South Korean exports of seaweed products moved up 13 percent on-year over the first nine months of 2021, data showed, on the back of the growing popularity of Korean culture abroad. 　Outbound shipments of seaweed products came to $507 million in the January-September period, compared to the $448 million tallied a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries. 　The amount marked a sharp rise from just $100 million posted for all of 2010, the ministry sa

Choi Shin-won, CEO and chairman of SK Networks Co., has stepped down from his post, the company said Monday, amid an ongoing trial against him over embezzlement and other charges. The resignation came six months after Choi, a son of the late founder of South Korea's No. 3 conglomerate SK Group, was indicted, and he has been standing trial for alleged embezzlement of some 223.5 billion won ($190.3 million) and breach of trust and other charges. Choi has denied any wrongdoing. "As of Oct. 2

South Korea kicked off its annual nationwide shopping event Monday in the latest effort to boost private spending amid the prolonged pandemic. The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said 2,053 companies will offer big bargains both online and in stores during the Korea Sale Festa -- the Korean equivalent of Black Friday -- that will run through Nov. 15. This year's run is the largest since the event was launched in 2016, according to the ministry. The central and 17 local governments also

South Korean drugmakers are at a crossroads on whether or not to continue developing COVID-19 treatments, as vaccination rates rise across the world and the first drug from global pharmaceutical Merck is set to debut soon. Some have already given up. Merck’s recent decision to give away patents related to molnupiravir, which would become the world’s first COVID-19 pill, for developing countries to produce generic drugs, could prompt latecomers to drop out of the race, industry sou

SK Telecom’s nontelecom split-off SK Square will officially launch on Monday, with a focus on semiconductor and new tech businesses, SK Telecom, the world’s largest telecommunication company said Sunday. The split-off will allow the SK Group company to better respond to changing dynamics in the chip sector through strategic investments, which were partly limited under the fair trade law here. Under the restructuring, the first since SKT Telecom was founded in 1984, SK Square will

Partnered up with SK Innovation, US battery developer charges ahead for “game-changing” energy storage tech

An international consortium including GS Engineering & Construction has been chosen as the winner of Australia’s major road project, worth 3.1 billion Australian dollars (2.7 trillion won), the Korean builder said Sunday. The project is to build a 6.5 kilometer road connecting the Metropolitan Ring Road and the Eastern Freeway in Melbourne, including major bridges and interchanges. Ground was broken for the project on Oct. 28, a GS E&C official said Sunday. It is the Korean

Korean Air has received an “integrated A grade” for its ESG efforts from the nonprofit ESG rating agency Korea Corporate Governance Service.　 The national flag carrier achieved the marks for the second year running, a recent ESG rating report by KCGS revealed. When broken down by category, the airline received an A for corporate governance, an improvement from last year. The higher score was thanks to the separation of the CEO and the board of directors, appointment of a woman ou

Workers in IT, entertainment get pay raise but those in aviation, tourism take a hit, new data says

South Korean e-commerce giant Gmarket is offering various Korean products at discount prices starting Monday, commencing its biggest sales event, the Mega G Festival. During the festival, which runs until Nov. 12, up to 70 percent discount is being offered on products ranging from cosmetics and food to K-pop merchandise.  Participating brands include cosmetics brands Amorepacific and Etude, food company CJ CheilJedang and K-pop merchandise store YG Select. Some brands are offering prod

South Korea’s antitrust regulator on Friday approved a plan by E-mart, Shinsegae Group’s hypermarket chain, to acquire the Korean unit of eBay, judging that the acquisition will not restrain market competition. The Fair Trade Commission said the agency evaluated whether or not the acquisition would violate the country’s monopoly regulations, and to see if the companies would hamper competition in five sectors of the retail industry, including the e-commerce market, physical re

  Amorepacific Corp. said Friday its third-quarter net profit rose more than fivefold from a year earlier. Net income was 38.5 billion won ($32.9 million) in the third quarter, compared with 7 billion won in the same period a year ago, Amorepacific said in a regulatory filing. Operating profit for the July-September period fell 10.2 percent on-year to 50.3 billion won. Sales increased 1.9 percent to 1.1 trillion won. The operating profit was 29 percent lower than the average estimate

South Korea’s business sentiment edged down in November due to increased prices of raw materials and energy, a local think tank said Friday. The business survey index of the country’s top 600 companies by sales stood at 100.6, down by 2.8 percentage points from 103.4 in October, the Korea Economic Research Institute data showed. According to KERI, while the figure managed to stay above the 100-threshold that shows optimists outnumbered pessimists, the 2.8-point decrease reflects c

Ministry to review introducing measures for telecom operators' network safety

Step-by-step, in line with the government’s plan to gradually return to normalcy with its “living with COVID-19” scheme, the airline industry has begun preparations for more overseas flights. According to full service carriers Korean Air and Asiana Airlines, some overseas flight routes will resume operations next month. Korean Air has decided to resume scheduled flights to Hawaii, Sydney, and Oakland. There will be three flights a week scheduled for Hawaii starting from Nov