[News Focus] Naver, Kakao: How icons of innovation have come under fire

It took two decades for Naver to grow from an internet portal site to a giant in e-commerce, content and mobile payment, and just one decade for Kakao to build a sprawling business empire encompassing commerce, mobility and entertainment, off its mobile messaging app. Both were praised for innovative internet and mobile technologies that changed the way Koreans work, buy and communicate, making life without their services almost impossible to imagine. But just as their dominance is further

Sept. 13, 2021

Samsung Bioepis says its trastuzumab biosimilar as safe, effective as original

South Korean pharmaceutical company Samsung Bioepis said Monday its breast cancer treatment biosimilar Ontruzant is proven to be just as safe and effective as the original drug. The Korean drugmaker conducted a follow-up study lasing five years, tracking 367 patients with human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 positive breast cancer. The patients received several cycles of trastuzumab biosimilar Ontruzant or the reference medicine along with chemotherapy and surgery during the period. S

Sept. 13, 2021

[Larry Corey] What we know about delta and vaccination

Sobering findings of the past few weeks have shaken both the American and scientific psyche. People have had to reassess their perceptions about the COVID-19 vaccines, and the reemergence of an epidemic many thought was over. Many of us have had to come to terms with how life can sometimes just be complicated. It’s been a scientific and emotional roller coaster. In the spring, we saw the alpha variant, which was two times more infectious than the ancestral strain. That was followed by be

Sept. 12, 2021

Kakaopay to suspend car insurance comparison service

Kakaopay, a financial unit of tech giant Kakao Corp., will suspend its car insurance comparison service later this month after providing an unauthorized brokerage service, industry sources said Friday. Kakaopay's service to help customers find the best deal among six partnered car insurers, including Hyundai Marine and Fire Insurance Co. and DB Insurance, will be suspended from Sept. 25, according to the sources. The Financial Services Commission said the online program is not advertising tha

Sept. 10, 2021

FTC to keep eyes on unfair practices in e-commerce sector

Amid growing scrutiny of online giants Naver and Kakao, South Korea’s antitrust watchdog chief on Friday spoke of the need to regulate massive online platforms in order to better protect small vendors and consumers. “E-commerce platforms have brought new benefits and convenience, but concerns over side effects have newly arisen,” Joh Sung-wook, chairperson of the Fair Trade Commission, said during a breakfast meeting organized by the European Chamber of Commerce in Korea.

Sept. 10, 2021

S. Korea's mRNA vaccine consortium gets two new members

Two more local companies have newly joined the “K-mRNA vaccine consortium,” a local alliance of pharmaceutical companies dedicated to co-developing and co-producing homegrown messenger RNA vaccines. The consortium, led by Hanmi Pharmaceutical, GC Pharma and ST Pharm, on Thursday announced the participation of pharmaceuticals company Dong-A ST and medical equipment and materials maker Ecell, which it said will speed up its joint research and development of COVID-19 vaccines. Dong

Sept. 9, 2021

GeneOne Life Science to begin phase 2 clinical trial of COVID-19 pill in Korea

Biotech firm GeneOne Life Science has received approval from the South Korean government to carry on with the phase 2 clinical trial of its investigational oral drug to treat COVID-19, the company said Thursday. GLS-1027 is an orally administered drug that could suppress the cytokine inflammations that lead to more serious lung diseases. Korea University Guro Hospital in Seoul will lead the administration of the drug candidate for the local study. GeneOne Life Science has been conducting p

Sept. 9, 2021

[Herald Interview] KT buys UK-based Epsilon, on lookout for more

South Korea’s KT on Thursday announced the 170 billion-won ($145 million) acquisition of London-based data company Epsilon. A senior executive who led the deal told The Korea Herald that it is only the start of the telecom firm’s quest to transform into a major global “digico,” and that it is already on the prowl for another acquisition, with the target likely to be an IT solutions provider based here or elsewhere. “Epsilon is neither too large nor too small,

Sept. 9, 2021

SK Telecom’s new subscription platform secures 150,000 subscribers in a week

The number of subscribers of SK Telecom’s new subscription-based e-commerce platform T Universe has exceeded 150,000 after its launch last week, SK Telecom said Wednesday. Some 30 percent of the subscribers use mobile networks provided by SK Telecom’s competitors, the company added. Previously, SK Telecom said the company aims to attract 36 million subscribers out of the country’s total population of 51 million by 2025. According to the telecommunications firm, around 70

Sept. 8, 2021

S. Korean biotech firm Genome & Company to acquire US-based CDMO

South Korean biotech firm Genome & Company will acquire a 60 percent stake in US-based contract development and manufacturing organization List Biological Laboratories for $27 million, the company announced Wednesday. With the acquisition, Genome & Company, which specializes in immuno-oncology, seeks to secure materials needed for future clinical trials of microbiome-based therapies, CEO Bae Ji-soo told an online press conference. 　 Founded in 1978, List Labs is a CDMO firm that owns m

Sept. 8, 2021

LG Chem develops new material for foldable displays

LG Chem has developed a new material for foldable displays that is as hard as glass, but can bend both ways without the creasing issue, it said Tuesday. According to the South Korean firm, the “real folding window” could be used for surfaces of foldable smartphones, as well as other portable devices, including laptops and tablet PCs. Hard as glass yet thinner than existing polyimide films, the new material is a plastic film coated with the firm’s own coating technology tha

Sept. 7, 2021

Severance Hospital to introduce telemedicine program for inpatients

Yonsei University‘s Severance Hospital has decided to introduce non-face-to-face care program for inpatients to increase efficiency and minimize the risk of virus infection amid the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic. Severance announced Tuesday that it will introduce the telemedicine application My Severance, which will make doctors’ ward rounds digital. Patients at the hospital will be advised to download the application, which will automatically send alerts to patients at the time o

Sept. 7, 2021

Questions raised over duopoly of Naver and Kakao in platform industry

Last week, South Korea passed a bill aimed at preventing Google and Apple from abusing their app market duopoly, a move that garnered the media spotlight around the world. The so-called “anti-Google bill” revises the Telecommunications Business Act to stop the US-based Google from forcing local app developers to use its own payment system for in-app purchases. Industry watchers said Korean tech heavyweights in dominant market positions are also likely to face similar regulatory

Sept. 6, 2021

Budget for COVID-19 research cut by 32 percent next year: lawmaker

The South Korean government is looking for a significant budget cut for COVID-19 vaccine and treatment development programs next year, a lawmaker said Monday. According to the budget proposal that main opposition People Power Party Rep. Jeon Bong-min acquired from the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the government plans to spend 89.3 billion won ($76 million) on support of COVID-19 vaccine and treatment development in 2022, down 32 percent compared to this year. Rep. Jeon said the support to c

Sept. 6, 2021

JW Pharmaceutical obtains patent for homegrown gout treatment in Europe

South Korean drug company JW Pharmaceutical said Monday that a patent regarding its gout treatment URC102 has been granted by the European Patent Office.　 URC102 is a potential inhibitor of human uric acid transporter 1, which JW Pharmaceutical is developing as a potential treatment for patients with gout. It completed the phase 2b clinical trial in March, which involved 171 patients with gout here. According to the firm, the patent includes manufacturing measures for URC102 and a key intermed

Sept. 6, 2021

Samsung still mulling over foundry plant in US

After months of contemplation over the location for a new foundry plant in the United States, Samsung Electronics appears to have one or two final candidates in mind, raising expectations about an imminent decision. According to news reports and industry sources on Monday, Samsung will soon make its decision on the location of a $17 billion chip plant in the US. Along with Austin, the state capital of Texas, Taylor in Williamson County, Texas, has recently risen as a possible candidate accor

Sept. 6, 2021

Number of new drugs underway jumps 158% in 3 years

The number of drugs under development at South Korean companies has increased by 158 percent in the past three years, according to a local survey released Sunday. According to Korea Pharmaceutical and Bio-Pharma Manufacturers Association’s survey on 299 pharmaceutical and biotech companies here, 193 firms currently operate 1,477 new product pipelines, up 157.8 percent from 100 firms’ 573 pipelines in 2018. Of the 1,477 pipelines, 599 are for developing traditional nonbiologic pha

Sept. 5, 2021

CJ OliveNetworks partners with Siemens on smart factory

CJ OliveNetworks, the ICT solutions provider of CJ Group, said Friday it is joining hands with Germany’s largest electric and electronic business Siemens on smart factories. On Thursday, CJ OliveNetworks CEO Cha In-hyok and Siemens Korea’s Digital Industry President Thomas Schmid signed an agreement at Siemens’ head office in central Seoul. Under the agreement, CJ will be responsible for developing solutions for the establishment of smart factories and operation and mainten

Sept. 3, 2021

Naver to announce research results on Korean-language AI model at EMNLP 2021

Naver, the largest internet business in South Korea, will present seven research papers on natural language processing in artificial intelligence at a globally renowned academic conference, the company said Friday. Set to be held in the Dominican Republic from Nov. 7 to 11, the Empirical Methods in Natural Language Processing 2021 is a global conference with 25 years of history. At the upcoming conference, Naver will unveil its hyperscale Korean-language model Hyper Clova and introduce dat

Sept. 3, 2021

Samsung pushes harder into midrange market with Galaxy A52s 5G

Alongside the highest-end foldable smartphone series Galaxy Z, Samsung Electronics is making a stronger push in the midrange phone market, launching an upgraded version of the Galaxy A52 model. The South Korean smartphone vendor on Thursday announced the release of the Galaxy A52s 5G in the domestic market at 599,500 won ($513) on Friday. The newest A series model hit stores in India, the biggest midrange phone market for Samsung, on Wednesday, two days before the Korea launch. The Galax

Sept. 2, 2021