The Korea Times

Seoul, Busan grapple with rising costs of seniors' free subway rides

Seoul and Busan are facing mounting financial pressure from providing free subway rides to designated groups, raising concerns about the long-term sustainability of local governments' operation of the critical public transit system. The service, introduced in 1984 for people aged 65 or older, has now accumulated losses worth hundreds of billions of won for subway operators. While the ministries responsible for the laws underpinning the program have remained largely aloof to the growing financial strain, the only immediate relief in sight is a bill pending before a National Assembly standing committee. The losses are staggering, and as the population ages, the number of people who benefit from the service grows, fueling the problem. Seoul Metro, under the Seoul Metropolitan Government, operates subway lines 1 through 8 across Seoul, Incheon and Gyeonggi Province. Last year alone, it saw an operational deficit of 450 billion won ($290 million) from free rides, according to the National Assembly Research Service (NARS). That figure accounted for 54 percent of the company’s entire deficit

Jul 9, 2026By Ko Dong-hwan

Seoul, Busan grapple with rising costs of seniors' free subway rides

Companies

Craft cider brewer defies odds in Korea's soju-dominated market

CHUNGJU, North Chungcheong Province — Korea is a tough market for ciders. Over 80 percent of the country’s liquor market is soju and beer, while the rest is mostly driven by makgeolli (Korean traditional rice alcohol), wine and whisky. In this competitive environment, ciders are a niche market. Lee Dae-ro, CEO of Dancing Cider, a craft cider brewery started in 2018 in Chungju, North Chungcheong Province, keeps his chin up despite difficulties in surviving a market where he's one of only a handful of cider-makers. It's hard to stand out in the industry, which is dominated by large-size firms like HiteJinro, Oriental Brewery and Lotte Chilsung. “The liquor market here is really a playground for the big boys, not just for their own brands but also the major global brands they import. It’s easy for them to expand their business by acquiring small breweries, sometimes even by ignoring legally binding contracts,” said Lee in his interview with The Korea Times. “There's a simple reason why ciders are not popular in Korea. Large firms don’t invest in them.” The global gastronomic

Jul 8, 2026By Ko Dong-hwan

Craft cider brewer defies odds in Korea's soju-dominated market

Companies

Buchang Bakery's G-Dragon walnut cake to be served at UNESCO meeting in Busan

Buchang Bakery, specializing in gourmet walnut cakes, will sponsor the UNESCO World Heritage summit in Busan later this month with its dainty delicacy baked in collaboration with K-pop icon G-Dragon. Fresh Gourmet, the Seoul-based operator of the Buchang Bakery walnut cake brand, said Wednesday it will provide its products during the 48th session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, scheduled for July 19 to 29 in the southeastern port city of Busan. The company will also operate a pop-up store at K-Heritage House, which will run throughout the event at BEXCO. The event, to be held in Korea for the first time since the country joined the UNESCO World Heritage Convention in 1988, is expected to draw representatives from the convention's 196 states parties, along with experts in global heritage conservation and promotion. Buchang will offer its signature lineup of walnut cakes, including Daisy Bomb Walnut Cake, which was introduced earlier this year by the company’s collaboration with G-Dragon’s charity foundation JUSPEACE. The K-pop star in February gifted Daisy Bomb sets to fans wh

Jul 8, 2026By Ko Dong-hwan

Buchang Bakery's G-Dragon walnut cake to be served at UNESCO meeting in Busan

Companies

Retail chains lose ground under outdated regulations

The government's regulations on discount chain stores are facing growing criticism, with calls for the rules to be abolished or eased to help the offline retail sector survive intensifying competition from the fast-growing e-commerce industry. Introduced in 2012 to protect traditional markets and small businesses, the regulations generally require large discount stores to close on the second and fourth Sunday of each month and prohibit them from operating or making deliveries between midnight and 8 a.m. The initiative to ease or abolish the rules has gained momentum in the National Assembly and among market researchers, who argue the regulations are outdated and no longer reflect a retail market increasingly dominated by e-commerce. The biggest criticism is that the regulations were crafted at a time when e-commerce had yet to emerge as a major retail force. Instead, discount chain stores dominated the market. Emart, Lotte Mart and Homeplus, the country's three largest discount store chains, generated a combined 37.2 trillion won ($24.4 billion) in sales in 2012 while operating a record

Jul 8, 2026By Ko Dong-hwan

Retail chains lose ground under outdated regulations

Companies

Vietnam essential to K-food's ASEAN expansion

Vietnam is expected to drive Korea's food exports to Southeast Asia, according to the Korean government, which last week completed a market survey in the region's key economy. The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs said Tuesday that it confirmed strong local demand for K-food and identified logistics infrastructure needed to facilitate exports during a recent market survey in Vietnam. K-Market, a Korean food distributor in Hanoi, has risen as a key local company in collaboration with the Korean government. At the center of the ministry’s latest Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) K-food expansion plan is a new multimodal logistics hub in Hanoi completed last month. The ministry and its fresh produce distribution agency, the Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corp., jointly built the facility to support Korean food exporters by providing a way for them to save on logistics. The advanced facility is equipped with rapid cooling and freezing rooms and a cold-chain package, which are critical for fresh agricultural and livestock products. The corporation said the fa

Jul 7, 2026By Ko Dong-hwan

Vietnam essential to K-food's ASEAN expansion

Companies

CJ Olive Young opens dedicated logistics center on Jeju Island

Major beauty retailer CJ Olive Young has strengthened its delivery capabilities for Jeju consumers by opening a new logistics center on the island. The K-beauty retail chain under CJ Group said Monday that it opened its Micro Fulfillment Center (MFC) Jeju on Wednesday in Aewol, located in the island's central region. The 1,702-square-meter facility is designed to enable same-day delivery for products ordered through the company's e-commerce platform, with purchases arriving before midnight on the day they are placed. The company said the new center allows about 90 percent of orders on the island to be delivered to customers' doorsteps on the same day. The launch of MFC Jeju comes as the island has long faced slower and more expensive deliveries than the mainland. Previously, orders to Jeju typically took at least three days to arrive, compared with up to two days for most mainland deliveries. Customers on the island were also required to pay a 2,500 won ($1.63) "remote area surcharge" on every delivery, regardless of the purchase amount. With the facility, the surcharge will no longer be

Jul 6, 2026By Ko Dong-hwan

CJ Olive Young opens dedicated logistics center on Jeju Island

Companies

Selling experiences, not volume, key for Pernod Ricard

Like any other line of business, companies in the liquor industry see sales as their top priority. But does that mean selling more is always better? A social campaign leader at Pernod Ricard, a global liquor distributor based in Paris, says what he wants is for the public to "drink better, not more." The phrase is part of a campaign being promoted by the company’s Vice President of Global Public Affairs and Alcohol in Society Laurent Scheer. He staunchly recommends responsible drinking and encourages consumers to seek responsible and mindful drinking practices. To spread the message worldwide, he communicates with national governments, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the European Union and industry partners in the hospitality businesses to introduce policies and regulations for smarter alcohol consumption. Pernod Ricard wants to sell a good experience more than anything, according to Scheer. “Our objective is to make profits. We want to sell high-value products and increase our sales. But it’s not necessarily selling volume. We want people to buy high-val

Jul 4, 2026By Ko Dong-hwan

Selling experiences, not volume, key for Pernod Ricard

Companies

Termination of Homeplus rehabilitation endangers 12,000 workers

A court decision on Friday to terminate the rehabilitation proceedings for cash-strapped discount store chain Homeplus has raised concerns for the company's 12,000 employees who could lose their jobs. After Homeplus first filed for rehabilitation in March last year, the retailer began reducing its offline outlets. Of the 126 locations, only 67 stores remain, while the number of employees dropped from 20,000 to about 15,000 following the downsizing. After the company sold its supermarket unit Homeplus Express to NS Shopping last month to secure more cash, the workforce dropped again to 12,000 people. If Homeplus ultimately goes into bankruptcy, the government will activate a substitute payment program, which would allow it to advance unpaid wages of up to 21 million won ($13,600) per employee and later recover the funds. Employees who lose their jobs would also be eligible for unemployment benefits equivalent to 60 percent of their average wages over the three months preceding their termination. The government also plans to provide at least 440 billion won in emergency liquidity to help sm

Jul 3, 2026By Ko Dong-hwan

Termination of Homeplus rehabilitation endangers 12,000 workers

Companies

APR, Amorepacific shine in Amazon Prime Day promotion event

Korean beauty giants APR and Amorepacific shined during Amazon's major discount event in the United States and Europe, topping search rankings and posting sharp year-on-year sales growth. According to APR on Friday, its flagship beauty brand Medicube topped Amazon's trending search rankings across all product categories in the United States during the June 23-26 discount event, outperforming the iPad, Lego and AirPods. The brand climbed from ninth place a year earlier. The brand's Zero Pore Pad topped the Beauty & Personal Care and Toners & Astringents categories. Its Collagen Jelly Cream and PDRN Pink Peptide Ampoule were also among the most popular picks during the event. The company said its overall sales during the e-commerce giant’s annual event hit record levels. Eleven Medicube product types entered Amazon Prime Day’s top 100 bestsellers in the beauty category this year, the highest number among K-beauty brands available on the platform. Medicube also gained traction in Europe following its Amazon launch in the United Kingdom late last year and subsequent expansion into German

Jul 3, 2026By Ko Dong-hwan

APR, Amorepacific shine in Amazon Prime Day promotion event

Foreign Affairs

Korea expresses regret over US House committee’s 'lopsided' Coupang report

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday rejected a report by U.S. lawmakers criticizing Korean authorities’ handling of Coupang regarding its customer data breach from last year, saying the report overlooked the company's violations of Korean law and only defended the U.S. firm. The ministry said the House Judiciary Committee’s interim staff report released on the committee’s website on Wednesday (local time) had a half-eyed view toward the massive data breach discovered last November. "We express regret that the report appears to reflect only Coupang's claims in a one-sided manner," ministry spokesperson Park Il said in a press briefing, adding that the Korean government has been “faithfully” transparent to the United States regarding the process of Korean authorities' investigation. Park said all Korean investigations and measures regarding Coupang are being conducted lawfully and without discrimination in accordance with domestic laws, and that the government guarantees a fair corporate operating environment regardless of nationality. “Therefore, the report's claim tha

Jul 2, 2026By Ko Dong-hwan

Ko Dong-hwan

Read more

Seoul, Busan grapple with rising costs of seniors' free subway rides

Craft cider brewer defies odds in Korea's soju-dominated market

Buchang Bakery's G-Dragon walnut cake to be served at UNESCO meeting in Busan

Retail chains lose ground under outdated regulations

Vietnam essential to K-food's ASEAN expansion

CJ Olive Young opens dedicated logistics center on Jeju Island

Selling experiences, not volume, key for Pernod Ricard

Termination of Homeplus rehabilitation endangers 12,000 workers

APR, Amorepacific shine in Amazon Prime Day promotion event

Korea expresses regret over US House committee’s 'lopsided' Coupang report

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