Most Popular
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Seoul Fireworks Festival ends smoothly, but leaves piles of trash
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[AtoZ into Korean mind] The price of numbers: How rankings shape lives in Korea
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Yoon set for talks with Marcos in Philippines
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Can Jennie break the K-pop solo artist slump?
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[Exclusive] Korea’s defense acquisition agency fails to meet legal standard for women representation
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First lady’s Dior bag scandal to be at center of Assembly audit
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Yoon honors veterans of Korean War in trip to Philippines
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Seoulites celebrate coexistence at Wellness Seoul 2024
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[KH Explains] Can G-Star level up?
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[Lee Kyong-hee] Tone-deaf first lady causes chaos
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Korean drug firms in early stage of coronavirus vaccine development
South Korean pharmaceutical firms are in the beginning stages of coronavirus vaccine development, lagging behind US rivals, industry sources said Wednesday. No domestic companies have received the green light for clinical trials for vaccine candidates from the drug safety authorities, though US biotech firm Moderna announced Monday all participants in its coronavirus vaccine test generated antibodies. Spearheading the local effort is a six-firm consortium led by biopharmaceutical maker Genexi
May 20, 2020
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IFA 2020 to physically take place, minus public access
The COVID-19 pandemic has clipped wings of many global conferences in the first half of 2020, but not IFA 2020. Unlike many other exhibitions that have opted to continue this year's event in an online format, the 2020 Internationale Funkausstellung Berlin will push through as a real-life event from Sept. 3 through 5 at the usual location of Messe Berlin exhibition hall. IFA Executive Director Jens Heithecker, at the online global press conference conducted on Tuesday, said that this year's I
May 19, 2020
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[News Focus] Import-car sales brisk in Korea despite virus
SEJONG -- In 1999, the number of import cars sold in South Korea was 2,401, making up only 0.26 percent of the total. Foreign car brands captured 1 percent of the local market for the first time in history in 2002, when Korea co-hosted the FIFA World Cup. Sales reached 16,119 units with a market share of 1.3 percent. Since then, the market share of import cars has increased quickly, exceeding 3 percent in 2005, 5 percent in 2007, 10 percent in 2012 and 13 percent in 2014. When the share reac
May 19, 2020
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Korean game companies diversify to move past former glories
From a stock trading platform to water purifier services, South Korean game companies are diversifying their business portfolios, joining the economy-wide trend of finding auxiliary business models as their growth faces limits. Though Korea’s No. 1 game company Nexon posted its best quarterly revenue of 434.4 billion won ($353 million) -- a 78 percent surge on-year -- thanks to the steady sales of MapleStory and Fifa Online 4, the fast-changing nature of the game industry means that &ldq
May 19, 2020
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Hanwha Solutions expands to solar power software business
Hanwha Solutions said Tuesday it has invested in a solar power software company, diversifying its business portfolio that is currently focused on hardware such as solar power cells and modules. This is the first investment finalized by the Hanwha Group affiliate since Vice President Kim Dong-kwan took charge in March. The company recently acquired a 20.26 percent stake in Australia-based energy management system firm SwitchDin that specializes in virtual power plant technology, the company s
May 19, 2020
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Mixed Q1 performances for European operations of battery firms
The European subsidiaries of South Korean battery makers have posted mixed results in the first quarter, with an increase in demand and large investments, according to their latest performance reports. LG Chem Wroclaw Energy, a fully owned Poland-based subsidiary of LG Chem, posted a net loss of 301.7 billion won ($246 million) due to rapid expansion. However, Samsung SDI Hungary, a 100 percent subsidiary of Samsung SDI, remained profitable. LG Chem Wroclaw Energy -- which manufactures and s
May 19, 2020
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Shift of roster among listed biopharma firms in Q1
Major tectonic shifts were noticed in the rankings of top 10 South Korean biologics and pharmaceutical firms in the first quarter this year, according to latest data Tuesday. Almost every company had their placements readjusted based on their first-quarter earnings reports. Celltrion soared to the top with revenue of 372.8 billion won ($304 million) from last year’s seventh spot at 221.7 billion won. Yuhan, which sat on the top last year with 345 billion won revenue, slid to the second
May 19, 2020
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Samsung Biologics’ 3rd plant gets business continuity certificate
Samsung Biologics, the world’s largest contract development and contract manufacturing organization for biologics drugs, said Tuesday that its third plant complies with international standards for business continuity management systems. The plant is certified for compliance with ISO22301, a global standard set by the British Standard Institution, meaning the company’s business operations would experience minimal disruptions in the event of an accident or natural disaster. Samsung
May 19, 2020
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ECCK shares industrial concerns with FTC head
The European business community in Korea shared their opinions with the nation’s antitrust watchdog head on industrial issues and the business environment here, the organization representing their interests here said Tuesday. The European Chamber of Commerce in Korea said it hosted a breakfast meeting with Fair Trade Commission Chairperson Joh Sung-wook, which was attended by around 50 representatives of member companies and European embassies. European business leaders, including Dirk
May 19, 2020
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[Monitor] Automobile demand in major markets drops
Although automakers are resuming operations of their plants worldwide since the COVID-19 outbreak from May, full normalization remains uncertain as demand continues to stay low. Market watchers predict demand to bottom out and start to bounce back from the second quarter. (khnews@heraldcorp.com)
May 19, 2020
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Doosan Heavy to put about 400 employees under paid suspension amid slump
Doosan Heavy & Construction Co., South Korea's top power equipment maker, said Monday that it will put about 400 employees under paid suspension as part of its self-rescue efforts amid a prolonged slump. The suspension is part of the company's efforts to tide over its liquidity crunch. The company drew up a 3 trillion-won ($2.4 billion) self-rescue plan last month. Workers subject to the paid suspension from this Thursday through the end of the year will be paid 70 percent of their monthl
May 18, 2020
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SK E&C wins $7.5m deal to construct PDH plant in Saudi Arabia
SK Engineering and Construction said Monday it has won a construction deal worth $7.55 million for a mega-sized Propane Dehydrogenation plant in Saudi Arabia. According to the South Korean construction company, the project is ordered by the joint venture of its energy arm SK gas and Saudi Arabian Advanced Global Investment Company. SK E&C will be in charge of Front End Engineering Design for the PDH plant and utility and off-site facilities, the company said. PDH is a process to produce
May 18, 2020
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Posco expands support for young adults leaving child shelter
Posco, South Korea’s largest steelmaker said Monday it will expand support for young adults who leave child shelters when they turn 18, to stand on their own feet. Posco’s charity group Posco 1% Foundation has been running “Do Dream” program since 2018, which provides financial aid to the young adults to assist them to build a foundation for self-support. In the past two years, the company said 40 people have benefited from the program. Starting from this year, Posco
May 18, 2020
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KCCI wins 2020 Van Fleet Award
The Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry was selected as the winner of the 2020 James A. Van Fleet Award in recognition of its contribution to strengthening Korea-US relations, the KCCI said Monday. It is the first time that a business organization has received the award. The Van Fleet Award is an award given by the Korea Society, a Korea-US nonprofit foundation for friendship, to individuals or organizations that have worked to promote mutual understanding and friendship between the two cou
May 18, 2020
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GC Pharma will give COVID-19 plasma treatment away for free
GC Pharma said Monday that it would give out its blood plasma-derived COVID-19 treatment for free to domestic patients. The company’s pipeline, GC5131A, is currently under development and mass distribution is due in the second half of 2020. Huh Eun-chul, the CEO of GC Pharma, wrote to shareholders requesting their understanding over the company’s decision to put long-term health care stability over short-term profit. Many firms have previously offered potential COVID-19 treatmen
May 18, 2020
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Genexine consortium develops COVID-19 vaccine for human testing
Korean biotech firm Genexine’s COVID-19 deoxyribonucleic acid vaccine pipeline GX-19 is ready for clinical testing, as soon as it applies to the Drug Ministry for human testing. Binex, which is part of the consortium that developed the drug, said Monday that it has completed manufacturing the supply enough for a clinical phase 1 trials of the drug. GX-19 is a potential COVID-19 vaccine developed based on Genexine’s DNA vaccine know-how. It is being collectively pursued by a consor
May 18, 2020
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Gates Foundation gives $3.6m to SK Bioscience’s COVID-19 research
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is doling out a series of funding for epidemic countermeasure research in Korea. SK Bioscience, a vaccine researcher and developer firm, said Monday that it has nabbed $3.6 million financial backing from the US foundation for to research the biologic structure of an optimal antigen for epidemics. This comes a day after the announcement of some $9.7 million funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for Korean telecom company KT’s research fo
May 18, 2020
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[Monitor] Growing telemedicine market
In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, demand for telemedicine services is on the rise, urging governments to relax related regulations. The market value for the global telemedicine market has been continuously growing from $18.1 billion in 2015 to $30.5 billion as of 2019. The market is forecast to expand to $35.5 billion this year and to $41.2 billion next year, according to data by market researcher Statista. South Korea has been a country that strictly regulates telemedicine, but the gov
May 18, 2020
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KT gets Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's W12b funding for epidemic research
Korean telecommunications firm KT will research for epidemic preparedness solutions, backed with 12 billion won ($9.7 million) in funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. KT said Sunday that the philanthropic foundation had wished for an epidemics monitoring study carried out in Korea -- a country of widespread smartphone penetration equipped with 5G infrastructure. The research, called “A Next Generation Surveillance Study for Epidemic Preparedness,” will seek to dev
May 17, 2020
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[Weekender] Tightrope walk between hair regrowth and side effects
The power people associate with lush hair is perhaps most palpable in the biblical story of Samson and Delilah. Samson, a man of formidable strength, is weakened after Delilah crops his hair -- the source of his strength. Abundant hair is a sign of youthfulness, health and vivacity. It is often associated with good looks, and many men who begin to lose it go to great lengths to reverse the course of balding. Currently, as far as pills go, there are more than 200 generic versions of finasterid
May 16, 2020