository financial firms grew at a rate as low as 4.6 percent at the end of July from a year earlier, compared with the 8.6 percent tallied in the previous year, acco

Photo sharing app Instagram has overtaken Twitter for the first time among U.S. smartphone users, according to data from comScore.In August, Instagram received an average of 7.3 million daily visitors, while Twitter attracted 6.9 million users, the website said.ComScore’s data reflects usage among U.S. smartphone owners aged 18 and older accessing the service on a device running iOS, Android, or RIM operating systems via a mobile web browser or app.The data also showed that Instagram visitors sp

STX Offshore & Shipbuilding Co., a South Korean shipbuilder, said Friday that it has signed a 480 billion ($430 million) contract to build an offshore oil storage facility.Under the deal with a North African oil firm, the South Korean shipbuilder will construct the so-called floating storage offloading unit and deliver the unit during the first half of 2015, the company said in a statement. STX Offshore did not reveal the name of the buyer.The unit, measuring 324 meters long and 51 meters wide,

South Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics Co. retained the top spot in the global mobile phone market in August on the back of steady sales of its products worldwide, industry data showed Friday.According to the data released by Hong Kong-based Counterpoint Technology Market Research, Samsung topped the world’s handset market last month with a market share of 29 percent.The research firm attributed Samsung’s outstanding performance to a sweep of both expensive and cheaper phone segments.Samsun

South Korea’s industrial output inched up in August from a year earlier, but its growth pace remained subdued apparently affected by sluggish demand amid concerns over the eurozone debt crisis and global slowdowns, a government report showed Friday.According to the report by Statistics Korea, production in the mining, manufacturing, gas and electricity industries grew 0.3 percent last month from a year earlier. It gained a revised 0.2 percent on-year in July. The output, however, shrank 0.7 perc

South Korean stocks advanced 0.38 percent Friday as investor sentiment got a boost from Spain’s pledge to cut spending and rising expectations for Chinese stimulus, analysts said. The local currency strengthened against the U.S. dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index climbed 7.53 points to 1,996.23. Trading volume was moderate at 668.4 million shares worth 4.85 trillion won ($4.36 billion) with gainers outpacing decliners 492 to 302. “Spain’s budget plan implies it is moving tow

The Korea Communications Commission announced Friday a series of preventive measures on the online real-name system Friday, saying that it will double monitoring of illegal Internet postings to twice a week.Following a meeting arranged by the Prime Minister’s Office, the commission said it will also publicize the current state of illegal postings and its countermeasures put in place by the Internet operators.It also said the law that currently states the online service provider’s responsibility

Woongjin Group is facing public criticism for moral hazard after its holding company and construction unit filed for court receivership on Wednesday. A day before its application for court protection, Woongjin Holdings was found to have paid back 53 billion won of debt it borrowed from other Woongjin affiliates.Woongjin Holdings repaid 25 billion won and 28 billion won, respectively, to its sister companies Woongjin Thinkbig and Woongjin Energy on Wednesday even though the due date was two days

Chanel cosmetics agreed to reopen at Lotte Department Store’s main branch in downtown Seoul next week, three years and nine months after it stormed out in fury, grabbing media attention as a catfight between a domestic retail mammoth and a “stuck-up” luxury brand.Lotte asked Chanel to downsize and relocate its cosmetics booth in 2008, pointing to its relatively low sales. The French brand refused, accusing Lotte of getting back at it for entering rival Shinsegae’s new store in Busan. The brand m

World’s largest memory chipmaker Samsung Electronics Co. said Friday that it has forged a business tie-up with a Swiss semiconductor solution firm in promoting their foundry business.Samsung said that it has cooperated with STMicroelectronics N.V. in developing the 32 and 28-nano chip technology, and will continue the bilateral cooperation.Geneva-based STMicroelectronics is the seventh-largest chipmaker that designs, develops and manufactures semiconductor products used in various electronic dev