McDonald’s Korea said Monday that it has introduced its “Best Burger” initiative in South Korea for the fourth time in the world, and for the first time in Asia. According to the burger chain, “Best Burger” is a global initiative to improve cooking procedures and facilities and to use quality ingredients, with the goal of providing customers with the best burgers. McDonald’s, which operates in over 100 countries around the globe, first introduced the init

Philip Morris International announced Monday that it would guarantee job security for its 73,000 employees worldwide throughout the COVID-19 pandemic crisis. “PMI will continue to contribute to the global response to this pandemic in every way we can. First and foremost, we will continue to support our employees and their families, and protect their safety and health. Nothing matters more,” PMI CEO Andre Calantzopoulos said. “Thanks to our employees across the world, working

Baedal Minjok, which has come under fire for the introduction of a restructured commission system, on Friday issued a public apology and said it would be returning to the previous fee structure. The country’s No. 1 delivery app operator Baemin recently took public flak after it announced it would expand the fixed-rate commission system from April 1, while scaling back the more preferred flat-sum system. Woowa Brothers’ Chief Executive and founder Kim Bong-jin and CEO Kim Beom-jo

Duty-free operators, including local No. 1 Lotte Duty Free and runner-up Shilla Duty Free, have given up their preferred bidder positions for operation licenses at Incheon Airport, amid the ongoing tug-of-war between the companies and airport over rental fees. It is the first time for the conglomerates to withdraw from signing operation contracts due to rental prices, according to industry sources Friday. Incheon International Airport Corp. announced the preferred bidders to operate eight ai

Fila Korea said Thursday that it had collaborated with BTS to launch the Love Yourself Collection -- 12 new items of clothing and shoes celebrating the K-pop boy group’s hit album. The FILA X BTS Love Yourself Collection is inspired by the artwork and graphic elements in the music videos for BTS hits “DNA” and “Idol,” released respectively in 2017 and 2018, the company said. According to the South Korean sportswear brand, the FILA X BTS Love Yourself Collection

McDonald’s Korea said Thursday more than 10 million cars made orders from McDrive, its drive-thru platform, in the first quarter of this year, surging sharply amid the COVID-19 outbreak. According to the burger chain, March saw the highest number of users for the drive-thru service, and sales went up by 30 percent on-year. The average value per order also rose by 15 percent. As people avoid face-to-face transactions with the social distancing trend, the burger chain said about 60 percen

With the weather warming up in South Korea, sunscreen sales are on the rise -- despite the “new normal” of wearing face masks due to the COVID-19 outbreak, industry sources said Tuesday. According to CJ Olive Young, a health and beauty store chain here, sales of sunblock jumped 81 percent from March 30 to Sunday, compared with the same period a month earlier (March 2 to 8). Among them, organic or carbon-based sunscreen products were the most popular, witnessing a 132 percent incre

Zamface, a beauty video app, said Tuesday that its “Time Jump” service function accumulated over 10.17 million clicks from users since its launch in June 2019. The app’s Time Jump service allows users to skip ahead to parts of beauty YouTube videos to search out specific information, without having to watch the whole video. Time Jump, which is based on artificial intelligence, automatically analyzes a video to mark different chapters and create the time jump options -- shad

The Korean Fair Trade Commission, which is currently investigating the corporate merger of the nation‘s No. 1 and 2 delivery apps, Baedal Minjok and Yogiyo, respectively, vowed stricter evaluation Tuesday, after Baemin’s attempt to change the commission system took flak. Baemin restructured its fee system starting April 1, basically changing from a flat-sum system that requires restaurant owners to pay a monthly fee to a fixed-rate commission of 5.8 percent per order made on the a

South Korean hypermarket chain Homeplus said Monday it was exporting toilet paper to Singapore, which has a shortage of daily necessities as its trade partners close borders amid the COVID-19 outbreak. According to the company, it is selling 2,000 packs of its private brand product Simplus toilet paper and facial tissues to Qoo10, a Singapore-based e-commerce firm. The products departed from Busan Port for delivery to Singapore on Monday. The two types of Simplus products are to be sold on

P&G rolled out Downy Spring Garden on Monday, a new product of its fabric softener Downy Botanis Perfume collection. Downy Spring Garden boasts the delicate scent of spring, allowing customers to enjoy a spring garden from inside their homes, the company said. The product boasts a relatively gentle fragrance and is highly concentrated so users can put in a third of the normal amount for the same effect as its other fabric softeners, the company said. “Downy Botanis Perfume Colle

As of Friday, South Korean consumers can freely order alcoholic drinks online and pay via internet or with a mobile app. With a ban on online purchases of liquor lifted, convenience stores and hypermarket chains stand to benefit, according to the industry. Changes to the Liquor Tax Act came into effect Friday allowing retailers, including restaurants, hypermarkets and convenience stores, to sell alcoholic beverages on mobile apps and on the internet. But delivery is still banned, so custome

Baedal Minjok’s recently restructured fee system, which involves charging restaurant owners a fixed-rate commission of 5.8 percent, is now facing criticism from restaurants that say it imposes a higher cost burden, industry sources said Sunday. The country’s No. 1 delivery app has expanded its fixed-rate system Open Service by lowering the rate from 6.8 percent to 5.8 percent per order starting Wednesday, while scaling back the other optional flat-sum system, Ultra Call. This

Amorepacific’s male cosmetics brand BeREADY said Thursday it has launched a new eye shadow palette for men. BeREADY, which was introduced last year, said it rolled out the Mood Up Shadow Eye Palette, the first eye palette product in the market to be developed for men. The brand said the range of cosmetics used by men are expanding from skin base creams to color items. The four colors of the eye palette are chosen based on how well they blend and can also be used for facial contouring,

Pengsoo, a popular costumed penguin character from educational television network EBS, is sweeping the local retail market, with sales rocketing. GS25, a convenience store chain here, said Thursday its collaboration products with Pengsoo is hitting record sales. GS25 rolled out four Pengsoo-themed fresh food items, including tuna sandwich and gimbab (seaweed rice-roll), two umbrellas and four socks on March 27. Over 200,000 orders were made from its convenience stores on the first day of la