SEOUL, Online shopping sales in South Korea rose 12.1 percent on-year in January on the back of growing demand for tourism and transportation services ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday, data showed Tuesday. The value of online shopping transactions amounted to 20.28 trillion won (US$15.21 billion) in January, up from 18.09 trillion won, according to the data from Statistics Korea. The growth came as demand for travel and transportation services jumped 25.8 percent on-year to a record high of 2.29 trillion won ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday, which ran from Feb. 9-12 this year. The value of online transactions for food and beverages also rose to an all-time high of 2.92 trillion won by rising 13.7 percent on-year in January. Online sales of mobile phones and other communication devices soared 33.6 percent on-year to 665.1 billion won, led by the release of Samsung Electronics Co.'s Galaxy S24 series, among other factors. Purchases made through smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices added 10.4 percent on-year to 15.25 trillion won, the data showed. Source: Yonhap News Agency
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