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Ko Dong-hwan

Korea Times Business Reporter

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PHOTO HiteJinro mixes soju for Starbucks

Gwanghwamun Mixato, right, a cocktail collaboration between HiteJinro and Starbucks Korea, is displayed next to a bottle of Jinro Ilpoom, a distilled premium soju brand by HiteJinro. Gwanghwamun Mixato, which uses Jinro Ilpoom, is available exclusively at Starbucks Reserve Gwanghwamun in central Seoul. HiteJinro said Thursday it hopes to expand its premium soju market in Korea and help boost the tourism industry through its partnership with the major cafe chain. It is the first time Starbucks Korea has collaborated with a liquor company in Korea. Available at Bar Mixato inside the store, Gwanghwamun Mixato contains 8.2 percent alcohol. Its red hibiscus tea and blue lime create a color palette reminiscent of the Taegeukgi, the country’s national flag. Courtesy of HiteJinro

Apr 16, 2026By Ko Dong-hwanphoto
[PHOTO] HiteJinro mixes soju for Starbucks
Companies

HD Hyundai Electric builds Korea’s largest eco-friendly transformer

Major electric machinery and equipment developer HD Hyundai Electric has successfully developed a transformer running on an environmentally cleaner oil than a conventional one in the largest capacity ever in the industry here. The HD Hyundai subsidiary said Thursday the accomplished product will head to a substation in the United Kingdom operated by National Grid, a local utility company. The transformer, 400 kilovolt and 460 megavolt-amperes, uses synthetic ester oil as an insulator oil against heat and electricity. The company said the new oil is highly biodegradable, making itself more environmentally sustainable than conventionally used mineral oil. Synthetic ester oil, compared to mineral oil, has a higher flash point and helps reduce risks of fire, according to the company. It added that at times of oil leak, synthetic ester oil’s environmental impact is relatively low, making it suitable for sites where both fire safety and environmental protection are required. Transformers that use eco-friendly insulating oils need different design requirements from conventional products, maki

Apr 16, 2026By Ko Dong-hwan
HD Hyundai Electric builds Korea’s largest eco-friendly transformer
Companies

SR head seeks to clear hurdles for KTX-SRT merger

Jung Wang-guk, head of SR, the state-run operator of high-speed railway SRT, said Tuesday that a merger of SR and Korea Railroad (KORAIL) and the launch of integrated service before October are his top priorities. KORAIL is the operator of KTX, the country’s most widely used high-speed train service. He also said the plan to offer both SRT and KTX services at Seoul Station and Suseo Station in southern Seoul is expected to effectively increase seat availability for passengers. KTX trains had previously never operated at Suseo Station, and SRT has not operated at Seoul Station. The cross-operation plan comes as seat shortages have been a chronic issue for passengers, particularly SRT users, as the service offers only about half the number of seats compared to KTX and serves fewer stations. Since December last year, test operations of the integrated service have been underway ahead of its official launch in September. “The dry run involving an SRT train with 410 seats and a KTX train with 955 seats has added about 1,000 new seats for passengers per day,” Jung said during a press conf

Apr 14, 2026By Ko Dong-hwan
SR head seeks to clear hurdles for KTX-SRT merger
Companies

Chef blends Korean, Swedish flavors to celebrate IKEA Gangdong anniversary

Celebrity chef Song Hoon has created an exclusive menu for IKEA, available only at the global furniture giant's Gangdong store to mark its first anniversary, the global furniture giant said Monday. The dish, Meatball Shakshuka, reinterprets Swedish meatballs — the signature menu item served at restaurants in IKEA stores worldwide — in a fusion style. Song, who appeared in season two of Culinary Class Wars, adds stir-fried kimchi to the classic meatball. The company said the new menu “has collaborated two different culinary cultures to put them together on the same table.” Meatball Shakshuka is sold for limited quantities — 50 dishes on weekdays and 200 each on Saturday and Sunday. Song and IKEA Korea have also collaborated for new recipes using ingredients available at Swedish Food Market, an offline aisle inside the company’s five locations here — Seoul, Busan and three cities in Gyeonggi Province — and its online platform. The goal of this initiative is to extend the availability of the Swedish cuisines at IKEA restaurants in Korea to the home of local customers. “We a

Apr 13, 2026By Ko Dong-hwan
Chef blends Korean, Swedish flavors to celebrate IKEA Gangdong anniversary
Companies

Bonchon, early mover in K fried-chicken exports, eyes Korea return

Only four years after the fried chicken brand was founded in Busan, Bonchon opened its first franchised eatery outside Korea in Manhattan in 2006, and its first directly managed one in the same city in 2010. Bonchon International, operator of the brand, has since witnessed major Korean chicken firms follow in its footsteps to enter the world’s largest consumer market. However, Bryan Shin, head of Bonchon International, knows that Bonchon's status as the pioneer in the competitive global Korean fried chicken market remains unchallenged. Bonchon International now operates exclusively outside Korea, with approximately 500 restaurants across 9 countries. It achieved nearly $400 million in overall sales last year. The United States and the Philippines are its most important markets, with about 160 establishments each. Thailand, with around 140 Bonchon businesses, is also another pillar of the company's global markets. According to the Korean Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs in February, the U.S. overtook China last year to become the largest global market for Korean food comp

Apr 13, 2026By Ko Dong-hwan
Bonchon, early mover in K fried-chicken exports, eyes Korea return
Companies

Korean traditions embraced by global K-beauty market

Traditional Korean relics and techniques are emerging as a silver bullet for the country's beauty companies seeking to target a growing global consumer base. From old practices among ordinary people to trinkets used at royal palaces, Korean heritage is being leveraged by major companies to introduce new products and strengthen brand storytelling. On March 30, Able C&C released a new skin care lineup for its flagship brand Missha, highlighting pottery fermentation. This traditional technique uses the micropore structure of pottery, which is considered ideal for fermentation. Building on this, the company used the method to ferment and extract skin care ingredients, including damask rose water and bifidobacteria, for its new products including Glow Pore Blurring Balm. “We used pots passed down over nine generations and used for over 300 years in Boseong, South Jeolla Province,” an Abel C&C official said. “We’ve been researching pottery fermentation and the extracted ingredients’ safety and skin absorption features for the past 20 years for Missha.” Abel C&C said pottery fermenta

Apr 11, 2026By Ko Dong-hwan
Korean traditions embraced by global K-beauty market
Companies

Woowa Bros union, management reach 1st collective bargaining deal

Woowa Brothers, operator of Korea’s largest food-ordering online platform Baedal Minjok, said Friday its labor union and management has signed the two sides' first-ever collective bargaining agreement (CBA) since the company's establishment in 2010. The CBA, signed a day earlier, came after the company’s employees, including delivery riders and restaurant partners, repeatedly protested against the company for improvement of the workplace environment and reductions in platform usage fees. According to the company, the head of its People Division Yi Yoon-jun met the chairman of the chemical, textile and food union under the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, one of the country’s largest umbrella unions, to sign the CBA on wages, welfare and other collective bargaining issues. The chairman of the company’s labor union, Woowa Union, also joined the signing event at Startup Square in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province. The agreement centered on promoting growth of the country’s delivery industry ecosystem, platform expansion, and finding new areas to break free from entrenched practice

Apr 10, 2026By Ko Dong-hwan
Woowa Bros union, management reach 1st collective bargaining deal
Companies

CJ CheilJedang, Binggrae among 145 firms to lead Korea's food exports

CJ CheilJedang and Binggrae have been selected for the government’s new food export initiative, "Global Next K-Food," along with 143 other companies, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, Thursday. CJ CheilJedang, the food subsidiary of CJ Group, will share its global market network with small- and medium-sized breweries as part of a consortium aimed at jointly boosting exports of Korean liquor products. The move comes as the ministry begins restructuring the country’s food export channels by linking large companies with small- and medium-sized enterprises (SME) that lack global market access and networks. The collaboration will enable four wineries and breweries specializing in rice-based traditional liquors, including Danong Bio and Moonbaesool, to export their products to premium restaurants in North America through CJ’s existing distribution channels. Binggrae will help two food SMEs export their halal-certified products to Muslim markets across Southeast Asia. Leveraging popular K-food items such as rice cake stir-fried with red hot pepper paste, ba

Apr 9, 2026By Ko Dong-hwan
CJ CheilJedang, Binggrae among 145 firms to lead Korea's food exports
Companies

HD Hyundai completes world’s 1st ammonia-fueled tankers

HD Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) said Thursday it has completed construction of two ammonia-fueled tankers for a Belgian ship operator, marking a milestone for eco-friendly shipping. The two liquefied gas tankers, named Antwerpen and Arlon after Belgian cities, were built for EXMAR LPG France, a subsidiary of Belgium-based floating solutions developer EXMAR. The vessels are part of four medium-sized ammonia-propelled gas carriers ordered in 2023 and 2024 and are scheduled for delivery in May and July. Each ship measures 190 meters in length, 30.4 meters in width and 18.8 meters in height, with a cargo capacity of 46,000 cubic meters. The dual-fuel vessels are equipped with three cargo tanks capable of carrying liquefied petroleum gas, ammonia and other liquefied gases. They also feature shaft generators and selective catalytic reduction systems to reduce carbon emissions, while ammonia gas detectors and purge recovery units enhance safety against potential leaks. The naming ceremony was held at the company’s shipyard in Ulsan, attended by around 70 officials, including Joo Won-ho, pr

Apr 9, 2026By Ko Dong-hwan
HD Hyundai completes world’s 1st ammonia-fueled tankers
Companies

PHOTO Bhc's new fried chicken

Soy Garlic King Honey, left, and Soy Garlic King Original are displayed at a Bhc location in Seoul, Tuesday, as the fried chicken franchise under Dining Brands Group unveils its first new menu items of the year. The new items follow past hits, including Bburinkle in 2014, and Kwasak King and Matcho King in 2025. The brand now operates 2,230 stores in Korea, posting 513 billion won ($348 million) in sales in 2024, and has expanded to nine countries, including the United States and Canada. Courtesy of Dining Brands Group

Apr 8, 2026By Ko Dong-hwanphoto
[PHOTO] Bhc's new fried chicken
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