People wait in a line to enter a restaurant for samgyetang, or South Korean ginseng chicken soup, in Jongno-gu, central Seoul, Wednesday, a day ahead of malbok. Malbok in Korea refers to the last of the three hottest days of the year, following chobok and jungbok, and is celebrated by eating samgyetang. Amid an increase in production costs such as the price of feed , the retail price of chicken per kilogram stood at 6,151 won ($4.61) as of Tuesday, showing an on-year increase of 8.1 percent from

The prices of apples and pears are expected to rise due to decreased fruit yields caused by poor weather conditions, according to data released by government-funded research organization Korea Rural Economic Institute on Wednesday. The projection for the agricultural sector for August raises concerns because the two fruits are typically in high demand in September, as they are the most popular choices for gift sets for the upcoming Chuseok, or Korean Thanksgiving, holiday. The major national har

By Cho Seung-hwan, minister of oceans and fisheries As summer arrives, the blazing sun glazes up the asphalt and the summer heat intensifies. Indeed, the season to embark on a well-deserved summer vacation has arrived. And yet, we inevitably mull over the specifics of somewhat vague but long-awaited vacations around this time of the year. In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, travel priorities have shifted, focusing more on nature, outdoor activities, healing, relaxation and unique experiences.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs set a goal to double the exports of kimchi to $300 million by 2027 via a comprehensive plan to bolster the nation's kimchi industry, the ministry announced Monday. The Food Ministry unveiled its five-year plan for 2023 to 2027 for the promotion of the domestic kimchi industry. The plan comes as the Kimchi Industry Promotion Act, which mandates the announcement of the nation's general plan to invigorate the indigenous kimchi industry e

By Ben Verhaert Oriental Brewery CEO Now is the best season for enjoying a refreshing beer, and Aug. 4 is International Beer Day and I would like to speak for beers today, especially for Korean beers. As one of the oldest human-produced drinks, the beer has many charm factors which have allowed humankind to enjoy it for so long as 8,000 years. First of all, beer is inclusive. Men and women across geographies and socioeconomic groups enjoy having a beer with friends. Beer has always been a great

GS Retail, the operator of Korea’s convenience store franchise GS25, holds the largest number of stores in the southern regions of Vietnam among its five foreign peers, the company said Thursday. According to self-reported data as of last month, a total of 211 GS25 outlets are spread across these regions, edging out the number of stores operated by foreign competitors such as Circle K and Family Mart in the same areas. The southern regions encompass Ho Chi Minh City and its surrounding p

South Korean food giant CJ CheilJedang said Monday it sold its entire stake in Jixiangju Food, one of its biggest Chinese subsidiaries that sold Chinese food in China, in a bid to focus on its global strategy to primarily sell Korean food products, centering on its Bibigo brand. According to CJ CheilJedang, the company sold its 60 percent stake in Jixiangju Food for 300 billion won ($235 million) to multiple Chinese institutional investors and the second-largest stakeholder of Jixiangju Food, wh

Korean milk companies said Friday they are reviewing plans to increase the prices of their products, following the Korea Dairy Committee's recent decision to raise the price of raw milk by the largest rate in ten years. "We are going over plans to raise the price of our fresh milk products, as the price of raw milk outweighs all other factors that help determine the price of the end product, including pasteurization, labor and distribution costs and such," said an official from a

Starbucks is collaborating with the world's biggest girl group Blackpink this summer. Starbucks Korea on Thursday announced that the brand has teamed up with Blackpink to release limited edition merchandise, beverage and food items this summer. The latest collaboration project will be launched in the Asia-Pacific region, with the drinks and merchandise items available in nine regions in Asia, including South Korea and Hong Kong. Meanwhile, bakery menu items will only be sold in South Korea.

A Starbucks employee hands a customer a Trenta-sized drink, with nearly a liter of beverage, at a Starbucks outlet in Seoul, Wednesday. Starbucks Korea said it will start sales of the jumbo-sized beverages on its popular summer menu from Thursday. The promotion, initiated in the Asian market for the first time in commemoration of Starbucks Korea's 24th anniversary, will be for takeout drinks only, through Sept. 30.

From littering and shoplifting to outright vandalism, unattended spaces provoke unruly behavior among some customers

Concerns grow over further hikes in food prices

South Korea’s Ministry of Food and Drug Safety said Friday it has decided to allow companies here to retain their existing internal standards for the use of aspartame in foods and beverages, despite the assessment of a WHO agency concluding that the artificial sweetener is "possibly carcinogenic to humans." The International Agency for Research on Cancer announced Friday it has determined aspartame should be reclassified as a Group 2B carcinogen on the basis of limited cancer in

The official Starbucks Korea mobile application was hacked on Monday, resulting in the theft of approximately 8 million won ($6,300) from the in-app cards of some 90 customers. A recent post from someone on an online forum alleged that unauthorized payments worth a total of 2.8 million won were made in one day via their Starbucks app in 11 separate transactions, both online and in-store. "A payment of 300,000 won was made online from my account linked to the Starbucks app, then an additiona

Hotel Shilla CEO Lee Boo-jin, the elder sister of Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong, was spotted meeting with Geraldine Guyot-Arnault, co-founder of French fashion label Destree, in Seoul, Wednesday. Guyot-Arnault, the third daughter-in-law of Bernard Arnault, the CEO of luxury conglomerate LVMH Group, was photographed with Lee at her brand’s launch party. The party was held to celebrate a pop-up store at a Hyundai Department Store branch in southern Seoul, according to her Instagr