Shinsegae Group, South Korea’s largest retailer, plans to invest a record amount of 3.35 trillion won ($3.1 billion) in multishopping malls and online businesses, group officials said Monday.The figure is about a 50 percent jump from last year’s investment budget of 2.2 trillion won, and a 46 percent hike from 2.3 trillion won in 2013, the highest value on record. The company said it was considering increasing the investment even more, depending on market conditions. “Through the massive investm

LG Group chairman Koo Bon-moo has urged employees to execute plans and bring about concrete results amid heightened challenges in the fast-changing business environment. “In order to accelerate the group’s performance, what we’ve discussed should not just be thought of as ideas but as action plans,” Koo said during an executive workshop held Wednesday and Thursday. “I ask the top management to take the lead in the change.” LG Group chairman Koo Bon-moo (first row) and other chief executives atte

Starbucks Korea’s 2015 lucky bag (Starbucks Korea)Starbucks Korea’s “lucky bags,” which offer a random selection of goodies for less than they usually retail for, sold out within a few hours of sales launching Thursday, company officials said. Large crowds of people were seen lining up in front of Seoul’s Starbucks stores in the early morning to claim the coffee chain’s lucky bag worth up to 100,000 won ($92) for 49,000 won.This year, the coffee chain sold 15,000 bags, containing tumblers, mugs,

Lancome’s “Miracle Cushion” (L’Oreal Paris)AmorePacific, South Korea’s top cosmetics firm, said Tuesday that it was considering legal action against French cosmetics house Lancome over a possible patent infringement of its signature air cushion compact. AmorePacific officials said it would decide whether to file a patent lawsuit against L’Oreal Korea, the Korean unit of L’Oreal Group, which is set to release the Miracle Cushion on Jan. 19.“We will analyze the product after the launch and then co

Nongshim’s new spicy thick-noodle ramen, Wooyooktangmyeon. (Nongshim)Nongshim, Korea’s leading ramen maker, unveiled Tuesday a spicy thick-noodle ramen targeting the young generation, company officials said. Nongshim said it aims for Wooyooktangmyeon’s annual sales to reach 50 billion ($46.3 million) won and enter the top 10 best-selling ramen list by the end of the year.The new noodle is 3 millimeters thick, about twice that of average noodles sold in South Korea. “Wooyooktangmyeon is the resul

South Korean coffee chain Caffe Bene is betting big on the Southeast Asian market as it aims to operate 140 stores in the region by 2017.Southeast Asia is the fourth region in which the company has opened outlets, starting with the Philippines, Indonesia, Cambodia, Malaysia and Vietnam, according to company officials. With two more shops having opened in Malaysia last month, Caffe Bene now has 17 cafes in Southeast Asia. “We’re striving to become a representative South Korean coffee brand that l

When global companies like Uber and IKEA expanded their business into South Korea last year, local taxi firms and retailers were caught off guard by their cheap pricing and fresh business ideas. And it was natural for their billionaire founders, Travis Kalanik and Ingvar Kamprad, respectively, to make headlines here for their success stories and underlying strategies.This year, more ― and bigger ― billionaires are in store to make inroads into in Korea, posing a challenge to their local competit

Hotel Shilla CEO Lee Boo-jin, the eldest daughter of Samsung chairman Lee Kun-hee, has been appointed an outside director of China’s state-run investment firm CITIC Group.The Samsung heiress accepted the Chinese firm’s request to become a board member of CITIC Group on Dec. 19, in an apparent move that reflects the junior Lee and Samsung’s intention to build a bigger presence in China.“CITIC made a request to (Lee) to take the position, and she accepted it,” a Hotel Shilla official said.  Lee Bo

CJ Group’s No. 2 Lee Mie-kyung will take a back seat when the conglomerate carries out executive reshuffles next month, sources said Wednesday.The sources said Lee Mie-kyung, an elder sister of group chief Lee Jay-hyun, would reduce her involvement in management for medical treatment.The 56-year-old vice chairwoman has been in Los Angeles to receive treatment for Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, a neurological disorder that runs in her family. The disease is characterized by progressive muscle weakn

Global cosmetics and fashion player Estee Lauder Group increased the prices of its duty-free products by as much as 14.5 percent, company officials said Tuesday.The price hike affected the group’s popular brands including Estee Lauder, Clinique, Bobbi Brown, Origins, Lab Series and Aramis. “The price change may have been influenced by a number of factors, such as the exchange rate and marketing fees, which were one of the biggest factors this time,” an official from Estee Lauder’s duty-free team

Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, the nation’s second-largest shipbuilder, is emerging as a dark horse in the industry, beating its global rival Hyundai Heavy Industries in business performance for the second consecutive year in 2014.“Behind the success is better performance in high value-added energy and eco-friendly ship construction than our rivals,” DSME CEO Ko Jae-ho said in his New Year’s address in Seoul on Monday. Despite the prolonged recession in the shipbuilding industry, the

The coming year is shaping up to be a challenging one for South Korean financial institutions, which face a series of penalties for loan and accounting fraud, as well as pressure to find new business models in the financial technology sector.Local banks, for instance, are expected to begin the year with hundreds of administrators and employees receiving sanctions for their irregularities. The Financial Supervisory Service is poised to take disciplinary action in the next two months against offic

Industrial Bank of Korea CEO Kwon Seon-joo on Tuesday said the bank would provide increased support for local fintech startups and upgrade its mobile banking applications to offer total solution financing next year.IBK will select financial technology companies through meticulous screening to offer them wider support, starting with the initial research phase, Kwon said during a news conference celebrating the first anniversary of her inauguration. “The banking industry has faced many hurdles, in