SK Bioscience wins additional funding for COVID-19 vaccine development

SK Bioscience said Monday that it will be receiving additional funding from the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations for the development of its COVID-19 vaccine candidate. The grant of up to $173.4 million will be spent on global phase 3 clinical tests of GBP510, a protein-based vaccine candidate that the South Korean firm is developing in collaboration with the University of Washington. The amount is far greater than what the Oslo-based international organization has provided to

May 24, 2021

Posco teams up with ministry to support immigrant mothers

  South Korea’s top steelmaker, Posco, is expanding its social outreach effort to help immigrant mothers and their children. The company said Monday that it is launching a three-year support program in collaboration with the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family and the Korea Institute for Healthy Family. A three-way memorandum of understanding is to be signed Tuesday. The institute, an agency under the auspices of the Gender Ministry that supports the social integration of multi

May 24, 2021

Hyundai Steel runs coffee waste upcycling campaign

Hyundai Steel is running an upcycling campaign to find new uses for discarded coffee grounds as part of its social contribution project, the company said Monday. From May 17 to June 16, the steelmaker is putting up advertisements showing eco-friendly products made from coffee waste inside subway stations and on city buses operating in Incheon, the company said. The campaign is designed to promote the idea of upcycling coffee waste. People who take selfies with the advertisements and post th

May 24, 2021

Monthly rents rise due to shortage of jeonse supply

Average monthly rent in South Korea jumped more than 6 percent in the first three months of the year due to an increasing number of people switching from long-term jeonse contracts to monthly rentals, according to the nation’s statistics agency Statistics Korea on Monday. Households, including single-person ones, paid 328,000 won ($291) on average for rent in the first quarter, up from 308,000 won in the same period last year. Of the 7,200 households surveyed by the agency, 19.9 percent

May 24, 2021

Kia to again suspend US plant over chip shortage

Kia Corp., South Korea's No. 2 carmaker, plans to suspend its factory in the United States for two days later this week due to a semiconductor shortage, company officials said Monday. Kia plans to idle its assembly line in Georgia from Thursday to Friday over a chip shortage, following its two-day factory suspension last month, they said. The Georgia plant, which produces the Telluride, Sorento SUV and K5 sedan, rolled out 70,600 units in the first three months of this year. Kia halted produc

May 24, 2021

SK E&C begins afresh as ‘SK ecoplant’

SK Engineering & Construction, the building arm of South Korea’s third-largest conglomerate SK Group, has officially changed its corporate name to “SK Ecoplant” as part of the group’s effort to enhance ESG management. The company on Monday released its new corporate identity and future vision on the company‘s intranet under the title “Deep Change Story.” The new corporate name was approved at the extraordinary general shareholders’ meeting

May 24, 2021

South Korea aims to develop mRNA vaccine by next year

A South Korean government official said Monday that the country aims to secure messenger RNA vaccine technology to strengthen its vaccine production capacity and take a step up as a global vaccine production hub. “Our goal is not to become a contract manufacturing partner in the production of ingredients for the mRNA COVID-19 vaccines. We aim to develop the mRNA vaccines by next year, with technologies acquired through possible technology transfers and co-development deals,” said

May 24, 2021

Cryptocurrencies on downward spiral amid tightening regulations

Cryptocurrencies extended a dayslong loss Monday in South Korea before recovering some of their losses in the afternoon, as investors and businesses reacted to strict regulations recently introduced in China and the US. The price of the largest cryptocurrency Bitcoin stood at about 44 million won ($39,058) in late afternoon trading, losing almost half of its value from only a month ago, according to Upbit, South Korea’s largest crypto exchange by transaction volume. It fell below 40 mi

May 24, 2021

Seoul stocks down for 3rd day on inflation concerns

South Korea's stock market extended its losing streak to a third session Monday, weighed down by concerns of early post-pandemic inflation. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 12.12 points, or 0.38 percent, to close at 3,144.3 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 581 million shares worth some 11.5 trillion won ($10.2 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 646 to 232. Foreigners sold a net 238 billion won, while re

May 24, 2021

Criminal complaint filed against Samsung, Kumho chiefs over employment ban

A civic group in South Korea said Monday it has filed a criminal complaint against Samsung’s de-facto chief Lee Jae-yong for breaking an employment ban imposed on him following a conviction of bribery. The Seoul-based Solidarity for Economic Reform, in its complaint lodged with the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, accused the Samsung Electronics vice chairman for violating a local law that bans economic figures convicted of breach of trust, embezzlement or bribery from working for rele

May 24, 2021

LG to produce limited volume of Rollable phones for internal use

LG Electronics has officially given up smartphones, but its very last project -- the first rollable smartphone -- will see the light of day, even though it will not be for sale. The South Korean firm confirmed Monday that it is considering producing a limited volume of Rollable phones for internal use. “Development of the Rollable was completed before the management’s decision to end the phone business,” said a company official. “The exact timing or volume of the

May 24, 2021

8 new active equity ETFs to set sail in Korea

South Korea‘s stock bourse will add eight new actively managed exchange traded funds that partially employ active stock picking in addition to tracking listed equities starting on Tuesday. The Korea Exchange on Friday approved the listing of the eight actively managed equity ETFs on the Kospi board, in addition to the three existing products launched in 2020, in what is regarded as the fledging market of active ETFs. Korea is home to ETFs with a combined value of 60 trillion won ($53.2 bi

May 24, 2021

BOK to test feasibility of digital currency, remains cautious on issuance

The Bank of Korea is looking for a partner to work with on its pilot digital currency development program, raising market expectations that the central bank is moving closer to issuing digitalized cash. The pilot program is set to kick off in August, officials said on Monday, but stressed that it is just a part of feasibility test and that it has no plans yet for actual issuance. The central bank welcomed interested businesses to participate in the bid for a 10-month partnership deal as tech

May 24, 2021

‘Funsumer’ products: milk-inspired body wash sparks safety fears

Earlier this month, supermarket chain Homeplus announced a milk powder-scented body wash -- an unexpected three-way collaboration with LG Household & Health Care and Seoul Dairy Cooperative. The result set the internet abuzz over its quirky packaging that takes the shape of cartons of Seoul Milk, the bestselling milk in the country. “We came up with the retro product that lives up to the sentiment of consumers based on our experience as a milk buyer,” the company said in a stat

May 24, 2021

Citibank Korea to support Yanolja’s global expansion

Citibank Korea has signed a memorandum of understanding with Yanolja to support the local accommodation booking platform’s overseas business activities, officials said Monday.  Under the agreement, the lender’s US parent company Citigroup will offer its global networks to Yanolja which aims to expand its client base not only in advanced markets such as the United States and Europe, but also emerging markets like Southeast Asia and India. Yanolja currently offers a cloud-base

May 24, 2021

Korea Shipbuilding wins W348b order for 6 ships

Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering Co. (KSOE) said Monday that it has signed deals worth 348 billion won ($308 million) to build six ships. Under the deal with a Liberian company, Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries Co., a unit of KSOE, will deliver a 91,000-cubic-meter liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) carrier starting in the first half of 2023, KSOE said. An order for an 86,000-cubic-meter LPG carrier and two 50,000-ton petrochemicals carriers was placed by an Asian company, KSOE said. Th

May 24, 2021

Samsung expands monitor lineup with upgraded features

Samsung Electronics Co. on Monday added more products to its monitor lineup with enhanced connectivity options as the South Korean tech giant targets to boost sales amid the pandemic-induced stay-at-home trend. Samsung said its latest Smart Monitor, powered by the Tizen operating system, includes a 43-inch M7 model supporting ultra-high definition resolution. The company previously introduced a 32-inch M7 last November. The 43-inch M7, which supports 65W charging through a USB Type-C port and

May 24, 2021

Biz sentiment falls for June amid pandemic: poll

South Korea's business sentiment slightly fell for June due to deteriorating profitability in the manufacturing industry amid the coronavirus pandemic, a local think tank said Monday. The business survey index (BSI) of the country's top 600 companies by sales reached 102.6 for next month, down 5.1 points from May, the Korea Economic Research Institute (KERI) said in a statement. The index stayed above 100 for the fourth straight month after its March reading exceeded 100 for the first time in

May 24, 2021

S. Korea starts construction of smart farm in Kazakhstan

South Korea's agricultural ministry said Monday it has launched a pilot project to build a smart farm in Kazakhstan, as the country seeks to boost exports of smart-farming solutions. The construction is expected to be completed in October, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. The smart farm, sized 1 hectare, will be used to cultivate popular produce in Kazakhstan, including tomatoes, cucumbers and strawberries. The smart farm was specifically designed to cope with

May 24, 2021

[Graphic News] S. Korea’s exports of cosmetics up 15% in 2020

　South Korea’s exports of cosmetics shot up 15 percent in 2020 from a year earlier, data showed, on the back of growing demand from the United States and from other Asian countries. 　Outbound shipments of cosmetics reached $6.12 billion last year, according to the data compiled by the Korea Customs Service and the Korea Cosmetic Association. 　Korea’s imports of cosmetics fell 10.7 percent on-year in 2020 to $1.07 billion. 　Exports to China soared 24.6 percent, with shipments to J

May 24, 2021