Hana sets up board-level consumer protection body

Hana Financial Group said Sunday that it will become the first financial group in South Korea to establish a “Consumer Protection Committee” within its board of directors and implement a groupwide consumer protection governance system. This reorganization aims to ensure that financial consumer protection is managed directly by the group’s top decision-making body, positioning it as a core value and competitive strength beyond simple legal compliance or risk management. The existing Consumer Risk

Oct. 26, 2025

Coway tops water sommelier contest with award-winning purifier

South Korean home appliance maker Coway said Wednesday it has received the highest rating at the Korea International Sommelier Association’s annual bottled and purified water competition. The company also became the first in the industry to win the Diamond Prize, given to brands that have maintained a Gold rating or higher for six consecutive years. The contest is conducted through a blind tasting process. This year's top-rated Switch water purifier features an electrostatic adsorption-based nan

Oct. 22, 2025

Amorepacific’s Hera enters Japan’s top department stores

Amorepacific’s luxury beauty brand Hera is expanding its presence in Japan by entering major Japanese department stores, Hankyu and Mitsukoshi, the company announced Tuesday. Since entering Japan in July 2023, Hera has operated a series of pop-up stores at major department stores to gauge consumer response and raise brand awareness. In September, the brand opened its first official store at Hankyu Umeda Main Store in Osaka, followed this month by its second store at Ginza Mitsukoshi in Tokyo. Ac

Oct. 21, 2025

Paris Baguette opens first store in Mongolia

SPC Group, the operator of South Korea’s leading bakery franchise Paris Baguette, said Monday it has opened its first store in Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia. In 2024, Paris Baguette signed a master franchise agreement with Foodcorp, one of Mongolia’s top food and restaurant companies with a wide portfolio spanning food manufacturing, distribution and dining services. The new store, located on the ground floor of Zaisan Square, a major shopping mall in southern Ulaanbaatar, accommodates ar

Oct. 20, 2025

Musinsa Tokyo pop-up showcases K-fashion’s rising appeal

Musinsa, South Korea's leading online fashion retailer, has achieved major success with its Musinsa Tokyo Pop-up Store 2025, drawing over 20,000 visitors in its first week and highlighting surging Japanese interest in Korean fashion. The pop-up event, being held in Tokyo’s Shibuya district until Oct. 26, has quickly become one of the area’s most notable fashion and beauty attractions, welcoming more than 10,000 visitors within the first three days. "From the first day, we were able to see the hi

Oct. 13, 2025

CU's most expensive sale ever: $54,000 bottle of 65-year-old whisky

South Korean convenience store chain CU set a new industry record for the highest-priced sale: a bottle of rare whisky that sold for 75 million won ($54,000), according to industry insiders and local reports. The 65-year-old Glen Grant whisky, part of CU’s gift lineup for Chuseok, comes from the Splendor Collection, made from carefully selected rare Scotch distillates and limited to just 151 bottles worldwide. The retailer reportedly did not expect the product to sell, but it did -- making the p

Oct. 1, 2025

Musinsa to open 100 China stores by 2030, starting in Shanghai

Musinsa, South Korea’s top online fashion retailer, will open its first brick-and-mortar outlets in Shanghai in December as part of its plan to roll out more than 100 stores across China by 2030, aiming to capture the country’s trend-driven youth market and generate over 1 trillion won ($712 million) in cumulative sales. Musinsa Standard — the company’s modern basic casual wear brand — will open a flagship store in mid-December at the Parkson Shopping Mall on Huaihai Road, one of Shanghai’s busi

Sept. 30, 2025

Daewoong's Easydew sales top W100b, eyes record revenue in 2025

Easydew, the skin care brand from Daewoong Pharmaceutical, said Sunday it surpassed 100 billion won ($70.9 million) in cumulative sales between January and July this year, marking about 200 percent growth from the same period last year. The company expects to set a new annual revenue record on the back of strong product competitiveness and diversified sales channels. The brand’s growth has been driven by two flagship products — the “Melatoning One Day Ampoule” and “Mela B Toning Ampoule Cushion”

Sept. 28, 2025

CU sees 185% jump in foreign sales on 'KPop Demon Hunters' buzz

Korean convenience store snacks such as gimbap and instant ramyeon have surged in popularity following megahit Netflix movie "KPop Demon Hunters," with foreign transactions at CU, the nation’s largest convenience store chain, jumping 185 percent. BGF Retail, which operates CU, said Monday that after the global success of "KPop Demon Hunters," foreign customers are increasingly reaching for K-food items featured in the film, including gimbap, ramyeon, chips and gukbap (Korean soup with rice). Acc

Sept. 15, 2025

NCSoft to launch Aion 2 in Korea, Taiwan

Korean game developer NCSoft said Friday it will launch its MMORPG Aion 2 -- the follow-up to the first Aion, released in 2008 -- on Nov. 19 in South Korea and Taiwan. Preregistration, which began on Thursday, is available on the official Aion 2 website and on both countries’ major app markets. NCSoft plans to open a character and server name reservation event on Oct. 16. Players will also be able to download the game and create customized characters starting Nov. 16, ahead of the official launc

Sept. 12, 2025

Samlip cheesecake debuts at US Costco stores

SPC Samlip said Tuesday its Soft Cheesecake will be stocked at Costco stores in the United States, marking the first time a Korean bakery product has been sold by the American retail giant. The launch accelerates the company’s push of K-desserts into the global market, following the entry of Samlip’s yakgwa, a traditional Korean sweet, last year. Starting in late September, the cheesecake will be sold at some 100 Costco branches on the West Coast, including San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Die

Sept. 9, 2025

Amorepacific sets W15tr sales target for next decade

Amorepacific Group, Korea’s leading cosmetics company, highlighted its global ambitions and enhanced beauty portfolio as core drivers of future growth at its 80th anniversary celebration, the company announced Monday. At the ceremony held Thursday at the company’s headquarters in Yongsan, central Seoul, Chair Suh Kyung-bae unveiled Amorepacific’s goal of becoming a top global beauty and wellness company with annual sales of 15 trillion won ($10.76 billion) within the next decade. “Amorepacific h

Sept. 8, 2025

Three Chinese robot vacuums found vulnerable to hacking

Amid concerns that robot vacuums can be hacked to spy on users’ homes, a South Korean authority said on Tuesday that three of the four Chinese models it surveyed were found to be vulnerable. The Korea Consumer Agency inspected six robot vacuum models — four Chinese and two Korean products widely sold here — and discovered serious security flaws in three Chinese brands: Narwal, Ecovacs and Dreame. The vulnerabilities could expose users’ homes and personal information to outsiders. The three brand

Sept. 3, 2025

Persil outpaces rivals in tough stain removal test

Laundry detergent brand Persil said Tuesday that its Expert Indoor Drying product received the highest rating on blood and ink stain removal test conducted by the Korea Consumer Agency. According to the agency’s recent report, the Persil detergent was the only one among eight brands to receive three stars, the top “excellent” grade, in that category. Blood and ink stains are considered particularly difficult to remove, as protein and pigment components can penetrate deep into fabric. Persil cred

Sept. 2, 2025

Caron Bio clears Chinese regulatory hurdle with hair loss shampoo

Caron Bio, a Korean scalp and hair loss care specialist, said Tuesday that its shampoo product has successfully passed all required stages of approval from China’s medical regulator, marking a first for a Korean hair loss product. The C3 Da Balmo Shampoo cleared three core assessments — a toxicity test, a human application test and an ingredient stability evaluation. With the green light from China's National Medical Products Administration, the shampoo is now officially registered as a general

Sept. 2, 2025