S. Korea to develop over 100 mini satellites by 2031

South Korea said Friday it will develop over 100 miniature satellites over the next decade with the aim of establishing a national security monitoring system and testing next generation network communications in its latest push to strengthen its space industry. The Ministry of Science and ICT said it would pursue such satellite development to encourage the private sector's involvement in the space industry as the mini satellites can be manufactured in a short amount of time at a relatively low

June 18, 2021

Hanwha, SPC to co-develop biodegradable plastic packaging material

Hanwha Solutions said Friday that its wholly-owned subsidiary Hanwha Compound has signed an agreement with SPC Pack to co-develop a biodegradable plastic material and use it for packaging SPC’s products. SPC Group is a South Korean food and confectionery conglomerate owning some 40 brands including Paris Baguette, Shake Shack Korea, Baskin Robbins Korea, Dunkin’ Donuts Korea, among others. The new packaging material will be based on poly lactic acid, which is made from fermented

June 18, 2021

S.Korea to accelerate carbon-neutral efforts through smart water management

South Korea, which aims to go carbon neutral by 2050, will expand its smart water management by installing floating solar farms near dams and applying hydrothermal energy technologies to data centers. The Ministry of Environment said Friday that it will conduct six water management projects reflecting discussion results on carbon-neutral water management for climate resilience at the P4G Seoul Summit held last month. As part of the projects, the government will begin the construction of eigh

June 18, 2021

LG Electronics’ US headquarters receives highest grade for green building

LG Electronics’ North American headquarters in New Jersey has been granted an eco-friendly certification from the US Green Building Council, according to the company’s newsroom Friday. At the USGBC Leadership Awards held this month, LG Electronics received a Platinum New Construction certification, the highest grade in USGBC’S Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design rating system, which measures how buildings promote employee well-being, are energy and water efficient,

June 18, 2021

[Newsmaker] Kakao T officially registered as transportation operator

South Korea’s government has officially approved three major taxi-hailing service brands as platform operators, in a gesture to diversity transportation means, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport said Friday. Under the revised Automobile Transport Business Act, transportation platform operators are to register themselves at the Land Ministry in order to charge brokerage commission to users. The three brands are Kakao T, run by Kakao Mobility; Banban Taxi by Kornatus; and

June 18, 2021

S. Korea's power consumption nearly rebounds to pre-pandemic level in April

South Korea's electricity consumption nearly rebounded to the pre-pandemic level in April amid the recovery of industrial and business activities, data showed Friday. Asia's fourth-largest economy used 41,900 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of power in April, up 3.5 percent from a year ago, according to the data from the Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO). South Korea's power consumption earlier dropped 4.6 percent on-year in April 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic has dealt a harsh blow to the economy. The

June 18, 2021

Samsung may hold developer conference this year

Samsung Electronics Co. is considering holding its technology conference this year despite the novel coronavirus pandemic, industry insiders said Friday. The South Korean tech giant is reviewing a plan to hold the Samsung Developer Conference (SDC) in October or November as vaccinations pick up pace around the globe. Samsung, the world's largest memory chip and smartphone vendor, is reportedly looking to hold an in-person conference this year but is also considering online options for the even

June 18, 2021

Seoul stocks open higher on US tech rebound

South Korean stocks opened higher Friday on overnight tech gains on Wall Street, with investors digesting the impact of the Fed's faster-than-expected timeline for policy tightening. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) increased 7.75 points, or 0.24 percent, to 3,272.71 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Stocks opened with mild gains after the key stock index snapped its five-session winning streak the previous session. The rebound came amid the ongoing tussle between a

June 18, 2021

Hyundai, Kia's Europe sales more than double in May

Hyundai Motor and affiliate Kia said Thursday their combined sales in Europe more than doubled last month from a year earlier on robust demand and lower base effect. Hyundai and Kia sold a total of 88,171 vehicles in Europe in May, sharply up from 42,492 units in the same month a year ago, the companies' sales data showed.  The monthly result got a boost from strong sales of Hyundai's Tucson and Kona sport utility vehicles and Kia's Sportage SUV and Cee'd crossover utility vehicle, a

June 17, 2021

Cross-trading, transaction of own coins banned for cryptocurrency exchanges

The regulatory Financial Services Commission on Thursday said that it will add detailed measures to the legislation governing cryptocurrency exchanges in an effort to tame their attempts at price fixing. Cryptocurrency exchanges will be banned from handling digital tokens issued by themselves or affiliated people, according to a pre-announcement of the revisions made to the enforcement decree of for the Specified Financial Transaction Information. Executives and employees of an exchange are ba

June 17, 2021

S. Korea's global competitiveness ranking stays at 23rd in 2021: report

South Korea's global competitiveness ranking remained unchanged this year after rising by five notches in the previous year on the back of its efforts to contain the pandemic, a report showed Thursday. The country ranked 23rd in terms of global competitiveness among 64 countries surveyed, according to the 2021 report by the International Institute for Management Development. IMD, a Swiss-based international institution, has been releasing the report every year since 1989 based on a country's e

June 17, 2021

Korea revokes approvals for 1,700 communication equipment, devices

South Korea’s Ministry of Science and ICT said Thursday it has revoked approvals for around 1,700 pieces of network equipment and communications devices manufactured by a nearly 400 companies, including China’s Huawei and Korea’s Samsung Electronics. The decision affected a total of 1,696 pieces of equipment from 378 companies that were found to have test records certified by an entity not approved by the Korean government. Under the country’s radio wave law, communi

June 17, 2021

[Market Close-up] Market drops over US Fed’s rate hike plan, but officials say Seoul safe from volatility

The Seoul stock market traded bearishly Thursday after the US Federal Reserve projected rate hikes in 2023, ending a brief winning streak this week on economic and corporate improvements. But upon watching the market drop in response to the Fed’s hawkish stance, South Korean policymakers expressed confidence about dealing with any resulting volatility in the financial market. First Vice Finance Minister Lee Eog-weon said Asia’s fourth-largest economy may be affected to some extent

June 17, 2021

KT invests W23.6b in country’s largest enterprise fintech firm

KT, the second largest telecom business in South Korea, is moving to expand its presence in the financial sector by making an investment in a local fintech firm, the carrier said Thursday. The mobile carrier signed a deal to invest a total of 23.6 billion won ($20.8 million) in WebCash Group that owns WebCash, BizPlay and Roum IT, as part of forming a strategic partnership with the financial IT platform group for enterprises. It is KT’s second investment made in a financial firm afte

June 17, 2021

Local pharma to begin phase 2 clinical trial for Lou Gehrig’s disease therapy

The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety has granted approval for a phase 2a clinical trial of Engensis, an investigational gene therapy for treating amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, under development by South Korean biotechnology company Helixmith, the company said Thursday. Engensis is a gene therapy that utilizes a plasmid, a small circular DNA molecule, to provide the hepatocyte growth factor gene to patients’ nerve and nerve-supporting cells, whi

June 17, 2021

Kakao to launch new subscription-based content platform in August

Kakao, the nation’s largest mobile messenger operator, is preparing to launch a new subscription-based content platform in August, according to the company on Thursday. The company is currently running a closed beta test of the new platform among its content partners, it said. The platform will allow producers to create, edit and publish various forms of content including news, videos, music and texts. Users can choose the content they want and subscribe via KakaoTa

June 17, 2021

Cha Vaccine Institute to begin clinical study of hepatitis B third-generation vaccine

South Korean biotechnology company Cha Biotech has received approval from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety for its plan to conduct a phase 1 clinical trial of a hepatitis B third-generation vaccine, the firm said Thursday. Following the green light, Cha Vaccine Institute, the firm’s vaccine development subsidiary, will begin administrating the vaccine candidate to adults between the ages of 19-65, aiming to complete the study by October 2023. The hepatitis B vaccine candidate is dev

June 17, 2021

Kia unveils ‘Kia Store’ design concept for showrooms

Kia on Thursday unveiled the new design concept for its showrooms, renamed “Kia Stores” to reflect a renewed brand identity and strategy. Each Kia Store will provide customized service and a varied mobility experience to users, officials said in a release. The Kia Store model was inspired by the company’s “opposites united” design philosophy, which seeks to embrace opposing concepts and combine them in an integrated design. To maximize the contrast, every Kia

June 17, 2021

Eastar Jet to be acquired by cash-rich property developer SJ

Sung Jung, a midsized real estate developer here, on Thursday confirmed its intention to acquire the financially struggling low-cost air carrier Eastar Jet by raising its initial bidding amount. Losing out on the bid was the well-funded consortium led by underwear manufacturer Ssang Bang Wool and equipment maker Kanglim. The companies saw their stock value take a double dip this week amid the neck-and-neck takeover battle. The real estate developer submitted its official statement to the Se

June 17, 2021

Seoul stocks snap 5-day rise on Fed's hawkish comments, Kosdaq tops 1,000 points again

South Korean stocks ended a five-session winning streak Thursday as investor sentiment for risky assets weakened over the Federal Reserve's comments about an earlier-than-expected timeline for a rate hike. The Korean won steeply fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 13.72 points, or 0.42 percent, to close at 3,264.96 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 1.8 billion shares worth some 14.4 trillion won ($12.7 billion), with losers outnum

June 17, 2021