Korean retailers are quickly gearing up for Singles' Day, China’s largest shopping event of the year, in the hopes of scooping up sales as relations between the two countries show signs of improving.Since early this year, Korean retailers have seen sales from Chinese tourists drop significantly after intergovernmental tensions over Korea‘s decision to deploy an American anti-missile shield here soured Chinese consumer sentiment towards Korea. However, with a recent agreement between the two coun

Industry Nov. 5, 2017

Low-cost carriers in Korea are preparing to go public, hoping to raise funds that will allow them to expand their route offerings as the short-haul market reaches a saturation point here.Jin Air, the budget airline affiliated with Korea‘s flagship carrier Korean Air, said Tuesday it had filed a registration statement with the Financial Services Commission and was on track to debut on Korea’s main bourse in early December. (Jin Air)The airline said the initial public offering would raise up to 38

Industry Nov. 1, 2017

Tech giant Apple announced prices for the iPhone X in Korea on Wednesday, raising eyebrows with the higher-than-expected sticker price.The iPhone X, the most expensive phone yet in the iPhone series, will cost 1.42 million won ($1,270) for the 64-gigabyte model and 1.63 million won for the 256 GB model. The phone is priced about 300,000 won higher than the iPhone 8, which was released in Korea last month. iPhone X (Apple Korea website)The announced prices are significantly higher than iPhone X p

Industry Nov. 1, 2017

Retailers are cautiously optimistic about the possibility of rising sales as relations between Korea and China show signs of reconciliation.On Tuesday, the Korean and Chinese foreign ministries issued a joint statement saying the two countries “agreed to expeditiously bring exchanges and cooperation in all areas back onto a normal track,” following a meeting between Korean security official Nam Gwan-pyo and China‘s assistant foreign minister Kong Xuanyou.The official statement came after a spoke

Industry Oct. 31, 2017

SPC Samlip said Monday that it is aiming to increase revenue from its lineup of fresh ready-to-eat products to 100 billion won ($89 million) by 2020, bringing total revenues for the company to 4 trillion won.“The fresh convenience food market including salads and ready-to-eat fruit is growing at more than 30 percent each year, and has infinite growth potential,” said Lee Myung-koo, CEO of SPC Samlip, at a ceremony commemorating the company‘s 72nd anniversary Friday. “With SPC Fresh Food Factory

Industry Oct. 30, 2017

Demand for fur products is rising among shoppers from their 20s to 40s, as prices fall to more accessible levels and designs become trendier, sales data showed Monday.According to Shinsegae Department Store, the proportion of fur sales for shoppers between the ages of 20 and 49 has risen every year since 2014. Last year, fur sales to consumers in their 40s marked 29.8 percent, surpassing sales to consumers in their 50s for the first time. The Trendy Fur Fair at Shinsegae Department Store is prom

Industry Oct. 30, 2017

Food manufacturer Nongshim is hoping to double the amount of its ramen products it supplies to foreign carriers by 2020, the firm said Monday.“Nongshim will work to provide customized in-flight food for each country, and expand its in-flight offerings beyond Shin Ramyun, taking into account each region’s cultural, religious and market characteristics,” the company said. Nongshim’s Shin Ramyun served in-flight (Nongshim)This year marks the 20th anniversary of Nongshim providing its trademark Shin

Industry Oct. 30, 2017

Step into the lobby of Heyground and it‘s like falling through a rabbit hole.The building’s sleek tile floors, stylish neon signs and hoodied entrepreneurs zooming around on electric scooters seem worlds apart from the surrounding industrial sights of Seongsu-dong in eastern Seoul.“We call it the scrap metal view,” joked Jeong Da-hyun, a manager at impact ecosystem builder Root Impact, looking out the floor-to-ceiling window from the seventh floor. “It’s got its own charm.”The Heyground building

Industry Oct. 27, 2017

SPC Group has launched a new fine casual pizza restaurant called Pizza Up, according to the group Friday.Pizza Up is the third fine casual dining line launched by SPC following hamburger chain Shake Shack and salad bar Pig in the Garden.Pizza Up (SPC)The restaurant, located near Hongik University Station, specializes in customized pizzas that diners can put together by choosing from roughly 60 toppings.Huh Jae-young of street lifestyle brand Stereo Vinyls, who worked with SPC to design the inter

Industry Oct. 27, 2017

Asiana Airlines will operate its Incheon-Hawaii route every day from Sunday, an increase from five flights a week, the airline said Friday.Over 680,000 people have flown on the Incheon-Hawaii Asiana route since 2011. (Asiana Airlines)To promote the increased frequencies, Asiana is offering a 7 percent discount coupon to passengers who book the Incheon-Hawaii route via the airline‘s website or mobile app through Nov. 30.By Won Ho-jung (hjwon@heraldcorp.com)

Industry Oct. 27, 2017

Global credit rating firm Moody‘s upgraded its outlook on steel company Posco’s Baa2 rating from stable to positive, according to the firm Friday.“The rating actions mainly reflect our expectation that Posco‘s financial profile will continue to improve over the next 1-2 years, underpinned by an increase in earnings and debt reductions,” Gloria Tsuen, a Moody’s vice president and senior analyst, said through a statement.The ratings firm said that profits from Posco‘s construction business was exp

Industry Oct. 27, 2017

The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family on Thursday announced that it would be designating heat-not-burn tobacco products as harmful substances that cannot be sold to minors. IQOS from Philip Morris (Philip Morris International)Under current regulations, restrictions on sales to minors apply only to e-cigarettes that are used to inhale nicotine-laced liquid. There are no restrictions on heat-not-burn systems that use electronic devices to heat tobacco sticks and produce vapor.Once the new rul

Industry Oct. 26, 2017

An affiliate of LG Household & Health Care has acquired a production facility in Iksan, North Jeolla Province, from RB Korea, the two companies confirmed Thursday.The facility, which was previously used by RB Korea to produce household products such as detergents and dehumidifiers, was shut down on Sept. 30 after RB Korea’s market share fell drastically due to the fallout from the humidifier sanitizer incident that has been linked to over 100 deaths.The facility has been acquired by Haitai HTB,

Industry Oct. 26, 2017

Asiana Airlines held a commencement ceremony Wednesday for its 2017 program helping underprivileged women in Vietnam find employment, according to the company Thursday.Together with the Korea International Cooperation Agency and nonprofit organization Good People, Asiana Airlines has been running the “Vietnam -- Beautiful Classroom” program since 2015. To date, the program has produced roughly 350 graduates.This year, 110 women completed the course.Asiana Airlines Executive Vice President of Cor

Industry Oct. 26, 2017

The chief executive of South Korea’s cosmetics powerhouse Amorepacific was named the 20th best-performing CEO in the world, the company said Wednesday.Amorepacific Chairman Suh Kyung-bae ranked 20th globally and second in Asia on a list of 100 best-performing CEOs released annually by Harvard Business Review and INSEAD.  Amorepacific Chairman Suh Kyung-bae (Amorepacific)The evaluations were based on Amorepacific’s performance from June 29, 2006, when Amorepacific was set up as a separate entity

Industry Oct. 25, 2017