SEOUL, Jan. 29 (Korea Bizwire) – KT has announced a significant 26% increase in monthly active users (MAU) of its membership program, attributed to the in-app services launched last year. Membership now encompasses a variety of services within the KT app, including ‘Genie Music’ for music streaming, ‘Blice’ for webtoons and web novels, and ‘Giftishow’ for [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 26 (Korea Bizwire) — Shilla Stay Jeju, a popular hotel on Jeju Island, has gained attention for offering free accommodation to travelers stranded due to massive flight cancellations. Over 400 flights were grounded at Jeju International Airport due to severe winds and heavy snowfall. On January 25, industry sources revealed that Shilla Stay Jeju, [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 22 (Korea Bizwire) – The government announced several measures aimed at reforming regulations related to people’s livelihoods, including scrapping the policy mandating large retailers to close their stores on Sunday twice a month, officials said Monday. The announcement was made during a government-public debate, the fifth in a series of sessions, led by [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 17 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s leading mobile carrier SK Telecom Co. said Wednesday it has signed a strategic partnership with a U.S. animal health care firm in a bid to enter the American pet market with its artificial intelligence (AI)-based veterinary care service “X Caliber.” Under the memorandum of understanding with Vetology [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 13 (Korea Bizwire) –Coupang has re-established direct sales with LG Household & Health Care (LG H&H), nearly five years after the latter pulled its products from the Coupang platform following a dispute over pricing. This move comes with large manufacturers and distribution chains increasingly joining the anti-Coupang front, and Chinese shopping platforms like [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 3 (Korea Bizwire) — The antitrust regulator said Wednesday it has decided to fine Nexon Korea Corp. 11.6 billion won (US$8.85 million) for alleged deceptive business activity against game users regarding in-game items. The game giant was accused of changing the probability of randomized items for its hit titles of “MapleStory” and “Bubble [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 14 (Korea Bizwire) – In South Korea, the rising trend of subscribing to multiple Over-The-Top (OTT) and online streaming services, such as Netflix, YouTube, Disney Plus, and Tving, is facing a new challenge: a series of price hikes that are increasing stress among subscribers. Recently, Netflix, already under scrutiny for banning account sharing among [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 6 (Korea Bizwire) — Twitch, a popular U.S.-based live game streaming platform, said Wednesday it plans to shut down its South Korean service in February next year due to high network usage fees in the country. In an announcement posted on its corporate blog, Twitch Interactive Inc. CEO Dan Clancy said the company [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 5 (Korea Bizwire) — Operators of Tving and Wavve, two major South Korean over-the-top (OTT) platforms, said Tuesday they have signed a memorandum of understanding to push for a merger in an apparent effort to compete with global streaming giants. But CJ ENM Co. and SK Square Co., respective owners of Tving and [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 6 (Korea Bizwire) – Foreign video streaming services such as Netflix and Disney+ are exerting significant influence on compensation for Korean actors, contributing to a surge in industry costs. With deep pockets, these platforms are actively acquiring top-tier actors and premium content. Reports indicate that Lee Jung-jae is poised to command approximately 1 billion [...]