Photo=Samlip Samlip, a South Korean bakery and food company, will raise prices on about 50 bread products by an average of roughly 9% starting September 1, citing sharply higher costs for raw materials and other inputs, the company said August 9. At convenience stores, the price of Samlip’s Jeongtong Boreumdahl bread will rise 11.1% to about $1.48 from $1.33, based

Photo=Motionelements A public disagreement over labor policy emerged on August 6 as South Korea's industry and labor ministers offered sharply different views on whether the country's 52-hour workweek should be relaxed for companies operating in proposed high-tech industrial zones. The debate centers on the government's planned Mega Special Zone Act, which aims to attract investment in strategic industries including semiconductors,

Workers at SK Hynix are moving to form a new union that would bring together production workers and technical and office employees, as a growing dispute over performance bonuses fuels dissatisfaction with the company’s existing unions. More than 3,500 employees, or roughly 10% of SK Hynix’s workforce of about 35,000, joined a group preparing to establish the union within three

(Photo=Ocado) South Koreans have embraced online shopping for everything from home appliances to furniture and cosmetics. Groceries have been harder to move online. Food accounts for about 28% of retail sales conducted online in South Korea, compared with 41% for cosmetics, 50% for furniture and 55% for home appliances, according to Statistics Korea. Keeping food fresh while avoiding missing items,

(Photo=MotionElements) South Korea has been lowering interest rates, but many of the households that were supposed to benefit are instead paying more to borrow for housing. The Bank of Korea began cutting its benchmark rate from 3.5% in Oct. 2024 and has kept it at 2.5% since May 2025. Market borrowing costs have generally fallen with it. Yet interest rates