Consumer sentiment thaws toward China, Japan

Retail sales in South Korea grew 7.3 percent on-year in October, as people's outdoor activities and demand for various services grew amid eased antivirus curbs, data showed Tuesday. The combined sales of 25 major offline and online retailers came to 14.66 trillion won ($10.95 billion) last month, compared with 13.7 trillion won a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. It marked the eighth consecutive month of on-year rise, though the grow

A wind of change may be blowing at the nation’s male-dominant corporate culture, with more women getting promoted to take top seats amid year-end reshuffles. LG Group last week tapped two female CEOs to lead its key affiliates – Lee Jung-ae for its retail arm LG Household & Health and Park Ae-ri for its advertising unit G II R. It was the first time not just for LG, South Korea’s fourth-largest conglomerate, but for one of the nation’s top five chaebol groups, to appo

Swiss watch-to-knife manufacturer Victorinox said Sunday it is collaborating with Italian street fashion brand Off-White to launch a limited edition multi-tool. The limited edition Swiss Army knife is a flagship product of “Equipment,” a special lineup showcased by Off-White in collaboration with South Korean men’s fashion brand Post Archive Faction. The Italian firm had welcomed Victorinox to collaborate on the knife as part of the project. The tool’s design is based on

Business leaders and experts gathered Tuesday at the headquarters of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry to discuss the current bearings of South Korean retail industries and plans they should undertake going forward. Woo Tae-hee, executive vice chairman of the KCCI, said that according to a survey conducted by the KCCI, "worsening consumer confidence" was chosen by some 300 retail industries in the country as the top issue to tackle for the years ahead. "Consumer confidenc

Haribo, Coca-Cola, Haagen-Dazs play host to art exhibitions in Seoul

South Korea’s imports of kimchi, a staple of almost every meal, reached an all-time high last month, with soaring ingredient costs driving up prices of domestically made kimchi amid inflation fears. In October, kimchi shipments from overseas surged by 50.9 percent compared to a year earlier to $17.02 million, according to data from the Korea Customs Service. The figure showed a 16.2 percent increase from the previous month. It is the first time monthly imports surpassed the $17 million m

APR, operator of Korean street fashion brand Nerdy and dermocosmetics brand Medicube, said Tuesday it posted record-high sales in the third quarter this year. The company’s sales surged on-year by 306 percent to 95 billion won ($72 million) while its net income jumped 81 percent to 12 billion won from July to September. Accumulated sales and income through the third quarter were 269 billion won and 18 billion won, respectively, surpassing last year’s performance. The company attrib

Local dairy companies suffer double whammy of slowing demand, soaring costs

South Korean dairy company Purmil's announcement of its business termination, which stirred nationwide controversy for unilaterally firing its employees, had been upended as of Thursday. According to a statement from Purmil, the company will be normalizing its business operations but will still downsize 30 percent of its workforce to increase management efficiency. The announcement was made after an agreement was reached between management and labor, it added. The company intends to continu

New York-listed shares soar on upbeat earnings

South Korean discount chain Homeplus said Thursday it will combine its home meal replacement and meal kit product lines for the launch of a new brand called “Homeplus Signature Home Meal” to satisfy consumers’ demand for easy-to-prepare, nutritious meals. The new brand will offer high-quality products at reasonable prices, according to the retailer. The product lineup offers hansik, or Korean food, meal kits for at-home diners, as well as meals suitable for camping and as drink

South Korean tobacco company KT&G unveiled its series of new heat-not-burn tobacco devices equipped with artificial intelligence on Wednesday, with aims to maintain its leading position in the growing domestic electronic cigarette market. The new HNB cigarettes, or electronic devices which heat processed tobacco instead of combusting it to deliver aerosol with fewer toxicants, come in two models each named Lil Aible and Lil Aible Premium. Lil Aible comes in four colors 'Ultra Blue

Popeyes, a US fried chicken fast food chain, said Wednesday it is returning to the South Korean market in the coming weeks after a nearly two-year hiatus. The chain had ceased operations here in December 2020, citing business difficulties and poor sales as key reasons. Popeyes is set to open its first new location near Gangnam Station in southern Seoul, with employee training starting on Monday. Meanwhile, South Korea's fast food market is experiencing a heated "burger race," as c

South Korean tobacco company KT&G said Friday it plans to buy back 350 billion won ($245.1 million) of its own shares in a bid to boost shareholder returns. The firm is also considering increasing dividends per share by more than 200 won compared to last year. It is the second share buyback since last year when the company bought back 350 billion won of its shares and paid dividends of some 576 billion won to shareholders. In November 2021, the company announced it would carry out a shareh