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Kim Jae-heun

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Traditional markets catch on with foreign tourists, young consumers

Foreign tourists order a bowl of patjuk, or Korean adzuki-bean gruel, at Gwangjang Market in downtown Seoul, Dec. 21, 2022. Yonhap By Kim Jae-heunThai tourist Rob Gorman, 34, visited Mangwon Market in Mapo District, western Seoul, three weeks ago when he came to Korea.“I saw my friend post a picture of this Korean tradition market on social media before and I wanted to go there so bad,” Gorman said. “When I visited Mangwon Market earlier this month, I enjoyed so many foods there and I especially liked the vibe, which was very unique Korean style that I cannot experience anywhere else.”Taiwanese office worker En En Vorachit, 33, also picked Gwangjang Market in downtown Seoul as his most memorable experience in Korea during his visit two months ago. “There was so much variety of Korean foods that I never knew before, although I come to Korea often and I have tried many of them already. I really liked bindaetteok (Korean mung-bean pancake) and yukhoe (Korean-style raw

May 26, 2023By Kim Jae-heun
Traditional markets catch on with foreign tourists, young consumers
Companies

Local food firms tightfisted on R&D investment

A customer shops for red pepper paste at a large retail store in Seoul, in this 2022 file photo. NewsisBy Kim Jae-heunFood companies, eager to boost their profitability by raising prices of processed foods such as instant noodles, snacks and bread over the past year, appear to be neglecting investment in research and development activities, industry officials said Thursday.Most major firms' R&D expenses came to only around 1 percent of their total sales, showing no growth compared to 10 years ago, if not having decreased.CJ CheilJedang, the country's No. 1 food firm, spend 219.1 billion won ($165.2 million) in 2022, equivalent to 1.17 percent of its annual sales. Comparing to the 1.43 percent it invested in R&D in 2012, the portion actually decreased by 0.26 percentage point. Instant noodle maker Nongshim spent 28.7 billion won on R&D in the same period, equivalent to only 0.9 percent of its sales. Considering that the company spent 29.3 billion won (1.1 percent) the previous year, both the amount and the portion of R&D expenses decreased year-on-year. Orion, another

May 26, 2023By Kim Jae-heun
Local food firms tightfisted on R&D investment
Companies

POSCO International to boost steel trade, energy business in Australia, Southeast Asia

POSCO International CEO Jeong Tak poses in his office at the company's headquarters in Seoul, March 20. Courtesy of POSCO InternationalBy Kim Jae-heunPOSCO International has decided to expand its steel trading and energy businesses in Southeast Asia and Australia to help boost Korea's faltering outbound shipments, company officials said Thursday.The steelmaker held an Asia Growth Strategy meeting in Bangkok, Thursday, to discuss ways to target the Asian market, which has huge business potential. Asia, excluding China and Japan, is an important region that accounts for about 32 percent of POSCO International's global business despite the recent increase risk posed by China.About 30 executives and employees from 17 firms, including POSCO International CEO Jeong Tak, were present at the event. “POSCO International has a huge responsibility to cope with the country's ongoing trade deficit as a group of trade experts. The company has to pursue active measures to expand exports to the Asian market, which has the greatest growth potential,” Jeong said during the meeting. The nat

May 25, 2023By Kim Jae-heun
POSCO International to boost steel trade, energy business in Australia, Southeast Asia
Companies

AmorePacific, LG H&H struggle to lessen reliance on China

Foreign tourists look around at a duty free shop in downtown Seoul, April 15, 2022. Yonhap By Kim Jae-heunThe country's top two cosmetics firms ― AmorePacific and LG Household & Health Care (LG H&H) ― are struggling to reduce their reliance on China as their sales in other regions including North America are not enough to offset falling sales in the world's second-largest economy, according to company officials Wednesday. The two companies have been striving to spread out their global sales, which had been concentrated mainly in the Chinese market until 2021.AmorePacific's sales in China had accounted for nearly 70 percent of its total revenue until 2021. The cosmetics giant's sales skyrocketed when the two countries had better relations. However, due to geopolitical issues and the COVID-19 pandemic, AmorePacific's sales in China plunged, leading it to start expanding its business in the U.S. so as to cut its reliance on China as of last year. “AmorePacific is not c

May 25, 2023By Kim Jae-heun
AmorePacific, LG H&H struggle to lessen reliance on China
Companies

Buffet restaurants regain popularity amid soaring food prices

People grab food from the buffet at Elandeats' Ashley restaurant in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, October 2022. Courtesy of ElandBy Kim Jae-heunA 32-year-old office worker surnamed Kim living in Seoul recently visited VIPS, a buffet restaurant chain operated by CJ Foodville, with his friend for the first time in six years. “I recently went to VIPS because the price for using its salad bar is only a little over 30,000 won ($22.89) per person. It is pretty reasonable considering that you can have limitless food and drink. I plan to visit more often,” Kim said. Another office worker surnamed Cho, who lives in Yongsan District, Seoul, has also been dining out regularly at Ashley, another buffet restaurant chain, because it's not as expensive anymore compared to many other restaurants that have been hiking prices due to inflation. “Not only do buffet restaurants have a price advantage, but they also have a variety. They even serve alcoholic drinks limitlessly, so I go there with my friends often these days,” Cho said. The popularity of buffet restaurants is surging

May 24, 2023By Kim Jae-heun
Buffet restaurants regain popularity amid soaring food prices
Companies

POSCO chairman visits India to bolster cooperation on environment-friendly steel tech

POSCO Group Chairman Choi Jeong-woo, right, delivers an appreciation plaque to JSW Steel Chairman Sajjan Jindal at JSW Steel's headquarters in Mumbai, Sunday. Courtesy of POSCO GroupBy Kim Jae-heunPOSCO Group Chairman Choi Jeong-woo visited JSW Steel's headquarters in Mumbai on Sunday and met with company Chairman Sajjan Jindal to discuss ways to cooperate in eco-friendly steel technology, company officials said Tuesday. Choi also visited JSW Steel's plant in Vijayanagar, southern India.Choi's visit to India was made in response to Jindal's visit to Korea last November and in gratitude for his help in restoring POSCO's steel mill in Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province, when it was affected by a flood caused by Typhoon Hinnamnor last September. “At the time of the restoration work for our steel mill that was hit by Typhoon Hinnamnor, Chairman Jindal gave POSCO the facilities that were being manufactured for the JSW hot-rolled products plant, which helped us greatly,” Choi said.The JSW Steel chairman said he looks forward to expanding the partnership between the two companies

May 23, 2023By Kim Jae-heun
POSCO chairman visits India to bolster cooperation on environment-friendly steel tech
Companies

Kakao Mobility inks partnership with UK UAM parts maker

Kakao Mobility CEO Ryu Geung-seon, right, shakes hands with Vertical Aerospace CEO Stephen Fitzpatrick after signing a partnership for the UAM service business at Kakao Mobility headquarters in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, May 17. Courtesy of Kakao MobilityBy Kim Jae-heunKakao Mobility has signed an agreement with Vertical Aerospace (Vertical), a British aircraft manufacturer, to jointly provide commercial urban air mobility (UAM) services in Korea and other countries, company officials said Monday.The company said the partnership was agreed based on the two parties' consensus concerning the need to build a global ecosystem for UAM services in the process of collaboration for the consortium to participate in the K-UAM Grand Challenge. The two firms have formed a consortium called UAM Future Team with other local firms including LG Uplus and GS Engineering & Construction to participate in the public-private joint demonstration project for the air taxi service, which is being promoted by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. “We plan to successfully complete the

May 23, 2023By Kim Jae-heun
Kakao Mobility inks partnership with UK UAM parts maker
Companies

CJ CheilJedang builds world's largest frozen pizza plant in US

Schwan's Company CEO Dimitrios Smyrnios cuts the ribbon to celebrate the completion of the firm's frozen pizza production facility expansion in Salina, Kansas, May 19. Courtesy of CJ CheilJedangBy Kim Jae-heunCJ CheilJedang has completed the construction of the world's largest frozen pizza production facility in the United States as part of its efforts to unseat market leader Nestle from the top spot, company officials said Monday. Korea's largest food firm expanded its Schwan's pizza factory in Salina, Kansas, by about 40,000 square meters to a total of 90,000 square meters, which is the size of nearly 12 soccer fields combined. Schwan's is a North American subsidiary of CJ CheilJedang that it acquired in February 2019. The company is also expanding its logistics center within the frozen pizza production facility, for completion by 2025. The logistics center will be in charge of distributing all the food products of CJ CheilJedang in the United States including those of its global Korean food brand Bibigo. “We have largely increased our brand Red Baron's production capacity to

May 22, 2023By Kim Jae-heun
CJ CheilJedang builds world's largest frozen pizza plant in US
Companies

Burger King meets friction with franchisees over price discount event

Pedestrians are seen in front of a Burger King restaurant in Seoul on March 8. NewsisBy Kim Jae-heunBurger King's local franchisees have staged a protest against company headquarters by refusing its price discount promotional event which was launched without consent between May 8 and 21. Among 120 affiliated stores in the country, only 39 followed the Burger King policy.Franchisees refused the headquarters' discount promotion because they did not agree with how much they had to pay in bearing the expenses for discounts. The American fast food restaurant chain forced them to lower the price of its Whopper Junior burger item from 4,700 won ($3.54) to 2,200 won for nearly three weeks. The headquarters said it would support only 228.4 won and the rest would be paid by the franchisees. Franchisees quickly gathered together to oppose the company's proposal and said they would have agreed if the headquarters had supported half of the discount price, or 1,100 won.Burger King then raised its support amount to 319 won, but ultimately 70 percent of the affiliated restaurants refused to join the

May 22, 2023By Kim Jae-heun
Burger King meets friction with franchisees over price discount event
Companies

Harim celebrates 'Family Month' by hosting dinosaur-themed exhibition with Yonggari

Children pose at a photo zone after experiencing “Yonggari AR Dino Museum,” an augmented reality exhibition held at the Seodaemun Museum of Natural History in western Seoul, on Sunday. The event hosted by local food firm Harim, showcases 16 dinosaur models including Tyrannosaurus, Brachiosaurus, Triceratops, Stegosaurus and Pterosaur. A total of 1,500 participants visited the exhibition between Saturday and Sunday and were given a free snack box of Yonggari chicken, branded with Harim's popular animated dinosaur-like character launched in 1999. The exhibition will run until July 9. Courtesy of Harim

May 21, 2023By Kim Jae-heun
Harim celebrates 'Family Month' by hosting dinosaur-themed exhibition with Yonggari
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