[Photo News] K-street fashion

Japanese models pose for a photo after wearing fashion items from South Korean street fashion brand Nerdy at Rakuten GirlsAward 2022 in Tokyo, one of the three largest fashion events in the city. Nerdy was invited as a special brand for the show’s finale.

Oct. 20, 2022

Hyundai Motor Group to sponsor eco-friendly vehicles for World Cup

Hyundai Motor Group said Thursday that it would sponsor 236 units of eco-friendly vehicles for FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 which kicks off on Nov. 20, as part of a commitment to keep the global soccer event a carbon-neutral tournament. Hyundai will sponsor a total of 616 vehicles to be operated for FIFA staff, VIP guests, players and media during the game which ends on Dec. 18. The Korean carmaker has been the official sponsor for World Cup since 2002. It is the first time that the company and t

Oct. 20, 2022

GS Inima recognized at 2022 IDA World Congress

GS Engineering and Construction subsidiary GS Inima said Thursday it received the Best Private Company Global award on Sunday at the 2022 International Desalination Association World Congress, held in Sydney, Australia. The IDA is a nongovernmental organization that promotes desalination and water recycling. It hosts the IDA World Congress biannually to recognize outstanding companies in the water industry. This year’s award for the best global private company was given to GS Inima for its

Oct. 20, 2022

GI Innovation's skin cancer drug gets US orphan drug designation

Local drug developer GI Innovation said Thursday its Merkel cell cancer drug GI-101, used to treat a rare type of skin cancer, has received orphan drug designation from the United States Food and Drug Administration. The designation is given to drugs that treat rare diseases that affect less than 100,000 people. The status gives tax cuts during clinical trials, and waives certain restrictions and fees. It also allows market monopolization for seven years after the drug is launched. Merkel cell c

Oct. 20, 2022

LG Energy Solution to strike natural graphite supply deal with Syrah Resources

South Korean lithium-ion battery maker LG Energy Solution announced Thursday it has signed a provisional deal with Australian graphite supplier Syrah Resources to diversify its supply sources for making graphite anodes typically used in electric car batteries. Under a memorandum of understanding, LG and Syrah on Wednesday tentatively agreed on a 2,000 metric ton graphite supply deal in 2025 as Syrah's graphite mines become operational. The two companies will ink the final supply contract by the

Oct. 20, 2022

S. Korea needs to brace for even stronger US dollar: ex-IMF economist

The US dollar is expected to continue to gain strength against other currencies for the time being, a former economist of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said Thursday, warning emerging markets such as South Korea need to brace for more economic jitters. "The Federal Reserve has raised interest rates much more aggressively than other central banks," Kenneth Rogoff, a professor at Harvard University, said during an online seminar hosted by the Seoul-based Institute for Global Econ

Oct. 20, 2022

Seoul shares open lower on rate hike woes

South Korean stocks opened lower Thursday, taking a cue from overnight losses on Wall Street that stemmed from concerns about aggressive rate hikes. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) had slipped 9.74 points, or 0.44 percent, to 2,227.7 points as of 9:16 a.m. Stocks got off to a weak start as investors expected further hikes in the policy interest rates at home and in major economies. Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.33 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Com

Oct. 20, 2022

Top US envoy notes 'full commitment' to economic ties with S. Korea amid IRA concerns

The United States remains "fully committed" to enhancing the economic partnership with South Korea and open to talks as close allies, the top US envoy to Seoul said Thursday, amid mounting concerns over the new US law on electric vehicles (EVs) that Korea has called discriminatory. The South Korean government and industries have raised serious concerns over the US Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which calls for giving tax credits to EV buyers only if the cars were assembled in North Ame

Oct. 20, 2022

LG Energy Solution signs battery material supply deal with Australian producer

South Korean battery maker LG Energy Solution Ltd. (LGES) said Thursday it has signed a non-binding supply agreement with an Australian partner for a key mineral used in lithium-ion batteries. Under the memorandum of understanding with Syrah Resources Ltd., the Australian company will provide 2,000 tons of natural graphite anode material to LGES, starting in 2025, and gradually expand the supply over the years, the Seoul-based company said in a release. The two companies plan to sign the binding

Oct. 20, 2022

[KH Biz Forum] Metaverse will include telepathy, future prediciting, says Ethereum founding member

The future of the metaverse will include telepathy, predicting the future and hyper learning, Ethereum Foundation founding member and CEO of the metaverse-building platform MetaMetaverse Joel Dietz said Wednesday at the Korea Herald Biz Forum held at the Four Seasons Hotel Seoul. “I am going to make some bold claims,” Dietz said as he introduced three of his futurist visions of the metaverse. Dietz said that as the metaverse becomes more prevalent, people will begin to shift toward a

Oct. 19, 2022

[KH Biz Forum] Lessons from COVID-19 pandemic and the way forward

The COVID-19 pandemic has marked a turning point in the history of vaccine development, two top experts told The Korea Herald Biz Forum held in Seoul on Wednesday. Speaking at a special session titled “Technology for cure,” Moderna co-founder Robert Langer and International Vaccine Institute Director-General Dr. Jerome Kim shared their thoughts on how the global health crisis led to major advances in vaccine technology and what lessons humanity learned from it. The session was mode

Oct. 19, 2022

[KH Biz Forum] Technology to empower humanity in new digital age

Advanced technologies empower humanity in the long run because they lead to greater freedoms to shape identity, reduce labor and fight diseases, as blockchain, artificial intelligence, robots and mRNA vaccines deliver the means to enhance life in the digital age, experts said Wednesday. “We need a new social contract for the digital age,” keynote speaker Don Tapscott, executive chairman of the Toronto-based Blockchain Research Institute, said at The Korea Herald Biz Forum held at the

Oct. 19, 2022

[KH Biz Forum] 'Web 3.0 to change the way people live'

The world is shifting toward a world of Web 3.0, the emerging blockchain-based platform, and the new era will drastically change the way people live, according to chairman of BOSagora Foundation Kim In-hwan, who spoke at The Korea Herald Biz Forum held at Four Seasons Seoul on Wednesday. As Web 3.0 moves away from having a central authority that governs the operations of the web, it will utilize its blockchain-based decentralized structure to strengthen individuals' ownership rights over their c

Oct. 19, 2022

Posco chief elected as chairman of World Steel Association

South Korean steelmaker Posco Group Chairman Choi Jung-woo has been elected to lead the world’s largest steelmakers’ association, the company said Wednesday. At the association’s general meeting held Tuesday in Brussels, Choi became its 44th chairman, and India’s Jindal Steel Works Chairman Sajjan Jindal and US’ Nucor CEO Leon Topalian will support Choi as vice chairmen. Choi's one-year term began Tuesday. He had served as vice chairman for a full year . Choi h

Oct. 19, 2022

[KH Biz Forum] Brace for second era of the digital age: Don Tapscott

Humanity is entering a second era of the digital age, with the rise of new technologies such as blockchain and the virtual world. In its transition, new leaders will emerge, which could include South Korea, renowned tech visionary Don Tapscott said. “There’s no reason why one of the global centers can’t be Korea,” Tapscott, the executive chairman of Toronto-based Blockchain Research Institute, said Wednesday in Seoul pointing to this Asian country’s strength in rel

Oct. 19, 2022

[KH Biz Forum] Naver’s AI evolving to eliminate care blind spots

Tech giant Naver is delving deeper into artificial intelligence with its supersized HyperClova platform trained in the Korean language, and hopes to use the technology to connect to users on a deeper level to identify their needs, said a ranking executive leading the development. Portraying how society would be a much warmer place for the elderly and those with health conditions with advanced AI, Naver Clova CIC Executive Officer Sung Nako introduced the firm’s voice AI-powered services,

Oct. 19, 2022

[KH Biz Forum] Rainbow Robotics CEO sees future of robots in our everyday lives

Recently, the country’s service sector has increasingly adopted robots -- from simple coffee making to using robotic systems for dental implant surgery, even opticians use robots for 3D scanning and making personalized glasses frames. In the near future, these machines will be applied to various sectors beyond the manufacturing and service industries, according to Rainbow Robotics CEO Lee Jung-ho, who spoke at The Korea Herald Biz Forum held at Four Seasons Hotel, Wednesday. Showcasing t

Oct. 19, 2022

[KH Biz Forum] SoftBank-backed Qraft highlights AI's role in stock investing

SoftBank-backed South Korean financial technology startup Qraft Technologies highlighted the role of artificial intelligence in equity asset allocation, as AI plays a complementary role to boost productivity and efficiency of human's tasks. An AI engine can pursue above-average returns with the capability to analyze massive amounts of financial data and discover relationships that humans hardly find, according to Qraft Technologies Chief Product Officer Alan Jo at The Korea Herald Biz Forum

Oct. 19, 2022

[KH Biz Forum] Virtual human aims to go beyond human: Locus-X CEO

Virtual humans, or digital representations of human beings, have already started to take over human jobs, and are now on their way to strengthen their presence in the virtual world, according to Locus-X CEO Baek Seung-yeop. “In the early stages of virtual humans, they tried to be more ‘human-like.’ But now, they aim to go ‘beyond human’ and show great potential in the virtual world,” said Baek during his speech at The Korea Herald Biz Forum 2022 held at the

Oct. 19, 2022

[KH Biz Forum] 'Science communicator’ underscores human connection

Mammals survived because their social ability to get information from other beings evolved. An animal cub may not know that a volcano has erupted, but once it sees other animals run in fear, it feels their fear and knows that it has to run with them to survive. Human children start to acquire social intelligence by reading non-linguistic signs such as other humans’ facial expressions, gestures and actions, in addition to learning language. Human brains have the ability to understand and em

Oct. 19, 2022