JW Pharmaceutical to repurpose targeted oncology drug as COVID-19 therapy

JW Pharmaceutical said Wednesday it has applied to patent its anti-cancer pipeline CWP291 as a potential COVID-19 treatment. CWP291 is a Wnt/beta-catenin inhibitor that is under development as a first-in-class treatment for acute myeloid leukemia, multiple myeloma and stomach cancer. The South Korean firm is reviewing the pipeline’s ability to hinder Glucose Regulated Protein 78 (GRP78) manifestation to be applicable as a COVID-19 treatment. GRP78 plays a central role in a tumor&rsqu

IndustryJune 17, 2020

GCMS signs $30m COVID-19 test kit export deal

GCMS, an in-vitro diagnosis service provider under GC Pharma, said Wednesday that it signed three deals worth $30 million in total, to provide COVID-19 test kits to Europe, Middle East and Asia. “Our full line-up of COVID-19 diagnostics test kits, ranging from molecular diagnosis to immunodiagnosis, will add fuel to our exports and this year‘s revenue,” GCMS CEO Ahn Eun-uk said. “Based on an open-innovation strategy, we will continue to bolster our diagnostics busine

IndustryJune 17, 2020

Doosan Infracore rallies on hope for new investor

Shares in Doosan Infracore Co., the construction equipment affiliate of South Korea's cash-short Doosan Group, traded higher for a second day on Wednesday as its parent is seeking to sell a stake in the company. On Tuesday, Doosan Infracore soared by the daily permissible limit of 29.86 percent to close at 7,480 won ($6.16), hitting a 52-week high as retail investors bet that the stake sale will boost Doosan Infracore's value going forward. Doosan Group said earlier it will dispose of a 36.27

MarketJune 17, 2020

Hyundai Motor to open Korea’s largest driving center in 2022

Hyundai Motor Group said Wednesday that it will open the country’s largest driving center, called the HMG Driving Experience Center, in the first half of 2022 to offer customers new opportunities to experience the brand and practice driving.  The automaker said the facilities will be built within the driving test site of local tiremaker Hankook Tire Technology in Taean, South Chungcheong Province.  A ceremony to celebrate the partnership was held at Hyundai Motor Group’s

MobilityJune 17, 2020

Posco, Hyundai Steel create W100b fund for smaller firms

Posco and Hyundai Steel, South Korea’s two largest steelmakers, have created a combined 100 billion-won ($82 million) fund to help smaller companies hit hard by the coronavirus, the Industry Ministry said Wednesday. The fund will be used to extend up to 1 billion won with low interest to each struggling smaller steel company, according to the ministry. Posco and Hyundai Steel chipped in 71.4 billion won and 28.6 billion won for the fund, respectively. The move could help ease a credit

MarketJune 17, 2020

Samsung regains top spot in Southeast Asian smartphone market in Q1: report

Samsung Electronics Co. recaptured the top spot in the Southeast Asian smartphone market in the first quarter of the year by edging out its Chinese rivals, a report showed Wednesday. Samsung's market share in Southeast Asia stood at 18.9 percent in the January-March period, according to market tracker Counterpoint Research, outperforming Chinese phone maker Oppo by 0.2 percentage point. Chinese players also occupied the third to fifth spots on the list. Xiaomi came in third at 14.8 percent,

TechnologyJune 17, 2020

Mr. Pizza to invite bids for controlling stake

MP Group, the South Korean company that controls pizza restaurant franchise Mr. Pizza and coffee chain Manoffin, is seeking to sell a controlling stake through an open bidding process, its announcement showed Wednesday. Up for grabs will be a 48.92 percent stake in MP Group by founder and ex-chairman Jung Woo-hyun and owner families, as well as an undisclosed amount of new shares worth at least 20 billion won ($16.43 million). Proposals from potential buyers will be accepted until 5 p.m. on Ju

MarketJune 17, 2020

After selling over 4,200 units last year Porsche Korea to diversify lineup

Porsche Korea said Wednesday it sold over 4,200 units last year for the second consecutive year, highlighting its achievement in the local market along with its effort to introduce a more varied lineup of models here.  “(Porsche Korea’s sales performance has paved) the way for Porsche’s future product strategy, which focuses on emotional gasoline, powerful hybrid and progressive electric vehicles,” said Porsche Korea CEO Holger Gerrmann during a press conference he

MobilityJune 17, 2020

Interest rates fall to near zero for 6 in 10 savings accounts

Six out of 10 accounts offered at commercial banks in South Korea offer near-zero interest rates on their deposits following the central bank’s key rate cut in May. According to data released Wednesday by the Korea Federation of Banks, 31 out of 51 commercial banks’ 12-month deposit accounts provided their customers with yields of less than 0.5 percent as of June. This indicates that 6 out of 10 major banks’ deposit products do not even offer 1 percent interest a y

MarketJune 17, 2020

[News Focus] COVID-19 reshapes global autonomous driving tech landscape

Amid the heated competition to develop autonomous driving technology, US automaker General Motors’ self-driving technology unit Cruise made an unexpected announcement last month that it will lay off workers to tighten its belt during the COVID-19 pandemic.  Cruise CEO Dan Ammann sent an email to staff that layoffs of some 150 out of 1,800 workers will include an engineering team in California that works on Lidar, a critical technology for autonomous driving which uses pulsed laser l

MobilityJune 17, 2020

Korea, Ethiopia expand cooperation for forest restoration, sustainability

The Korea Forest Service has been expanding collaboration with Ethiopia to restore degraded forests and facilitate cooperation among ethnic groups in conflict regions through sustainable agroforestry. The latest event was a launch ceremony held on Wednesday for a book “Re-greening Ethiopia” co-published by KFS and the Environment, Forest and Climate Change Commission, a federal institution of Ethiopia. During the event, a memorandum of understanding was also signed for P4G, the Pa

IndustryJune 17, 2020

Local OTT giant Wavve sees drop in active users, Netflix soars: report

The number of monthly active users of local video streaming service giant Wavve declined over the past months, while that of Netflix soared to cement its top status, a report showed Thursday. Wavve, which was launched last September by South Korea's top mobile carrier SK Telecom Co. and terrestrial broadcasters KBS, MBC and SBS, had 3.46 million monthly active users last month, down 8.8 percent from 3.79 million in October 2019, according to market researcher Nielsen KoreanClick. Monthly act

TechnologyJune 17, 2020

S. Korea to spend W160b on developing self-driving ships

South Korea said Wednesday it will spend 160 billion won ($132 million) to launch a vessel capable of sailing with just a minimum number of sailors by 2025. Under the six-year project, South Korea plans to develop ships with "degree-three" autonomous features, which the International Maritime Organization (IMO) defines as vessels that are fully controlled remotely, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. Still, a limited number of sailors are required to be on board

IndustryJune 17, 2020

[Monitor] Housing price polarization deepens

Housing polarization is rapidly deepening in South Korea, with the price gap between high and low-priced apartments widening to the highest levels in 10 years, latest data showed. According to the monthly housing price trend released by Kookmin Bank, prices of low-cost apartments nationwide have fallen by 2.2 percent, or 2.5 million won ($2,069), while those of expensive apartments have risen by 15.5 percent, or more than 100 million won, over the past year. 　 Compared to two years ago, the

IndustryJune 17, 2020

Clinical trials of chloroquine for COVID-19 treatment halted in S. Korea

Clinical trials in South Korea to evaluate the potential therapeutic efficacy of an anti-malaria drug, chloroquine, for the treatment of the novel coronavirus have been halted, hospital officials said Wednesday. Two major general hospitals in Seoul -- Asan Medical Center and Gangnam Severance Hospital -- have recently ceased their clinical study of using chloroquine for the treatment of certain hospitalized COVID-19 patients, they said. The move comes after the US Food and Drug Administration

IndustryJune 17, 2020

DRAM prices on downward trend, boding ill for Korean chipmakers

Spot market prices for DRAM chips are on a downward trend after reaching their peak in April, industry data showed Wednesday, boding ill for South Korean chipmakers. The spot price of 8-gigabit DDR4 DRAM, a benchmark price for the category, reached $2.90 as of Wednesday, which was down 19.4 percent from the April 7 peak of $3.60, according to data from market tracker DRAMeXchange. On June 9, the spot price of 8-gigabit DDR4 DRAM fell below $3 for the first time since Dec. 13, according to DRA

IndustryJune 17, 2020

Seoul stocks open flat on escalating inter-Korean tensions

South Korean shares opened almost flat Wednesday amid escalating tensions between the two Koreas, bucking overnight Wall Street gains. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 1.25 points, or 0.06 percent, to 2,136.80 in the first 15 minutes of trading. The loss followed North Korea's announcement that it will redeploy troops to two inter-Korean business zones near the border and reinstall border guard posts. The communist regime destroyed the inter-Korean liaison office

MarketJune 17, 2020

S. Korea to further tighten lending rules, expand regulated areas to curb rising home prices

South Korea said Wednesday that it will further tighten lending rules and designate more areas subject to tighter regulations in an effort to stem a further rise in housing prices. The government also warned that it will take additional stronger steps to curb speculative demand, if needed. The government rolled out its toughest measures yet to stem rising housing prices in greater Seoul and some unregulated areas, as a series of steps, including tax hikes and loan regulations, failed to put a

EconomyJune 17, 2020

S. Korea to brace for growing inter-Korean tension

South Korea will take steps to minimize negative economic fallout caused by North Korea's explosion of the inter-Korean liaison office, the country's finance minister said Tuesday. In the afternoon, North Korea blew up the office in the Kaesong Industrial Complex, an inter-Korean cooperative industrial zone in the North's city near the border, after cutting off all communication lines with South Korea. Pyongyang blamed the South for the deadlock in inter-Korean relations on June 13. Finance M

EconomyJune 16, 2020

[Market Close-up] Stock market volatility spikes on concerns of second wave, foreign buying spree

Volatility in South Korea’s stock market rose this week on fears of a second wave of COVID-19 infections and return of foreign and institutional investors seeking to profit from undervalued stocks, analysts said Tuesday. Just a day after the two main domestic stock indexes saw the biggest drop in three months, both spiked over 5 percent Tuesday, causing the bourse operator Korea Exchange to halt stock trading for five minutes in the morning. At the closing bell, Kospi surged 107.23 point

MarketJune 16, 2020