Our final look back at 2015: mainly domestic news stories from South Korea. In the news After 62 years of adultery being a criminal offence in the ROK, the constitutional court decided to decriminalise it by a vote of 7 to 2. Four out of ten married Korean males heaved a sigh of relief and shares … [Read More]
Company or Organisation: Tesco
Taste of Korea promotion runs in over 60 Tesco stores
Experiment with Korean ingredients at Tesco for the next week or so. Taste of Korea is an annual event for promoting great Korean foods to UK and European markets, which is supported by the South Korean Embassy in the UK and by Korean food distributors and vendors such as Hankook Foods and CJ. The event … [Read More]
Tesco in Korea: high returns despite opening restrictions
Tesco has just reported a 4.3% like for like sales decline in Korea for the 52 weeks to 22 February 2014. This follows a 5.3% decline last year. But nevertheless: Our business in Korea continues to generate high returns despite the impact on sales from the regulatory restrictions on opening hours. Whilst we annualised the … [Read More]
Korea regulatory challenges cost Tesco 175 billion Won
Tesco has just published its 2012/13 results covering the 52 weeks to 23 February 2013 (pdf download). In the UK, the mainstream media focused on a tiny drop in like-for-like sales in the UK and the threat from low-cost competitors. Naturally, at LKL we were also interested in results in Korea, which is Tesco’s biggest … [Read More]
LKL 2012 Quiz of the Year — the answers
The answers to LKL’s 2012 Quiz of the Year. How many did you get? 1 The Watermelon Economy It was Lee Seung-han, the boss of Tesco in Korea, who accused Lee Myung-bak of running a watermelon economy: on the outside, lots of rhetoric about “green” growth, but actually red on the inside. “Not even communist … [Read More]
Tesco rides Psy-driven K-food sales increase
Tesco, the UK’s biggest supermarket chain, who via Homeplus is also Korea’s second-biggest retailer, has been making cautious, very cautious, steps into selling Korean food in the UK. They marked the launch of the Korea-EU Free Trade Agreement last year by stocking some Korean food in one of its UK outlets. Yes, just one. For … [Read More]
Korea’s watermelon economy
South Korea has a “watermelon economy,” says local Tesco / Home plus boss Lee Seung-han: green on the outside, but red on the inside. Ouch! http://t.co/wt8zXFpw [Read More]
Tesco to celebrate FTA by bringing kimchi to Koreatown
As the ratification of the US-Korea seems to bumble on interminably, the EU-Korea treaty comes into effect on 1 July. To celebrate, Tesco is running a “Taste of Korea” promotion during July. Tesco is huge in Korea, which is the firm’s second biggest presence after the UK, with £5 billion in revenues and 354 stores: … [Read More]
FTA brings new opportunities for British companies in Korea
Monday 15th March 2010 was the first public UK speech of the new ambassador Choo Kyu Ho, which he made before 150 business people at the launch of the UKTI report “South Korea Open for Business – 100 Opportunities for UK Companies in South Korea following the EU–South Korea Free Trade Agreement.” The agreement, though … [Read More]
Developed Market status and other recent business stories
In a week when the most developed market in the world has not particularly covered itself in glory, after years in the waiting room it was announced this week that Korea would be admitted into the FTSE club of developed markets. According to the FT (South Korea wins developed-country status, 18 Sept 2008), this could … [Read More]