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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Baseball star Hwang Jae-gyun, T-ara's Jiyeon file for divorce mediation
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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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2 US B-1B bombers conducted joint drill with S. Korean Air Force on Oct. 1 Armed Force Day
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Firefighters’ 3,000 won meals spark nutrition concerns
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Celltrion’s Cheongju plant passes FDA evaluation
Celltrion said Monday its Cheongju plant passed the US’ Food and Drug Administration’s additional inspection, opening up the path to a 1.2 trillion won ($985 million) human immunodecifiency treatment market. Celltrion manufactures three-drug-in-one-tablet HIV treatment CT-G07 at its plant in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province. The treatment is pending FDA approval for US commercialization. FDA had carried out an on-site inspection of Celltrion’s Cheongju plant in January to
March 16, 2020
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Genexine, Binex to co-develop coronavirus vaccine GX-19
Korean companies Genexine and Binex will jointly develop potential COVID-19 vaccine “GX-19,” in hopes of preventing yearly seasonal flus showing respiratory symptoms, the companies said Monday. GX-19 will be a DNA vaccine, developed using Genexine’s platform technology and manufactured at Binex’s “good manufacturing practice”-abiding facility. A DNA vaccine involves a DNA delivery vector fitted with the genetic information of a particular virus, to which the
March 16, 2020
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Korean firms on edge about rapid coronavirus spread in Europe, US
South Korean companies are feeling the strain as the new coronavirus spreads rapidly in their major production bases and premium markets -- Europe and the US. The cumulative number of confirmed cases in Europe totaled around 67,000 as of Monday, and the death toll exceeded 2,300. In the US the number of new cases increased by more than 1,000 over the weekend to about 3,100. Europe, which the World Health Organization declared the “epicenter” of the pandemic on Friday, is h
March 16, 2020
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Doosan Solus wins W100b battery foil deal in Europe
Doosan Solus said Monday that its subsidiary in Hungary had won a supply contract to provide 100 billion won ($82 million) worth of battery foil, used in electric cars, to a global battery manufacturer. According to the company, Doosan Corporation Europe clinched the four-year deal from 2021 to 2024. It is the second such deal for the overseas branch, the first having been signed around the end of last year. The South Korean copper manufacturer said the two contracts account for about 80 per
March 16, 2020
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Korean Air uses passenger jets as cargo carriers amid virus woes
Korean Air Lines Co., South Korea's biggest airline by sales, said Monday it has begun to use passenger jets to transport cargo on suspended routes amid the spreading coronavirus outbreak. Korean Air initially started to use grounded passenger aircraft to deliver cargo on routes to Ho Chi Minh City of Vietnam and Qingdao of China on Friday, the company said in a statement. "The company is in talks with aviation authorities to expand the alternative use of passenger jets as cargo
March 16, 2020
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[Newsmaker] Coupang deliveryman found dead attempting late-night delivery
A deliveryman was found dead while working after midnight for Coupang. The exact cause of death is not known. According to the Korean Public Service and Transport Workers’ Union on Sunday, the 46-year-old contract worker, surnamed Kim, was found Thursday around 2 a.m. between the fourth and fifth floors of a residential building in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province. The building had no elevator. “Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, deliveries of heavy daily necessities such as rice, drinking wa
March 16, 2020
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More firms adopt anti-virus steps for shareholder meetings
More South Korean companies are ramping up virus prevention measures for their upcoming shareholder meetings by adopting electronic voting to join the country's efforts to stem the spread of the novel coronavirus. Of the some 2,300 listed firms here, a total of 314 companies, including Samsung Electronics Co. and Hyundai Motor Co., will hold shareholder meetings this week amid concerns of COVID-19 infections. South Korea has so far reported more than 8,200 coronavirus cases. Accordi
March 16, 2020
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Hyundai Heavy clinches 400b-won deal to build 1 frigate
Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., the world's largest shipbuilder in terms of the value of orders last year, said Monday that it has won a 400 billion-won ($330 million) order to build one frigate for the South Korean Navy. Under the deal with South Korea's Defense Acquisition Program Administration, Hyundai Heavy will deliver the 3,500-ton ship by 2024 to the country's Navy. The deal is for the first of six new 3,500-ton frigate vessels to be delivered to the Navy. The ship -- 129 meters long
March 16, 2020
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Korean conglomerates to hold shareholders meeting despite COVID-19
A total of 314 South Korean companies, including Samsung Electronics, Hyundai Motor and SK hynix, will hold shareholders meetings this week. The companies have rolled out measures to counter concerns over potential spread of the coronavirus at the meetings. Samsung Electronics’ annual shareholders meeting is scheduled for Wednesday at Suwon Convention Center in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, with around 2,000 seats available. Samsung Electronics previously asked shareholders to make extensiv
March 15, 2020
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KITA’s online export platforms help firms overcome virus outbreak
The Korea International Trade Association is bolstering remote online export platforms to help domestic companies facing difficulties in export to find new export channels amid the coronavirus outbreak. The KITA said Sunday it has shifted its marketing efforts to the online sphere, strengthening its online business-to-business and business-to-consumer export platforms as series of offline export marketing events have been canceled or delayed by the worsening COVID-19 outbreak. According to
March 15, 2020
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Stocks of major firms plunge over coronavirus spread
Major listed South Korean firms have seen a sharp drop in market capitalization by losing a combined 174 trillion won ($142 billion), down more than 20 percent, in the last 52 days, according to latest data Sunday. Local corporate tracker Korea CXO Institute surveyed the share price of 100 listed Korean companies -- top five in 20 industries -- between Jan. 20, when the first confirmed coronavirus case was reported here, and Thursday, after the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pan
March 15, 2020
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[News in focus] Apps show mask inventory for nearby locations in real time
Five days into the South Korean government’s attempt to create a streamlined system by rationing masks to two per person and establishing designated purchasing days each week depending on the purchaser’s birth year, apps and websites are springing to life to provide real-time information on mask stocks at government-appointed outlets. Some of these services are the work of independent developers turned Good Samaritans, while others come from internet portal and telecom businesses.
March 13, 2020
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Lotte to hold shareholders meeting, seek approval to reappoint CEO
Lotte Corp., the holding company for the nation’s fifth-largest conglomerate, will hold a shareholders meeting March 27 and seek approval to reappoint current Chairman Shin Dong-bin as executive director, the company said Friday. The executive director normally serves two years, according to the group. Shin currently serves as executive director for Lotte Corp. and other affiliates including Lotte Confectionery, Lotte Chemical, Lotte Chilsung, Canon Korea and FRL Korea. Shi
March 13, 2020
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Samsung Display workers exempted from Vietnam's mandatory quarantine: embassy
Vietnam has exempted Samsung Display engineers from South Korea from its mandatory quarantine, the South Korean Embassy in Hanoi said Friday, allowing them to swiftly do their jobs upon arrival. To stem the spread of the novel coronavirus, Vietnam has mandated a 14-day quarantine for all people travelling from South Korea. However, the South Korean Embassy said Samsung Display's workers will be exempted from this quarantine rule after the Vietnamese government accepted its request. Early
March 13, 2020
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Biz groups postpone H1 hiring over new coronavirus
South Korea's major conglomerates pushed back their hiring schedules due to the novel coronavirus, industry officials said Friday, amid concerns that they may scale down their employment plans in the first half of the year. Samsung Group, South Korea's largest conglomerate, said it is very likely to postpone its first-half hiring event that usually takes place in March. Industry officials said they expect Samsung's recruitment process to be delayed a month. Samsung and other big employers in
March 13, 2020
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S. Korea orders filter producer to offload inventory amid mask shortage
South Korea said Friday it has ordered one of the filter producers here to release its inventory as the country struggles to keep up the supply of protective masks amid the spread of the new coronavirus. The order will add 4.4 tons of melt-blown nonwoven fabric filters into the market, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. The collected filters will be supplied to nine mask producers, which were on the verge of suspending their operations due to the shortage of materials. T
March 13, 2020
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Celltrion pledges clinical trial of coronavirus treatment in 6 months
Celltrion Chairman Seo Jung-jin on Thursday took to YouTube live to share the group’s ongoing efforts on coronavirus cure development, which he foresees will reach human clinical trial stage in six months’ time. “Under normal circumstances, the process takes around 18 months, but given the emergency in South Korea, we will closely communicate with the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety to initiate our antibody’s use on confirmed patients after six months,” Seo said.
March 12, 2020
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[Monitor] Wage gap among Korea’s largest companies widens
Wage disparity among employees of large firms in Korea is rising as the annual salary gap between the top and bottom 50 conglomerates is widening, according to local corporate tracker CEOScore on Thursday. The firm surveyed the average annual salary of 300 companies within the nation’s top 500 companies that can compare employee wages from 2014 to 2018. The annual salary of the top 50 companies was 116.9 million won ($97,554), 69.67 million won more than 41.02 million won of the lower
March 12, 2020
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US researchers use IBM supercomputer, find 77 molecules that deter COVID-19 infection
US researchers from the University of Tennessee have identified 77 molecules that show potential to impair COVID-19’s ability to infect host cells, IBM said Thursday. They made the discovery with the help of simulations using supercomputer Summit. Viruses like COVID-19 infect cells by binding to them and using “spikes” to inject their genetic material into the host cells. To understand a new microorganism, researchers grow it and test its reaction to new compounds. The proce
March 12, 2020
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Telecom call center employees to work from home
South Korea’s three largest mobile carriers -- SK Telecom, KT and LG Uplus -- announced on Thursday that they will minimize the number of call center employees who commute to their offices, after the packed working environment was found vulnerable to the viral infection. The decision came after some 90 people at a Seoul-based call center were tested positive for COVID-19 as of Wednesday afternoon. SKT said it has currently allowed 1,500 call center employees -- about 25 percent of the w
March 12, 2020