(Photo=HYBE) South Korea is mobilizing an unusually broad government response to prevent hotel price gouging ahead of next month’s BTS concert in Busan, underscoring growing concerns that opportunistic pricing could damage the country’s reputation among international visitors. Officials announced a series of measures this week that extend well beyond traditional tourism oversight. The plan includes special inspections of hotels near

Photo=Kakao Kakao is facing the prospect of its first company-wide strike after labor negotiations with its union collapsed on June 27, deepening a dispute over compensation structure and equity awards at one of South Korea’s largest tech firms as it pushes into artificial intelligence. The breakdown came after a second round of mediation held at the Gyeonggi Regional Labor Relations

Photo=Motionelements Starbucks Korea is beginning to show visible signs of financial damage following the company’s politically charged “Tank Day” controversy, offering an early indication of how quickly consumer backlash can translate into declining sales inside South Korea’s highly connected retail market. According to data released Thursday by AI analytics firm IGAWorks Mobile Index, Starbucks Korea’s estimated weekly card spending fell

Photo=Motionelements South Korea’s liquor makers are facing a growing profitability squeeze as surging oil prices ripple through nearly every layer of the country’s beverage supply chain, exposing how heavily modern alcohol production depends not only on agricultural ingredients, but also on petrochemicals, logistics and imported industrial materials. For consumers, products such as soju and beer may appear insulated from global

(Photo=Bank OF KOREA) Just months after investors expected interest-rate cuts across Asia, South Korea is beginning to confront a different problem: inflation may be returning faster than policymakers anticipated. The Bank of Korea is widely expected to keep its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 2.50% on Thursday, extending a pause that has lasted nearly a year. But economists increasingly believe