Starbucks has joined hands with high fashion and cosmetics brand Anna Sui to launch a special collection of mugs, water bottles, bags and card pouches in South Korea.　　The collection includes the Anna Sui Rose DW Mug, the Anna Sui Boutique DW Mug, the SS Swell Anna Sui Water Bottle, the Anna Sui Tote Bag and the Anna Sui Card.Starbucks is selling a limited run of 40,000 of its specially prepared set package — composed of a tote bag, a Starbucks gift card and a card pouch — on a first come, first

Shinsegae officially opened a new duty-free store in Incheon International Airport on Tuesday, offering some 300 brands to those traveling in and out of South Korea.　　“Shinsegae Duty Free will feature a range of new brands in a new store concept unseen among existing duty-free shops in the country,” said Shinsegae DF president Sung Young-mok.Shinsegae’s new duty-free store at Incheon International Airport (Shinsegae)　Established by Shinsegae Group after winning the duty-free operating rights to

MID-END HANDSETS WITH PREMIUM FEATURES -- Samsung Electronics unveiled its updated midrange smartphone lineup Galaxy A in Seoul Thursday. The lineup consists of three models, the A7, A5 and A3. The A7 and A5, fitted with a fingerprint sensor, support mobile payment solution Samsung Pay. (Samsung) MID-END HANDSETS WITH PREMIUM FEATURES -- Samsung Electronics unveiled its updated midrange smartphone lineup Galaxy A in Seoul Thursday. The lineup consists of three models, the A7, A5 and A3. The A7 a

  LG RECOGNIZED FOR SUPERIOR DESIGN -- LG Electronics said Thursday its premium fridge Double Magic Space had won the Compasso d’Oro Award, Italy’s highest accolade for design. The company has also won prizes for the high-end fridge at IDEA, iF and Red Dot design awards. (LGE)

Faced with the looming demise of the PC era, the world’s largest software developer, Microsoft, has been shifting its focus toward operating systems for a wider variety of devices, including smartphones and game consoles.The company has been specifically targeting tablet PCs, which are expected to replace desktops and laptops in the coming years. Jang Hong-kook, the head of Microsoft Korea’s device partner business division, delivers a speech at a press meeting in Seoul on Thursday. (MS Korea)Pa

The National Assembly on Wednesday passed next year’s budget of 386.4 trillion won ($342.3 billion) after days of bipartisan wrangling. Along with the budget, the Assembly endorsed five economy-related bills fervently pushed by the government as key to preparing for further economic slowdown.The revised budget is 300 billion won less than the original plan submitted by the government. The budget for publishing state-authored textbooks and subsidies for the panel to investigate the 2014 Sewol sin

A traditional Korean tug-of-war folk game had its name added to UNESCO’s intangible heritage list Wednesday, jointly with three other Asian countries with similar traditions. Tugging rituals and games, proposed by South Korea, Vietnam, Cambodia and the Philippines, gained status as UNESCO-recognized traditions of humanity during the 10th session of the Intergovernmental Committee for Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage held in Windhoek, the capital of southwest African country Namibia. 

Understanding the emotional reaction of the consumer is crucial in both the beauty and tech industries, experts said at the Seoul Design Forum, which took place Wednesday at Dongdaemun Design Plaza.During the beauty session, makeup artist Seo Su-jin, CEO of cosmetics brand S2J, spoke on the globalization of Korean beauty products and the distinctive characteristics of different foreign markets. Seo, who has been working in China as the chief makeup artist for various TV programs, asserted that “

The leaders of South Korea and the Czech Republic discussed ways to bolster economic cooperation particularly regarding the central European state’s large-scale infrastructure projects including the construction of a nuclear power plant during their summit in Prague on Wednesday. Czech President Milos Zeman(right) greets South Korean President Park Geun-hye during their summit in Prague on Wednesday. (Yonhap)President Park Geun-hye and her Czech counterpart Milos Zeman explored possibilities to

LG OLED TV IN NYC -- LG Electronics said Wednesday that it would run a roadshow to display its high-end organic light-emitting diode TVs at Grand Central Station in Manhattan. The event will be held until the end of this month. (LGE)

GEAR S2 POP-UP STORE FOR HOLIDAY -- Samsung Electronics said Wednesday it would operate a pop-up store for its smartwatch Gear S2 during the year-end holiday season in Garosu-gil, Seoul, a street brimming with upscale coffeehouses and clothing shops. (Samsung)

Facing a looming battle with global media behemoth Netflix, mobile carrier SK Telecom said Wednesday it would invest around 5 trillion won ($4.3 billion) in beefing up its media platform business for the next five years. The investment plan came on the heels of the firm’s announcement of acquiring CJ Hellovision, the nation’s largest cable TV operator and an affiliate of CJ Group.The Korean mobile carrier unveiled its plan earlier last month to merge its wholly owned Internet TV operator SK Broa

Samsung Electronics’ new mobile business chief Koh Dong-jin vowed to maintain the company’s leadership in the world’s smartphone market despite market concerns about competition from rivals.Entering Samsung’s head office in Seocho-dong, Seoul, on Wednesday, the new president of the mobile communications business -- a smaller unit under the firm’s IT and mobile communications division -- told reporters that Samsung’s smartphone unit is “not at the end of its rope.” He also pledged that he would m