[Feature] ‘Don’t miss out on medical care on account of COVID-19’

Pandemic-induced delays in seeking medical attention could lead to more lost lives and damaged health from illnesses apart from COVID-19, leading health experts say, calling for solutions to ensure access to care amid the crisis. When the outbreak was emerging here earlier this year, people were discouraged from making trips to doctors over concerns of contracting or unknowingly spreading the new coronavirus at health institutions. Nearly half a year later, statistics show alarming declines in

TechnologyJuly 16, 2020

Smilegate transforms its hit game CrossFire into 36-episode drama series in China

Smilegate said Thursday a 36-episode drama series based on its first-person shooter game CrossFire will be broadcast in China starting Monday. Launched in 2007, CrossFire is the most popular FPS game in China, with accumulated global revenue of 12.6 trillion won ($10.4 billion). According to the South Korean game maker, CrossFire is the first Korean game played professionally in an esports competition to be turned into a drama series. Smilegate and Chinese drama production company Youhug Me

IndustryJuly 16, 2020

Rules tweaked to equip K2 tanks with controversial domestic part

Controversy is brewing over the South Korean military’s decision to alter rules in relation to key parts for K2 tanks that had failed previous test numerous times. According to the Defense Acquisition Program Administration on Thursday, it will run another test on a tank transmission system built by a domestic company S&T Dynamics based on revised terms. The system failed performance tests six times in 2014. DAPA’s change of test rules is seen as an attempt to materialize the

IndustryJuly 16, 2020

SK Gas launches hydrogen charging station with café, unmanned convenience store

SK Gas said Thursday it has introduced its first Eco Station, a hydrogen and liquefied petroleum gas charging station equipped with café, unmanned convenience store and premium DIY car washing facility. According to South Korea’s leading LPG supplier, it opened its first Eco Station in Namdong-gu, Incheon. The Eco Station, which was previously an LPG charging station, added a hydrogen charging facility last November and recently installed unmanned CU convenience store and DIY ca

IndustryJuly 16, 2020

Demand for Unity’s game engine soars as Korean game industry goes mobile

Unity, a licensed game engine, is in full throttle in South Korea as the domestic industry is seeking a major shift to the mobile sphere with the engine. According to Unity Technologies Korea, eight mobile games that have been or will be launched in Korea this year are based on its game engine as increasingly more companies here are making mobile versions of their popular PC games. “Unity’s game engine, optimized for mobile game development, is supporting legendary games that w

IndustryJuly 16, 2020

S. Korea’s economy faces tipping point as COVID-19 pandemic persists

Since confirming its first domestic case of COVID-19 infection on Jan. 20, South Korea’s economy has been on a roller-coaster ride -- hitting its low point in April-June -- but appears to be bouncing back now. Concerns are now mounting that the persisting or widening gap between its financial indexes and the actual economic sentiment in the market may be signaling a watershed moment for Asia’s fourth-largest economy in the post-coronavirus era. During the past six months, the K

EconomyJuly 16, 2020

Jeju Air says it now has grounds to pull out of Eastar Jet merger

Jeju Air said Thursday it can now walk away from a controversial 54.5 billion won ($45 million) merger deal with Eastar Jet after the troubled low-cost carrier failed to meet the deadline to fulfill its prerequisites. “Eastar Holdings has not fulfilled the prerequisites for its stock purchase agreement” by Wednesday midnight, Jeju Air said in a statement, adding that it is in a position to terminate the deal. “We received an official document yesterday from Eastar Holdings co

MobilityJuly 16, 2020

Mercedes-Benz Korea unveils four high-performance models

Mercedes-Benz Korea said Thursday it is set to unveil, for the first time here, four new models under the premium high-performance brand Mercedes-AMG at the AMG Speedway in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, Friday. 　　 “There has been a growing demand for high-performance vehicles, especially among younger customers. In order to address this demand, the AMG brand is introducing a variety of performance models including the first-ever engine family 35 along with the 45 and the 45 S models,”

MobilityJuly 16, 2020

Samsung heir checks on automotive MLCC biz in Busan

Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong on Thursday visited Samsung Electro-Mechanics’ manufacturing facility for automotive multilayer ceramic capacitors located in Busan as part of the latest parade of on-site management. It marked the first visit by the Samsung heir since the factory began operation in 2018. Samsung Electro-Mechanics is an affiliate that supplies MLCCs for many of Samsung’s electronic products and camera modules for Galaxy smartphones. MLCC is an ess

TechnologyJuly 16, 2020

Seoul stocks close lower on profit-taking, mixed economic signals

South Korean stocks closed lower Thursday on investors' profit-taking amid mixed economic signals. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) lost 18.12 points, or 0.82 percent, to close at 2,183.76. Trading volume was high at about 775 million shares worth some 1.5 trillion won ($1.2 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 435 to 403. Foreigners sold a net 13 billion won, ending a three-day buying streak, with institutions offloadin

MarketJuly 16, 2020

BOK keeps interest rate on hold at record-low, projects bleaker GDP growth

In a largely anticipated move, South Korea’s central bank on Thursday decided to hold its policy rate at a record-low of 0.5 percent while casting bleaker projections for this year’s gross domestic product growth rate. The Bank of Korea’s seven-member monetary policy board unanimously voted to keep the rate frozen at the rate they had slashed by 25 basis points in May to minimize economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic. The decision in May came two months after the boa

EconomyJuly 16, 2020

[Weekender] ‘Revenge shopping’ on rise as alternative to summer vacay

For Kim Su-yeon, a 40-year-old office worker, standing in line for a Louis Vuitton bag has become a way to beat the heat -- instead of traveling overseas for some relaxation and summer fun.  “All my travel plans came to naught due to the coronavirus spread, so I decided to pour my savings into Louis Vuitton bags,” said Kim, who joined the lines stretched along the street leading to the main branch of Shinsegae Department Store in Sogong-dong, central Seoul, Tuesday. Her ques

MarketJuly 16, 2020

KOFIA vows to restore trust amid snowballing hedge fund fiasco

The chief of an association representing 440 brokerages and asset management firms in South Korea apologized Thursday for a series of hedge fund fiascos and vowed to strengthen voluntary monitoring of the market. “We will concentrate on our capability to rebuild trust and carry out sustainable innovative tasks,” said Korea Financial Investment Association Chairman Na Jae-chul. “We think now is the time for the market players to open their eyes. To help them make a new leap f

MarketJuly 16, 2020

FSC convenes working group to nurture AI-based finance

South Korea’s financial regulator on Thursday held a joint working group meeting to discuss measures to nurture financial services based on artificial intelligence technologies, in preparation for new waves of digital transformation in the sector.  Hosted by the Financial Services Commission, the meeting was attended by traditional local lenders, fintech firms and leading AI programming companies.  Its main agenda was to seek ways to improve the current regulations that hampe

MarketJuly 16, 2020

FDA fast-tracks Hanmi’s liver disease drug

Hanmi Pharmaceutical’s LAPS Triple Agonist (HM15211) was given fast-track approval by the US Food and Drug Administration, the company announced Thursday. LAPS Triple Agonist is Hanmi’s original pipeline for a form of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease commonly called NASH for short. NASH is one of the most common incurable diseases that has high unmet medical needs. Current drugs only slow the progression of the disease, which can cause death due to scarring of the liver, but canno

IndustryJuly 16, 2020

Leaders of Samsung, Hyundai Motor to meet again over car battery

Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong and Hyundai Motor Group Executive Vice Chairman Chung Euisun are expected to meet again to hold a second round of discussions on next-generation electric car battery technology, according to news reports Thursday. Lee is likely to visit Hyundai Motor’s research and development institution in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, Tuesday, according to the reports. The visit is being planned in response to Chung’s visit to Samsung SDI’s

TechnologyJuly 16, 2020

Kakao Pay vows to expand e-bills service

Electronic payment service provider Kakao Pay said Thursday it aims to expand its service to enable bills to be created, delivered and paid online to spearhead Korea’s aim to transform into a paperless society. Capitalizing on the group’s popular mobile messenger platform KakaoTalk, Kakao Pay is likely to dominate the e-bills market by inviting more e-bill distributors to its platform, Lee Seung-hyo, chief product officer of Kakao Pay, said in a seminar held in Seoul. “At th

MarketJuly 16, 2020

Hyundai to recall 272,000 cars in US on faulty socket

Hyundai Motor Co., South Korea's largest carmaker by sales, said Thursday it will recall more than 272,000 vehicles in the United States as the electrical socket in the dashboard can overheat and cause a fire. The latest recall affects the Elantra compact and Sonata midsize sedan produced between 2011 and 2012, and the Accent subcompact and the Veloster hatchback produced in 2012, a company spokesman said. The problem takes place when an air compressor used to inflate tires is plugged into t

MobilityJuly 16, 2020

[Monitor] Nearly half of workers still experience harassement at workplace: survey

About half of office workers in Korea are still experiencing harassment in the workplace even after related laws were enacted last year, a survey conducted by a local civic group showed Wednesday. According to the report by civic group Gabjil199, which surveyed 1,000 office workers here, around 45.5 percent of office workers answered that they are still experiencing workplace harassment. Insults or defamation were the most frequent forms of harassment in the workplace, accounting for 29.6 pe

IndustryJuly 16, 2020

Full text of BOK statement on monetary policy decision in July

The following is the full text of the Bank of Korea's statement on its monetary policy decision. The central bank's monetary policy board voted Thursday to keep the base interest rate steady at 0.5 percent. Monetary Policy Decision The Monetary Policy Board of the Bank of Korea decided today to leave the Base Rate unchanged at 0.50% for the intermeeting period. Currently available information suggests that the global economy has started to rebound moderately from the sharp contraction, as e

EconomyJuly 16, 2020