Lotte to hike chocolate prices amid surging cocoa costs

SEOUL, May 29 (AJU PRESS) - Lotte Wellfood, Korea's top chocolate maker, plans to raise the prices of 17 products by 12 percent next month to cover surging global cocoa costs. Cocoa prices have nearly doubled since the start of 2024 due to poor harvests in West Africa, which accounts for 60 percent of the world supply. Lotte initially planned to raise chocolate prices on May 1 but postponed the hike by a month at the government's request to help stabilize consumer price

May 29, 2024

47 Korean biotech firms to participate in major U.S. industry fair

SEOUL, May 28 (AJU PRESS) - A total of 47 Korean drug and biotechnology companies will showcase their latest technologies and products at a major industry exhibition in the United States next week. The Bio International Convention, the world's largest biopharmaceutical exhibition, is set to kick off in San Diego on Monday for a four-day run. More than 1,500 global companies are expected to participate in the annual event organized by the Biotechnology Innovation Organizati

May 28, 2024

North Face releases limited-edition Hangeul T-shirts

SEOUL, May 27 (AJU PRESS) - To raise awareness of the importance of preserving the Korean language, the North Face launched a special limited-edition T-shirt collection featuring old Korean letters. The North Face Hangeul collection draws inspiration from design concepts by Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist Hyungwon Kang. Earlier this month, Kang spoke at a forum, emphasizing the need to revitalize obsolete Hangeul letters. He highlighted the historical and phonetic significanc

May 27, 2024

Convenience store chain GS25 opens 300th branch in Viet Nam

SEOUL, May 27 (AJU PRESS) - GS25, a leading convenience store chain in Korea, has opened its 300th store in Viet Nam, six years after entering the Southeast Asian country in 2018. GS Retail, the operator of GS25, announced on Sunday that the 393-square-meter mega store, located near a university in Ho Chi Minh City, began operations Thursday. The store sells a variety of Korean food, including ramyeon (instant noodles) and kkwabaegi (twisted doughnuts), as well as Vietnamese snacks.

May 27, 2024

Samsung to launch AI-powered connected family care system

SEOUL, May 24 (AJU PRESS) - “Mom hasn’t been very active today,” read the notification from Samsung’s SmartThings app. For office worker Kim, this was a concerning deviation from the norm. His mother, who lives separately, hadn’t shown any activity for over four hours that morning. The app revealed she used the water purifier at 5:30 am, but her step count was alarmingly low compared to usual. Kim quickly initiated a video call through the app and selec

May 24, 2024

Kakao fined record 15.1 billion won for user information leak

SEOUL, May 23 (AJU PRESS) – Korea's personal data watchdog on Thursday imposed a record 15.1 billion won ($11.1 million) fine on Kakao Corp., which runs the nation's largest mobile messaging app, after a major data breach exposed more than 65,000 user records. The Personal Information Protection Commission made the decision the previous day after finding Kakao failed to properly encrypt user IDs for its open chat rooms, allowing hackers to access linked account num

May 23, 2024

Dangerous levels of heavy metals found in children's products from Chinese e-commerce platforms

SEOUL, May 23 (AJU PRESS) - Alarming levels of hazardous heavy metals have been detected in children's products sold on popular Chinese online platforms AliExpress and Shein. The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced Thursday that a recent safety inspection of seven children's items from Chinese e-commerce sites found high levels of lead, chromium and nickel in two products. A children's watch sold on Shein was found to have lead levels 278 times higher than the

May 23, 2024

Hyundai Rotem signs deal to supply wheeled armored vehicles to Peruvian Army

SEOUL, May 22 (AJU PRESS) - South Korea's Hyundai Rotem has signed a contract with the Peruvian Army to provide wheeled armored vehicles, the South Korean Embassy in Peru said Wednesday. Hyundai Rotem has secured a $60 million contract to supply 30 K808 IFVs, called Baekho (white tiger), through the Seoul-based STX trading company by 2025. The deal could be expanded to cover 90 more units. The deal was completed about three weeks after the company, affiliated with Hyundai Mot

May 22, 2024

Korea's ramyeon exports hit record high in April

SEOUL, May 20 (AJU PRESS) - Exports of Korean instant noodles, ramyeon, surpassed $100 million for the first time in April, led by a spicy chicken flavor variant, according to government data. Data from the Korea Customs Service showed that Korean companies sold $108.6 million worth of ramyeon last month, a 46.8 percent increase from the same period a year ago. The volume broke the previous monthly record of $92.9 million set in February. Ramyeon exports have increased annually s

May 20, 2024

Imported electric vehicle registrations surge 150% this year

SEOUL, May 17 (AJU PRESS) – The number of imported electric vehicles (EVs) newly registered in Korea from January to April surged more than 150 percent year-on-year, data showed Friday. The ratio of EVs in newly registered imported cars also nearly tripled from a year before, according to the Korea Automobile Importers & Distributors Association (KAIDA). In the first four months of the year, the number of imported EV registrations was 13,863 units, a 155.9 percent

May 17, 2024