Category: South Korea Market

(Philip Morris Korea)Philip Morris Korea has won a legal battle worth billions of won against the country’s tax authority over trademark usage fees, according to legal sources.The Seoul Administrative Court on Monday ruled in favor of the South Korean unit of the international tobacco company, ordering a tax imposed by Seoul Main Customs worth 9.82…

(ATTN: ADDS details in paras 16-20, 24)By Kang Yoon-seung SEOUL, March 1 (Yonhap) — South Korea’s exports rose 9.5 percent in February from a year earlier to extend their gains for the fourth consecutive month on robust shipments of chips, autos and other key products, data showed Monday. Exports came to US$44.8 billion last month, compared with…

SEOUL, March 1 (Yonhap) — The portion of male births of the total newborns in South Korea declined to a record low last year, data showed Monday, in the latest sign that traditional preference for male children has waned. The ratio of baby boys to every 100 newborn girls came to 104.9 last year, down from 105.5 the previous year, according to preliminary…

(ATTN: ADDS details in paras 7-19, 22-23)By Kang Yoon-seung SEOUL, March 1 (Yonhap) — South Korea’s exports rose 9.5 percent in February from a year earlier to extend their gains for the fourth consecutive month on robust shipments of chips, autos and other key products, data showed Monday. Exports came to US$44.8 billion last month, compared with…

South Korea’s online food market posted explosive growth in 2020 from a year earlier due to the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, data showed.The value of online food transactions in Asia’s fourth-largest economy came to 43.4 trillion won ($39.2 billion) last year, up 62.4 percent from a year earlier, according to data from Statistics Korea…

SEOUL, March 1 (Yonhap) — South Korea’s exports rose 9.5 percent in February from a year earlier to extend their gains for the fourth consecutive month on robust shipments of chips, with global COVID-19 vaccination projects also set to speed up the recovery of the business sentiment. Exports came to US$44.8 billion last month, compared with $40.9…

(ATTN: RECASTS headline, lead; ADDS details throughout) By Kang Yoon-seung SEOUL, March 1 (Yonhap) — South Korea’s exports rose 9.5 percent in February from a year earlier to extend their gains for the fourth consecutive month on robust shipments of chips, autos and other key products, data showed Monday. Exports came to US$44.8 billion last month,…

The Special Act on New Gadeok Airport was passed in a plenary session of the National Assembly last Friday. The passage took place just three months after the bill was proposed in November. The ruling Democratic Party (DP) overwhelmingly approved it while the opposition People Power Party (PPP) was split between members from South and North Gyeongsang….

Pinnacle of populismNew airport project denounced as pork barrel The ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) has set a bad precedent for a pork barrel project by approving a bill at the National Assembly on building a new airport in Busan. On Friday, the controversial bill was passed through the Assembly’s plenary session in a 181-33 vote with 15 abstentions….

Tax populismKorea’s ballooning public spending cannot be sustained by increasing taxes on the rich, big firms A senior lawmaker of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea said during a parliamentary session last month that the issue of tax hikes should now be put to public debate. Following the suggestion, other party legislators have put forward numerous…

Women’s loungewear brand Badblood has been forced to apologize for darkening the skin of one of its models amid accusations of blackfishing.In a recent Instagram post, the brand offered its “sincere apologies” and asked for the “benefit of the doubt” after taking down the controversial post.“By increasing the contrast between our clothes…

Celltrion’s headquarters in Incheon (Yonhap)Celltrion founder and Chairman Seo Jung-jin’s eldest son Seo Jin-seok is expected to obtain a seat in the company’s boardroom next month, industry sources said on Sunday. Celltrion is to finalize the appointment of the junior Seo as representative director at the shareholder meeting scheduled on March…