Why red ginseng is chosen as gift by president, PM

South Korea’s traditional superfood red ginseng is gaining prominence during the COVID-19 outbreak as a favorite gift item by government leaders as a token of thanks. In February, President Moon Jae-in presented Korea Ginseng Corp.’s red ginseng products to 500 public servants working at Incheon International Airport’s quarantine station and at the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to encourage them to keep up the good work. Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun als

IndustryApril 16, 2020

Mirae Asset makes $22m earnings from BioNTech investment

Mirae Asset Financial Group said Thursday it has sold Nasdaq-listed German biotechnology firm BioNTech for $37 million, earning a hefty profit from its previous investment of $15 million. The German company is known to hold one of the three mRNA-based substance that is currently a candidate for COVID-19 vaccines. Three months after making its deal, the biotech firm went public on Nasdaq through the American Depository Receipt -- the way of making hard-to-trade foreign stocks available to inve

MarketApril 16, 2020

[News Analysis] Minor parties lose foothold in parliament

In Wednesday’s parliamentary election to select 300 lawmakers, a revised electoral system was applied for the first time to open the doors wider for minor parties. But it only caused the opposite effect due to trickery by prominent parties. Out of 47 proportional representative seats, the ruling Democratic Party and the main opposition United Future Party, took 17 and 19, respectively, by creating satellite parties to exploit the new parliamentary election formula called semi-mixed membe

PoliticsApril 16, 2020

Former opposition chief Na loses to political novice

Political heavyweight Na Kyung-won of the main opposition party faced a crushing blow in Seoul’s Dongjak district against former judge Lee Su-jin of the ruling party, according to election results Thursday. According to the National Election Commission, political newcomer Lee edged out four-term lawmaker Na, grabbing 61,407 votes, or 52.1 percent of the total. Na won 53,026 votes. Na has served as floor leader of United Future Party and is considered one of the conservative bloc’s

PoliticsApril 16, 2020

Foreign land ownership here grows 3% in 2019

The value of land owned by foreign nationals here came to 30.8 trillion won ($25.1 billion) last year, and accounted for 0.2 percent of the nation’s total area, government data showed Thursday. Foreign land ownership in South Korea as of end-2019 rose 3 percent from a year earlier in terms of area, with the aggregated total at 248.7 square kilometers, according to data released by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. The corresponding area is equivalent to 0.2 percent o

MarketApril 16, 2020

Refiners find silver lining in profitable lubricants

Amid the slump in global demand for petrochemical products triggered by the coronavirus outbreak, South Korean refiners are diversifying, according to industry sources Thursday. SK Lubricants, an affiliate of domestic refiner SK Innovation, has introduced its new premium lubricant SK ZIC, as lubricant products are more profitable than general petrochemical products. Last year, the company showed an operating profit rate of 9.8 percent, more than seven times higher than the 1.3 percent post

IndustryApril 16, 2020

[Newsmaker] MBC apologizes for sexist comment during election coverage

Network broadcaster MBC apologized Wednesday night for a demeaning comment about two female candidates during its general election coverage, which drew public outrage.　 The incident took place as MBC was delivering poll results in real time for a constituency in Dongjak, Seoul, where two female candidates -- Lee Soo-jin of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea and Na Kyung-won of the United Future Party -- were leading the pack. While covering the match between the two judges-turned-politicia

TelevisionApril 16, 2020

Poongsan to export machine gun bullets to Middle East

South Korean defense firm Poongsan said Thursday it has bagged orders in the Middle East to supply ammunitions worth 95.7 billion won ($77.9 million). The company will export three types of 50-caliber machine gun bullets to the region by 2021. The armor-piercing 50-caliber bullet is one of the most powerful rounds of ammunition, typically used for M2 machine guns and K6 heavy machine guns to perforate or penetrate hardened or bullet-resistant targets such as armored fighting vehicles. &l

IndustryApril 16, 2020

Poland to bring back LG Chem technicians on special flight

South Korean battery maker LG Chem said Thursday that the Polish government would open its airways to allow LG Chem employees to resume the expansion of the company’s electric vehicle battery plant in Poland. It is an exception to the country’s strict measures to contain the coronavirus outbreak. According to LG Chem, the company will dispatch some 200 employees on a special LOT Polish Airlines flight Friday to the construction site in Wroclaw, Poland, to restart the work to expan

IndustryApril 16, 2020

SKT T1 inks sponsorship deal with BMW

South Korean esports company SK Telecom T1 said Thursday that it had signed a sponsorship deal with BMW Group, becoming the first sports club in Korea to do so. According to SKT T1, BMW will provide T1 players at home and abroad with the latest vehicles, including the BMW X7. The T1 players will wear uniforms bearing the BMW logo as part of a joint marketing effort. “BMW will develop hardware and software for T1 players with its innovative technology to promote the long-term growth o

IndustryApril 16, 2020

Samsung Bioepis’ breast cancer treatment biosimilar launches in US

Samsung Bioepis’ breast cancer treatment Ontruzant (trastuzumab) was launched in the US via local partner Merck, Thursday. Ontruzant references Roche’s blockbuster original Herceptin, which recorded annual global revenue of approximately 7.2 trillion won ($5.8 billion) in 2019. The US accounts for about 45 percent of Herceptin sales. Samsung Bioepis strategizes to sell Ontruzant at a 15 percent more affordable rate than Herceptin, as well as to offer doses of 150 milligrams and 4

IndustryApril 16, 2020

Top diplomats of S. Korea, New Zealand hold phone talks over COVID-19 response

The top diplomats of South Korea and New Zealand held phone talks Thursday about cooperation in flattening the curve of new coronavirus infections, the foreign ministry said. The conversation between Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha and her New Zealand counterpart, Winston Peters, came as the COVID-19 pandemic has led many countries to step up diplomacy to stem its spread and evacuate their citizens abroad amid lockdowns and border closures. During the talks arranged at the request of New Zeal

Foreign AffairsApril 16, 2020

Journalist quarantined in N. Korea says strict guidelines were in place

A reporter quarantined for nearly a month in North Korea has said the communist nation was following strict coronavirus guidelines, including taking the temperatures of those quarantined three times a day. Roh Geum-soon, a journalist at the Choson Sinbo, a pro-North Korea newspaper in Japan, also said in a YouTube video posted Sunday that she was not allowed to go out of her hotel in Pyongyang during the quarantine period. Roh said she was quarantined for 30 days, though she did not specify t

North KoreaApril 16, 2020

Ruling bloc gains unprecedented control

The ruling and opposition parties on Thursday began preparations for the days to come following the ruling bloc’s landslide win in the previous day’s general elections. Wednesday’s win increased the presence of President Moon Jae-in’s Democratic Party of Korea in the National Assembly to unprecedented levels, and on Thursday, Moon expressed his gratitude and pledged to work for the people in a statement conveyed through his spokesman. “The government will take

PoliticsApril 16, 2020

Police to disclose identity of teen sex offender

Police said Thursday they have decided to disclose the identity of an 18-year-old alleged co-conspirator of a high-profile digital sexual exploitation ring. The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency announced the decision on Kang Hun, who was put under pretrial detention a week ago for allegedly acting as an accessory to the operation of the "Baksabang" chat room on the messaging service Telegram, which allowed paid members to view illegally taken photos and videos of violent sex acts inv

Social AffairsApril 16, 2020

S. Korea unveils blood collection guidelines for plasma treatment of virus patients

South Korean health authorities on Thursday unveiled blood collection guidelines for plasma therapy of the novel coronavirus patients. The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) advised doctors to collect blood plasma from COVID-19 survivors, 14 days after they were declared virus-free and released from quarantine. The therapy involves infusions of antibody-rich plasma from those who have recovered from the novel coronavirus. Plasma, usually yellow, is the liquid portion of b

Social AffairsApril 16, 2020

Seoul stocks end flat on retail buying

Seoul stocks ended flat on Thursday, unchanged from a session earlier, as institutions and individuals' buying offset foreign selling. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) ended flat to close at 1,857.07. Trading volume was moderate at 864.4 million shares worth 10.52 trillion won ($8.6 billion), with gainers outpacing losers 452 to 401. The main index closed unchanged after US shares fell overnight following the International Mon

MarketApril 16, 2020

S. Korea's economy shows 'deepening contraction' over coronavirus pandemic: KDI

The South Korean economy shows signs of a "deepening contraction" as the coronavirus pandemic and lockdown measures have halted global businesses and ravaged consumer demand, a state-run think tank said Thursday. "The Korean economy is showing a deepening contraction and mounting uncertainties as COVID-19 spreads," the Korea Development Institute (KDI) said in its English-language Monthly Economic Trends publication. South Korea's overall industrial output contracted the

EconomyApril 16, 2020

Starship’s new boy band Cravity unveiled

Starship Entertainment’s new boy band Cravity made its grand debut Tuesday. The nine-piece act released the debut album “Hideout: Remember Who We Are” and held an online showcase that was livestreamed on Naver’s V Live. The debut album includes seven tracks, with “Break All the Rules” as the lead single. The hip-hop tune depicts the band’s bold aspirations and encourages us to break the limits and rules that we have locked ourselves under. The song w

K-popApril 16, 2020

BOK names 3 candidates for new members of its rate setting body

The Bank of Korea said Thursday that South Korea's former top envoy to the US and two others have been named as candidates for new members of its monetary policy board. The three are Cho Yoon-je, who served as the South Korean ambassador to the United States between 2017 and 2019; Suh Young-kyung, head of the Sustainable Growth Initiative; and Joo Sang-yong, an economics professor at Konkuk University. Suh served as the first female BOK deputy governor for three years until 2015 before headi

EconomyApril 16, 2020