SEOUL, May 2 (Korea Bizwire) — A kids’ activity kit being sold by a Chinese e-commerce giant has been found to contain lead about 158 times higher than permitted levels, the Seoul city government said Thursday. The city announced the findings after conducting safety tests on nine children’s products currently available for sale on AliExpress [...]
SEOUL, Apr. 29 (Korea Bizwire) — Retail sales in South Korea rose 10.9 percent on-year in March on the back of stronger demand for travel and entertainment services from online platforms, data showed Monday. The combined sales of 25 major offline and online retailers came to 15.8 trillion won (US$11.45 billion), compared with 14.2 trillion [...]
SEOUL, Apr. 25 (Korea Bizwire) – AliExpress, the Chinese e-commerce platform, has substantially boosted the capital of its South Korean subsidiary. According to the distribution industry on April 24, the AliExpress subsidiary in South Korea recently carried out a capital increase worth 33.4 billion won. This represents the largest capital injection since the establishment of the [...]
SEOUL, Apr. 25 (Korea Bizwire) – The consumer advocacy group Citizens United for Consumer Sovereignty (CUCS) has filed complaints against the Chinese e-commerce platforms AliExpress and Temu with the Jongno Police Station in Seoul. The group alleges violations of South Korea’s Personal Information Protection Act and the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization [...]
SEOUL, Apr. 23 (Korea Bizwire) – Choi Jang-hyuk, the vice chairperson of South Korea’s Personal Information Protection Commission, said on April 22 that he has made it clear to major Chinese internet companies operating in the domestic market, including Alibaba’s AliExpress and Temu, that they cannot be given a grace period to comply with the country’s [...]
SEOUL, Apr. 23 (Korea Bizwire) – A recent report from the market research firm TechInsight has revealed that South Korea leads the world in having the highest average selling prices for smartphones, surpassing 87 other countries surveyed. After initially overtaking Japan in 2021, South Korea has now held the top spot for two consecutive years in [...]
SEOUL, Apr. 17 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea saw record-breaking imports of pineapples and mangoes last month, driven by a surge in demand for cheaper fruit alternatives as apple and pear prices remained elevated, according to trade data released on April 16 by the Korea Customs Service. Pineapple imports soared to 8,686 tons in March, a [...]
SEOUL, Apr. 16 (Korea Bizwire) — Coupang, the South Korean e-commerce giant, has significantly increased the monthly fee for its premium Wow Membership service, raising it to 7,890 won 4,990 won. This bold move has sparked an unexpected “membership war” across the retail industry, as competitors scramble to improve their own loyalty programs to retain customers [...]
SEOUL, Apr. 15 (Korea Bizwire) — Despite a significant drop in sales for major online luxury goods platforms in South Korea due to the economic downturn, the pre-owned luxury market has shown resilience, even setting a record transaction volume last month in line with the start of the new school year, industry data showed on April [...]
SEOUL, Apr. 12 (Korea Bizwire) —South Korean e-commerce giant Coupang Inc. said Friday it will raise its monthly membership fee for paid users by 58 percent, in an apparent move to secure further capital amid growing challenges from Chinese rivals. Coupang plans to charge its paid WOW membership users 7,890 won (US$5.7) starting Saturday, [...]