KT&G said it is taking part in an annual exhibition hosted by the Tax Free World Association in Cannes, France, from Oct. 3 through 6 as part of efforts to expand its duty-free business to Europe, the Middle East and Central and South Americas. The South Korean tobacco company is displaying premium products from Esse, Raison and Bohem brands at its booth. It is also holding meetings with global distributors and tax-free businesses at the TFWA World Exhibition and Conference. It is the 13th

  Blockchain-based payment and business development company X-widget said it is entering a “token economy” business where tokens are paid to users when they spend money. Through a blockchain-based discount coupon system that allows users to collect 10 percent of their purchases and gives them a 10 percent discount, X-widget hopes to draw 100 million users worldwide, including 10 million in South Korea, by 2024. X-widget said its blockchain-based mileage project called SToken, de

The Korean Federation of Community Credit Cooperatives is expanding international cooperation to help alleviate poverty in developing countries by sharing Koreans’ experience of doing so through savings. Under the guidance of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, community credit cooperatives, known as Saemaul Geumgo, were set up in Myanmar in 2017, Uganda in 2018 and Laos in 2020. Currently, 53 branches in those countries have some 13,000 members. Recently, separate federations of co

Standard Chartered Bank Korea said it will offer special interest rates of up to 2.4 percent for as long as 60 days to first-time SC customers who deposit 100 million won or more, up to 2 billion won, in money market deposit accounts. Money market deposit accounts pay interest based on the daily account balance. The bigger the deposit, the higher the interest. The promotional rate is offered to first-time customers of SC Bank Korea who open their accounts by Thursday. The promotion will end wh

The South Korean government is getting the country’s 30 biggest energy consumers to join efforts to tackle the looming energy crisis this winter amid unstable global energy supply, exacerbated by the war in Ukraine and Korea’s growing trade deficit. About 55 percent of Korea’s energy consumption last year was for industrial use, over 60 percent of which was consumed by the country’s 30 largest companies. The government is set to sign a deal with those 30 companies, includ

South Korea's pension operator and the central bank are taking steps for a currency swap agreement as the Korean won tumbled to its lowest level against the US dollar in 13 years on Thursday. The National Pension Service will borrow the greenback it needs to invest overseas from the Bank of Korea, instead of buying it from the foreign currency market, and loan Korean won to the bank in return. The last currency swap deal between the two was dissolved in 2008 as the BOK demanded an end, citing a

The Asian Development Bank lowered South Korea’s growth outlook for next year by 0.3 percentage point to 2.3 percent in its updated outlook published Wednesday, while keeping its forecast for this year at 2.6 percent. It also maintained Korea’s inflation outlook at 4.5 percent for this year, and 3 percent for 2023. “(Korea’s) private consumption is expected to slow in the second half of the 2022 as stimulus from the economy’s reopening fades and interest rate increa

Korean dramas have long had a thing for making viewers chuckle while drawing them into a vortex of suspense, mystery and drama. Be it romance, legal drama or crime thriller, a good share of K-shows never lose their touch when it comes to humor and bringing out the charming side of its main characters, often banking on brilliant actors to deliver light relief while driving a serious plot. The latest hit Netflix series “Narco-Saints” (Korean title "Suriname") is no exceptio

Having studied eco-friendly farming techniques for 20 years, agricultural corporation Eco Farm City has developed what it calls “KDS convergence farming.” The KDS convergence farming combines primary industries of agriculture, fisheries, livestock, timber and regional specialties with secondary industries of manufacturing and processing, as well as the tertiary industry of service. Unlike conventional farming, the nature-meets-science method uses cutting-edge facilities and technolog

South Koreans are debating whether it is necessary to ban giving work instructions via Kakao Talk or other means of communication outside work hours after a relevant bill was submitted last week. Rep. Noh Woong-rae of the main opposition Democratic Party proposed the revised bill that prohibits making repeated or constant work-related instructions via phone calls, emails, text messages or social media after statutory working hours. Large companies have banned sending work-related messages after

South Korea’s business giants have joined hands in a nationwide campaign to promote Busan’s bid to host the 2030 World Expo. The government formally submitted Busan’s bid to host the expo in 2030 to the Bureau International des Exposition (BIE) in Paris, the international body with 170 member states that coordinates the hosting of world expos. Rome, Riyadh and Ukraine’s Odesa have also made bids to host the event. Samsung, SK, Hyundai Motor, LG and other conglomerates hav

GS Group’s executives in charge of tapping new businesses gathered on Wednesday to share where they stand in mergers and acquisitions, business partnerships and venture investments under the conglomerate’s new biz strategy -- “eco-friendly, digital future growth.” The executives shared details such as the technology and business models of the companies they have invested in, and opportunities for collaboration between the firms and GS in areas including biotech, circular

GS Engineering and Construction said it has joined hands with a Finnish energy company to produce bioethanol using cassava peels waste in Thailand. Cassava is a nutty tasting, starchy root vegetable that looks like sweet potatoes and is grown in tropical regions. Huh Yoon-hong, president of GS E＆C’s new businesses unit, and Patrick Pitkanen, director of St1 Renewable Energy (Thailand) Ltd, signed a memorandum of understanding on Monday in Bangkok on technological cooperation to produce b

South Korea’s largest builders have lost face after Seoul’s worst storm in a century earlier this month caused flood damage at luxury apartments and exposed other construction mishaps at residential buildings. The record-breaking torrential rain on the night of Aug. 8 flooded the basement parking lots of several large apartment complexes in southern Seoul and Seongnam, a city just southeast of Seoul, not to mention hundreds of smaller dwellings, farms, barns and shops across s

The Korea Exchange said Tuesday it signed an agreement with the city on Friday to launch a Busan-based professional table tennis team by next month. The envisioned team will take part in the Korea Table Tennis League in the upcoming regular season, which begins in late January. The KRX, South Korea’s bourse operator, said it will help find new talent, foster professionals and contribute to the local community as it runs the Busan-based team. “We will support outstanding players t