[Photo News] World Cup Coins

The official commemorative coins issued by the Qatar Central Bank to celebrate the 2022 Qatar World Cup were showcased in Seoul on the sidelines of a ceremony held to launch limited edition medals to commemorate the Korea-Japan World Cup held 20 years ago. A set of 24 gold and silver legal tender coins were released by the Middle Eastern country last month as part of FIFA‘s Official Host Country Coin Program, in collaboration with MDM Deutsche Muenzhandelsgesellschaft, FIFA’s officia

June 27, 2022

[Best Brand] Hanwha Q Cells looks to tap home solar power systems

Leading total energy solution provider Hanwha Q Cells is accelerating efforts to bring solar energy into households in South Korea, with its Q.Home initiative that will allow people to produce, store and manage solar energy. The product is already being sold in Europe, where demand is high. The company, which entered the solar energy business in 2010 and has since provided energy storage systems and energy management systems, is known for producing quality photovoltaic systems, or solar power s

June 27, 2022

[Best Brand] Coway’s Icon Water Purifier 2 attracts with innovative features

The second edition of South Korean furniture and home appliance brand Coway’s Icon Water Purifier is garnering attention with its innovative characteristics. Launched June 2, the product features artificial intelligence technology that autonomously diagnoses the operation status of the water purifier, according to the company. In addition, the user can use its mobile app to not only analyze the condition of the product, but also control it remotely. It has obtained the AI+ artificial i

June 27, 2022

Burden from investor debt binge drags down Kospi: analyst

Risks stemming from South Korea’s investor debt binge is a key reason behind the local benchmark stock index’s recent lackluster performance, analysts said Monday. This fueled concerns of a possible market crash as the US Federal Reserve’s aggressive rate hikes have been increasing debt burden on retail investors. “Following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, Korea saw a sharp gain in household and corporate debt,” Heo Jae-hwan, an analyst at Eugene Investment

June 27, 2022

[Best Brand] The IB Korea introduces new cocktail products

The IB Korea, a beer and liquor importer, recently participated in the Air House Festival, a music fair held in Chuncheon, Gangwon Province, for three days starting June 10. At the event, the IB Korea met with young customers in their 20s, introducing its newly launched cocktail products, Uptown Margarita and Uptown Pina Colada. The two new products are brands from Texas-based distillery and winery Southern Champion. The Uptown Margarita is an agave wine-based cocktail, while the Uptown Pina

June 27, 2022

[Best Brand] Linus offers top-notch app development services

Linus, an application development service provider, has successfully carried out 40 projects for companies across various areas, including analysis of nutrients, multilingual education and luggage delivery. As a startup established in 2019, Linus is a system integration company that creates apps for both Android and iOS, sets up servers and web services and develops machine-learning models and prediction platforms. According to Linus, the startup gets involved in the initial planning stages of

June 27, 2022

[Best Brand] Starbucks Korea recognized for offering equal job opportunities

Starbucks Korea has been bolstering its efforts in creating equal job opportunities and giving back to society. The coffee chain, with over 20,000 employees across over 1,600 locations nationwide, has been recognized by the government for providing equal employment opportunities to disadvantaged groups. The Korea Employment Agency for Persons with Disabilities chose Starbucks Korea as an “excellent case” of having incorporated the disabled into its workforce. As of June 2022, Sta

June 27, 2022

[Best Brand] Powerful-X Recovery Cream becomes No. 1 sports cream

Powerful-X Recovery Cream is the nation’s No. 1 sports cream, offered by Powerful-X, a local sports beauty and health care company. Since its launch in 2014, sales exceeded 30 billion won ($23.2 million) in 2017 and its success led to the maker’s stock debut on Konex, a securities exchange for small and medium-sized firms, in the same year. The firm attributed the cream’s huge success to its steady quality improvement over the time. The firm applied its own “Flex-So

June 27, 2022

[Best Brand] Samsung C&T enters SMR, eco-friendly energy biz

The engineering and construction division of Samsung C&T Corporation is aggressively entering the eco-friendly energy businesses such as small modular reactors, or SMRs, green hydrogen and ammonia. The Engineering & Construction Division of Samsung C&T recently invested $70 million in NuScale Power, an American SMR company, laying a stepping stone for its SMR business overseas. SMRs are safer compared to conventional nuclear reactors, emits nearly zero carbon, and guarantees a stab

June 27, 2022

[Best Brand] Come In Wash‘s patented solution offers high quality service

Automatic car wash system company Come In Wash first received attention for offering high quality car wash services using an automatic, no-touch, no-brush car wash which was patented in 2019. With increasing market demand and business expansion, Come In Wash has opened its first branch in downtown Seoul on June 10. Located in Samseong-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, it offers a top quality car wash system for customers in adjacent neighborhoods such as Cheongdam-dong and Apgujeong-dong. Unlike other

June 27, 2022

[Best Brand] LocknLock caters to wide range of home-cooked meals

The trend of having healthy home-cooked meals has driven household goods companies to expand their business into the small home appliances sector. LocknLock, the global food container maker, has introduced Steam Fryer S2, which offers five cooking options -- steam oven, air fryer, grill, toaster and steamer. In particular, its super steam mode cooks food at 130 degrees Celcius and forces superheated steam deep inside ingredients. Since the cooker heats ingredients fast, it draws out fat and sa

June 27, 2022

[Best Brand] Shinhan Card targets Generation MZ with ‘Hilarious Loopy’

Shinhan Card recently launched debit cards that feature the popular animation character Loopy, targeting “Generation MZ,” a local term combining millennials and Generation Z and roughly encompassing those born from the 1980s to 2010s. “Hilarious Loopy,” an exaggerated version of Loopy’s funny character, went viral across social media and online communities among teens and 20-somethings, prompting the credit card company to use the character from the “Pororo t

June 27, 2022

Commemorative medals for 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup on sale

Special limited edition medals and banknotes to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the 2002 FIFA World Cup, co-hosted by South Korea and Japan, went on sale Monday. Korea Minting, Security Printing & ID Card Operating Corporation (KOMSCO) said the commemorative items were made to wish the South Korean national football team good luck on the upcoming 2022 Qatar World Cup, while serving as a reminder of the national unity Korea experienced during the 2002 tournament. The “FIFA World

June 27, 2022

Korea close to authorizing 1st homemade vaccine

South Korea’s drug regulators are looking to announce the final approval of the country‘s first homegrown COVID-19 vaccine before the end of this week, officials said Monday. According to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, the Central Pharmaceutical Affairs Council concluded that SK Bioscience’s request for the approval of SKYCovione‘s biologics license application could be granted in a meeting on the previous day. A total of 23 outside experts and regulatory authori

June 27, 2022

Despite brisk earings, refiners weary of windfall tax

The nation’s four refiners -- SK Innovation, GS Caltex, S-Oil and Hyundai Oil Bank -- are expected to post record earnings in the second quarter this year, with sky-high oil prices boosting their operating margins. But they are under heavy social and political pressure as their thriving business means higher energy bills for consumers. Commodity prices rise and fall dramatically and refiners are sometimes threatened with a tax on their “extraordinary” profit at times of high

June 27, 2022

Govt. unveils W1tr spending package for AI chip dominance

The South Korean government on Monday announced a five-year plan to spend a combined 1.02 trillion won ($794.8 million) in semiconductor chip research and development to maintain its competitive edge in the global chip market. The spending package in the country, home to memory chip powerhouses Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, is aimed at securing a stronger footing in the field of artificial intelligence chips, mainly by developing libraries and compiler software to encourage wider usage of d

June 27, 2022

4 out of 10 firms in S. Korea experience raw materials price hikes higher than 20 pct: survey

About 4 out of 10 companies in South Korea saw their raw material prices jump 20 percent or more this year amid fast-rising oil and commodity bills, a central bank survey showed Monday. According to the survey by the Bank of Korea on 570 firms, 40.3 percent said so, with 8.1 percent saying that the prices jumped 50 percent or higher compared with a year earlier. With the raw material price increase, 69 percent of those surveyed raised the prices of their products or services. Of them, 43.1 perce

June 27, 2022

BOK deputy chief to attend FSB meeting this week

A top official of the Bank of Korea (BOK) will attend a meeting of the Financial Stability Board (FSB) this week in the Netherlands and discuss global cooperation, Seoul's central bank said Monday. Bank of Korea (BOK) Deputy Gov. Lee Seung-heon will depart for the European country on Tuesday to join the general assembly of the FSB in Amsterdam on Thursday, according to the BOK. The FSB is a consultation body that coordinates and cooperates for global financial market stability. It is made u

June 27, 2022

How feeding seagulls became a boat trip selling point

As a cruise ferry on Han River was about to leave the dock on a Tuesday afternoon in June, dozens of seagulls began to gather around. Some sat on the top rails of the ship while others began to fly around as passengers started to come out to the deck. Once the engine starts, you get the sense what they are here for. People were holding snacks with their fingers or throwing them for the birds to eat. Laughter and joyful scream filled the ship as people of all age groups -- from elderly peopl

June 27, 2022

SK Bioscience's COVID-19 vaccine candidate inches closer to launch after experts' approval recommendation

South Korea's first COVID-19 vaccine candidate, developed by SK Bioscience Co., has received an approval recommendation from a government advisory group of pharmaceutical experts, officials said Monday, pushing the vaccine candidate one step closer to commercial launch. The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety said GBP510, the vaccine candidate developed by SK Bioscience, was recommended during a meeting of the ministry's Central Pharmaceutical Review Committee on Sunday as being ready for

June 27, 2022