The Korea Times

Dentist receives LG award for 55 years of community service

LG humanitarian awardees Park Jong-soo, left, and Cho Young-do smile in front of Restaurant of Love in Gwangju, on Sept. 16. / Courtesy of the LG FoundationBy Kim Jae-heunAn 80-year-old dentist Park Jong-soo was given the LG humanitarian award for providing voluntary medical services in underserved areas 55 years and providing free lunches at a soup kitchen for three decades. According to the LG Foundation, Park started his community service when he was in his senior year at college in 1965. Park said he has provided dental treatment for over 30,000 people in the last 55 years. Park received the award alongside Cho Young-do who has run the soup kitchen for 30 years.“We decided to give the LG Humanitarian Award to Park and Cho in the hope that the two's community spirit will spread throughout society,” an LG Foundation official said. Every Sunday, Park serves the community with his wife, bringing some people to his clinic for free medical care. The dentist also funded the establishment of the soup kitchen Restaurant of Love in 1991, and after the founder Huh Sang-hoi died

Sep 21, 2020By Kim Jae-heun

Dentist receives LG award for 55 years of community service

Companies

Costco least affected by gov't regulation

Costco branch in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province / Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul By Kim Jae-heunThe government implemented a law in 2014 mandating local retail giants to get consent from small traders at nearby traditional markets when opening a supermarket in the area.The purpose of the law was to create an ecosystem promoting win-win business between small dealers and large retailers.However, it turned out that Costco was not much affected by the regulation. In April last year, the American multinational retailer opened its new branch in Hanam, Gyeonggi Province, despite the government's request to postpone it. One thousand small traders from Deokpung Traditional Market opposed the opening of Costco's new outlet in the town and the Ministry of SMEs and Startups had held arbitrations between the two parties four times already. Costco was fined 40 million won for ignoring the government's request. It did exactly the same three years ago, when the American retailer

Sep 21, 2020By Kim Jae-heun

Costco least affected by gov't regulation

Companies

Gov't to put stricter regulations on Naver's e-commerce

Naver Corporation's headquarters in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province / Korea Times photo by Bae woo-hanBy Kim Jae-heunWith the results of Korea Fair Trade Commission's (KFTC) probe into Naver to be released in two weeks, attention has shifted toward the upcoming direction of the government putting regulations on the IT giant's e-commerce activities. Naver is alleged to be abusing its power in the online search market for “unfair business practices” in its online shopping platform. Naver operates the country's largest search engine that handles over 70 percent of all web searches in Korea. In October 2018, eBay Korea, which operates e-commerce firms including Auction and Gmarket, reported to the country's top antitrust regulator that Naver is prioritizes its business members by putting their products at the top of search results when people search for certain shopping items. Those who allegedly received Naver's benefits were sellers registered as members of Naver Pay or Smart Store, Naver's online shopping mall for small dealers.Naver was given an enforcement order and penalize

Sep 16, 2020By Kim Jae-heun

Gov't to put stricter regulations on Naver's e-commerce

Companies

Delivery Hero, Woowa Brothers nod to FTC regulations

The Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) Chairperson Joh Sung-wook speaks during a press conference at the government complex in Sejong, on Sept. 8. / Courtesy of KFTCBy Kim Jae-heunThe country's leading food delivery players Woowa Brothers and Delivery Hero said they will observe the government's plan to strengthen the law that aims to stem abuse of power over the restaurant owners who use their platforms. “If that is what the government plans to do, we have no option but to follow. We are in no position to argue against it,” both Woowa Brothers and Delivery Hero officials said.The response came a day after the Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC), the country's top anti-trust regulator, confirmed its plan to possibly revise the current law to become much stricter so as to obligate local food delivery players to issue a binding contract with restaurant owners. This was in response to many platform users raising complaints that the food delivery platforms engaged in practices that resulted in verbal agreements being made without providing any supporting documentation.Another

Sep 15, 2020By Kim Jae-heun

Companies

Popeyes may withdraw business from Korea

Popeyes website shows burger meal items. / Screen captured from Popeyes websiteBy Kim Jae-heunAmerican multinational fried chicken restaurant chain Popeyes is said to be pulling out of Korea.Last week, a memo written by a Popeyes restaurant employee in Seoul went viral online that read “Popeyes brand will no longer pursue business in Korea as of November.” The employee further noted that the chain's branch in Gwangjin-gu, eastern Seoul, will be the last restaurant before the company withdraws its business here. However, an official from TS Corporation, the mother company of TS Food & System that operates Popeyes, denied the rumor.“It may be true that some of the restaurants in the country will close down but not all will. I cannot give further details except that the company will continue to sell its brand here,” the official said.Popeyes has been attempting to liquidate its business here through a local accounting firm since 2018 but the process has not gone smoothly. Recently, it has been privately contacting potential buyers directly without going throu

Sep 14, 2020By Kim Jae-heun

Popeyes may withdraw business from Korea

Banking & Finance

Korea's money supply grows at fastest clip in nearly 11 years in July

Korea's money supply grew at the fastest pace in nearly 11 years in July as household and corporate lending grew amid a long streak of low rates and the new coronavirus outbreak. / Korea Times fileSouth Korea's money supply grew at the fastest pace in nearly 11 years in July as household and corporate lending grew amid a long streak of low rates and the new coronavirus outbreak, central bank data showed Friday.The country's M2 stood at 3,092.8 trillion won (US$2.6 trillion) as of end-July, up 10.1 percent from a year earlier, according to preliminary data from the Bank of Korea (BOK).It accelerated from a 9.9 percent on-year gain in June and marked the fastest on-year rise since 10.5 percent in October 2009.Compared with the previous month, M2 also rose 0.5 percent in July, decelerating from a 0.8 percent on-month increase in June.M2 is a measure of the money supply that counts cash, demand deposits and other near money that is easily convertible to cash.The BOK said the M2 continued to rise as households and businesses took out loans to secure funds amid the COVID-19 outbreak.South

Sep 11, 2020By Kim Jae-heun

Korea's money supply grows at fastest clip in nearly 11 years in July

Companies

Concerns rise over deliverymen spreading virus

Food is delivered by scooters in Gwanghwamun area in Seoul, on Sept. 2. / YonhapBy Kim Jae-heunIt has become the “new normal” for people to place an order online and receive food in front of their apartment door amid the COVID-19 pandemic. This has brought about a heyday for food delivery service firms such as Woowa Brothers, Delivery Hero and Coupang Eats, but there is also a fear that the virus might spread through delivery drivers, also known as “riders” here. The three firms are not that concerned about the riders spreading the virus as they work individually outdoors and they do not gather in a closed area under one roof. Still, they want to make sure that they avoid the very small chance of a COVID-19 infection outbreak among them. “First, all the delivery workers have to wear a face mask. This is an obligation. Second, we consistently send them messages that those who are in the 14 days of self-quarantine cannot work. Third, their body temperature is checked every day,” a Coupang official said. As another infection cluster raised the number

Sep 8, 2020By Kim Jae-heun

Concerns rise over deliverymen spreading virus

Society

Training the blind as educators

Korean At Your Door Founder Kim Hyeon-jin / Courtesy of Kim Hyeon-jinBy Kim Jae-heunThe founder and CEO of social venture Korean At Your Door, Kim Hyeon-jin, has suffered from severe atopic dermatitis since birth. Kim blamed the skin disease for the inconveniences she had to bear growing up with it. At the same time, it put her in the shoes of marginalized members of society and drove her to help them.“Thinking about it, everyone has a defect in some way ― be it physically or mentally. There are people with skin problems like me, there are people with an ear or eye that does not function, and there are people who live with a broken heart. It is paradoxical thinking if you elevate yourself above those who are social minorities or disabled,” Kim said during an interview with The Korea Times.Kim did not know she would start a business of her own. Growing up watching her entrepreneur father work until late and never having enough time to rest, she was determined never to become a small business owner like him.But there was no company that she believed had the desire to solve

Sep 8, 2020By Kim Jae-heun

Companies

Naver may delay food delivery service launch

A deliveryman picks up a food order from a restaurant and walks to his scooter in Seo-gu, Gwangju, on July 19. / YonhapBy Kim Jae-heun, Kim Yoo-chulNaver, the country's dominant web portal, is considering delaying the official launch of its food delivery service business after Korea's top antitrust watchdog fined it 1 billion won fine for allegedly abusing its online platform supremacy in terms of limiting fair competition in the real estate data segment.The COVID-19 pandemic has brought massive changes to many industries ― both positive and negative. The food delivery service is one sector that has largely benefited in its market size, reportedly growing larger in value from last year's 20 trillion won thanks to the trend of contactless transactions. The bright outlook for this market is attracting new players ― possibly even IT firm Naver ― creating even more competition in the burgeoning industry. Given the lucrative market potential, Naver is said to launch its own food delivery business through strategic partnerships or on its own.In response to its foray into the food delivery

Sep 7, 2020By Kim Jae-heun

Naver may delay food delivery service launch

FTC vs. Naver

Companies

AmorePacific to take bigger bet with M&A deals

AmorePacific Chairman Suh Kyung-bae poses in the photo when he participated in the “Flower Bucket Challenge” campaign on April 24. / Courtesy of AmorePacificBy Kim Jae-heunAmorePacific, Korea's signature cosmetics company, has finally decided to bet big on its future after a long-practiced safety-first strategy failed to produce the expected results. For a decade, the firm has avoided large-scale acquisition deals that could have possibly entailed big risks. Instead, it sponsored start-up programs both in and outside the company that did not require too much in the way of investmentAmorePacific chose to spend more money on its main business of cosmetics by expanding its fixed assets ― subsidiaries. Most of the startup programs it invested in ended up in failure, but this didn't cause as much damage as expected. A few of its successful investments also did not bring much in the way of monetary success as it took too long for them to develop into full-fledged stand-alone enterprises. AmorePacific got what it paid for. These past failures led it to adopt a conservative strat

Sep 6, 2020By Kim Jae-heun

Kim Jae-heun

Read more

Dentist receives LG award for 55 years of community service

Costco least affected by gov't regulation

Gov't to put stricter regulations on Naver's e-commerce

Delivery Hero, Woowa Brothers nod to FTC regulations

Popeyes may withdraw business from Korea

Korea's money supply grows at fastest clip in nearly 11 years in July

Concerns rise over deliverymen spreading virus

Training the blind as educators

Naver may delay food delivery service launch

AmorePacific to take bigger bet with M&A deals

Top 5 stories