Local semiconductor companies have called on the government for support, in a bid to expand their production facilities against the backdrop of the prolonged global shortage. According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, a group of industry representatives from the Korea Semiconductor Industry Association met with Minister Sung Yun-mo during a conference held Friday at the Westin Chosun in central Seoul. The corresponding event came as policymakers and industry officials sought to

Industry April 9, 2021

  South Korea’s online-to-offline, or O2O, services marked rapid growth amid the booming stay-at-home economy last year during the COVID-19 pandemic, government data showed Thursday. According to data from the Ministry of Science and ICT, the total trading volume created through local O2O services for the whole of last year reached 126 trillion won ($112.83 billion), up 29.6 percent from 97 trillion won a year earlier. The increase largely stemmed from expanded transactions in the

Technology April 8, 2021

When it comes to new drug development, South Korea has built strength in cancer treatment fields, but it lacks attention to infectious disease treatments, said the country’s point man on new drug development support. “The local infectious diseases pipelines account for around 9 percent of the total, compared to around 18 percent of the global drug market. The area has been less developed largely as the country has been considered as being relatively safer from infectious diseases

Technology April 8, 2021

The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety of South Korea announced Monday that it has minimized the steps required for the import of new biologic agents, such as COVID-19 vaccines. According to the revised rules, the government will no longer require foreign drug developers wishing to export their products to Korea to present certificates from their respective country. This would speed up the approval process here for foreign-developed biologic agents that are urgently needed to counter public h

Technology April 5, 2021

Kumho Tire announced Monday that the company has launched the new all-season tire model SOLUS TA51 in South Korea. SOLUS TA51 is the tire maker’s first new product in three years, and comes in 34 different sizes, ranging from 16 inches (41 centimeters) to 19 inches. The tire product will be compatible with most car models in the local market, the company explained. It is a Korean market-only model. It is specially designed to be suitable for use in different weather conditions across

Industry April 5, 2021

A massive agriculture complex will be developed in Pocheon, Gyeonggi Province as part of a joint project between Korean and Chinese industry players, the Korea-China Private Economic Association announced Sunday. The agriculture complex, which would sit on a 250,000-square-meter parcel of land, has been designed as an eco-friendly town comprising smart farms, hydrogen fuel cell generators, logistics systems and housing with leisure facilities. The private companies from two countries would

Technology April 4, 2021

South Korean game developer Krafton’s sales last year jumped 53 percent to around 1.7 trillion won ($1.5 billion), the company said in its annual report. The company behind the hit battle royal game PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds is expected to accelerate steps for an initial public offering, on the back of the strong performance. According to Krafton’s business report for 2020, the company’s revenue for the whole of last year amounted to 1.67 trillion won, up 53.6 per

Technology April 4, 2021

South Korea’s pharmaceutical and biopharma companies are ramping up efforts to get listed on the Nasdaq market, hoping to follow in the footsteps of Korean e-commerce giant Coupang with their US market debut. According to industry sources Thursday, CoImmune, a joint venture between SCM LifeScience and Genexine, is preparing for an initial public offering on the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite. CoImmune’s appointment of biotechnology and finance expert Dr. Edgardo Baracchini to the co

Technology April 1, 2021

Kimchi, South Korea’s traditional fermented cabbage dish, could help mitigate coronavirus symptoms, a recent study showed. The research was jointly conducted by the government-funded World Institute of Kimchi and Jean Bousquet, an honorary professor of Pulmonary Medicine at Montpellier University, France. The study found that the intake of kimchi could lead to a milder case of the coronavirus due to the bioactive compounds present in the dish. A metabolite result from fermentation, the

Technology March 31, 2021

South Korea could become a hub of hair-transplant tourism in Asia, said Han Bio Chairman Kang Da-witt, introducing the technology that his company developed to treat hair loss. Han Bio, a Seoul-based company that develops cell therapies based on natural killer cells and stem cells, last year developed a technology that can be used in the mass culturing of dermal papilla cells, a population of cells that play pivotal roles in hair formation, growth and cycling. During an interview with The Ko

Technology March 31, 2021

Despite taking an early leadership in COVID-19 diagnosis and epidemic response, South Korea has been months behind in the global race to either develop vaccines or secure jabs already developed and inoculate its citizens. While playing catch-up, the government is hoping to draw attention to its achievements elsewhere -- their syringes. Low dead-space syringes, which local firm PoongLim Pharmatech developed in partnership with the government, has allowed the country to inoculate 1,880 more p

Technology March 30, 2021

Sales of Celltrion’s COVID-19 treatment could reach 1.2 trillion won ($1.06 billion) this year, a local securities firm said Monday. According to a report from Hana Financial Investment, sales of Celltrion’s COVID-19 antibody treatment CT-P59 are expected to increase since Celltrion received a positive scientific opinion from the European Medicines Agency last week for its monoclonal antibody treatment candidate. But the report said Celltrion’s production capacity for the d

Technology March 30, 2021

Celltrion Group saw a generation shift in its leadership as the founder and honorary chairman stepped down from his official posts and his two sons obtained seats in key affiliates’ boardrooms, following a decision made at shareholders meetings Friday. The founder’s first son Seo jin-seok has been appointed as an executive director at Celltrion, filling an empty seat left behind after the founder stepped down from the chairman post in December. Second son Seo Joon-serk was also sepa

Technology March 26, 2021

Shin Hak-cheol, chief executive and vice chairman of LG Chem, on Thursday vowed to get proper compensation from SK Innovation for stealing its battery technologies. “We can’t easily let go of this case for the general good of global companies that are developing technologies on the belief of fair competition and clients who make purchases on the belief they were lawfully made,” Shin said at the company’s general shareholders meeting held at the headquarters building in

Technology March 25, 2021

GC Wellbeing announced Thursday that GCWB204, its new drug material for treating cancer cachexia, has shown efficacy in preventing muscle reduction. GC Wellbeing, jointly with the convergence medical team led by professor Woo Dong-cheol of Asan Medical Center, published the results of the research in global academic journal Metabolomics, according to the company. The joint research team focused on analyzing the effects of GCWB204 on main biomarkers from animal samples that underwent muscle

Technology March 25, 2021