Nongshim said Monday it is launching a ready-made instant Chapaguri cup noodle, which has garnered global popularity after being prominently featured in the Oscar-winning film “Parasite.” Chapaguri -- translated as “ram-don” in English subtitles in the movie -- is a mixture of Nongshim’s Chapaghetti black bean instant noodles and soup-based Neoguri ramen. The new Chapaguri product will be in the form of instant cup noodles, and it will be released in Korea firs

Consumer April 20, 2020

Posco International said Sunday it has sent 100 virus test kits that can run 10,000 tests to Myanmar, as part of its relief efforts for the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the company, it has successfully delivered the test kits developed by Korean firm BioSewoom to Myanmar’s Ministry of Health and Sports. The cost of 170 million won ($140,000) was shared by Posco International and its consortium partner companies -- Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise, Oil and Natural Gas Corp., Gas Autho

Industry April 19, 2020

Although the COVID-19 crisis has dampened overall consumer sentiment, sales of home appliances remain strong, according to industry sources Sunday. With people spending more time at home to practice social distancing, home appliance sales are booming. The government’s subsidy program to support purchases of energy-efficient home appliances is also contributing to the sales growth. According to Lotte Himart, 10 home appliances categorized as energy-efficient saw combined sales go up b

Industry April 19, 2020

Yoo Seo-kyung turns 56 this year, but she doesn’t mind getting older. Yoo is excited about the year ahead as she just got into graduate school and now has a chance to delve more deeply into her handicraft hobby. Several years ago, Yoo retired from the private math academy she ran for 10 years. Running the place had become more difficult as she found herself facing an ever-widening generation gap with her teenage students. After retirement, Yoo took an interest in the craft of “ji

Industry April 18, 2020

With online shopping booming amid the COVID-19 pandemic, elderly parents are also taking part in the shopping culture with the help of their children, data showed Thursday. According to Auction, an ecommerce platform operated by eBay, over 89 percent of 2,564 customers aged 20-49 surveyed, have shopped online for their parents. The survey was conducted from March 28 to April 4. For reasons to shop on behalf of their parents, 35 percent of the respondents said it was because their parents we

Consumer April 16, 2020

South Korea’s traditional superfood red ginseng is gaining prominence during the COVID-19 outbreak as a favorite gift item by government leaders as a token of thanks. In February, President Moon Jae-in presented Korea Ginseng Corp.’s red ginseng products to 500 public servants working at Incheon International Airport’s quarantine station and at the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to encourage them to keep up the good work. Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun als

Industry April 16, 2020

Ever heard of the lipstick effect? Some say lipstick acts as the barometer of an economy -- lipstick sales go up when consumer sentiment weakens during economic recessions as people tend to treat themselves with lower-cost indulgences. When the US economy slumped in 2001 after the Sept. 11 attacks, lipstick sales increased by about 11 percent in the second half of the year compared to the first half. This led Estee Lauder Chairman Leonard Lauder to coin the term “lipstick index.” &

Consumer April 14, 2020

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

Industry April 13, 2020

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

Industry April 13, 2020

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

Industry April 10, 2020

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

Consumer April 10, 2020

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

Consumer April 9, 2020

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

Consumer April 9, 2020

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

Consumer April 8, 2020

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

Industry April 7, 2020