Suh Min-jung, the eldest daughter of AmorePacific Group chairman Suh Kyeong-bae, is scheduled to officially join her family’s company as a new employee from Jan. 1, 2017, the company said Friday.　In doing so, observers say the junior Suh has taken the first visible step in preparing to take over the family business as her father’s successor.The 25-year-old AmorePacific heiress apparent will begin working as a starting-level employee at AmorePacific’s production plant in Osong, North Chungcheong

Industry Dec. 30, 2016

South Korea’s Hanmi Pharmaceutical on Thursday announced the reduction of a major licensing partnership it entered with Sanofi over a set of new long-acting diabetes treatments developed by Hanmi.　Under the newly agreed terms, Sanofi will return the development and commercialization rights to one of the three diabetes treatments it had licensed from Hanmi. In turn, Hanmi will refund a part of the upfront payment it had originally received from the French drugmaker. The Hanmi Pharmaceutical headq

Industry Dec. 29, 2016

South Korean pharmaceutical company Yuhan Corp. disclosed Wednesday that it has terminated its licensing partnership with China’s Luoxin Biotechnology Co. over its failure to fulfill its contractual duties.Yuhan had licensed out its new lung cancer drug candidate YH25448 to Luoxin Biotechnology in July this year in a deal valued at around $120 million. The two firms had been carrying out further talks over the contract details.Under the deal, Luoxin Biotechnology had agreed to jointly develop Yu

Industry Dec. 28, 2016

South Korea’s leading mobile game company Netmarble Games is looking to capture game enthusiasts and Star Wars fans around the world with the launch of its new mobile game “Star Wars: Force Arena” in 2017. 　“Star Wars: Force Arena” is a mobile strategy game under development by Netmarble Games’ development studio and subsidiary Netmarble Monster, best known as the creator of the globally famous mobile role-playing game “Marvel: Future Fight.”The new game is slated for global release in 154 count

Technology Dec. 28, 2016

Kakao, the operator of South Korea’s top mobile messenger KakaoTalk, was fined 242 million won ($200,700) on Monday for unilaterally sending out informational notification messages — which charge data usage fees — without sufficiently notifying users about the service.　Korea Communications Commission, the state-run media regulator, also slapped the company with a 100 million won penalty for failing to notify users that the URL addresses they exchanged via KakaoTalk were used in search query resu

Technology Dec. 27, 2016

The South Korean government on Tuesday rolled out plans to strengthen the country’s green tea industry over the next 10 years, with aims to boost local tea production and exports.　The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs said it will enact policies to double the country's green tea production to 120 billion won ($160 million) and green tea exports to $1 million by 2026.　“We hope to revitalize Korea’s stagnant tea industry to reposition it as one of the country’s economic growth driver

Industry Dec. 26, 2016

South Korean internet giant Naver denied reports Sunday that it has an internal policy that allows the government to demand unilateral changes to the portal website’s “current most-searched keywords” list.　According to Yonhap News Agency, government agencies can ask Naver to delete or exclude certain trending keywords from its website, signaling potential manipulation and state surveillance of public information on the web.　Naver’s current most-searched keywords list often reflects the hottest t

Technology Dec. 25, 2016

A number of South Korean biopharmaceutical products will make their full-fledged debuts in the US next year, with the aim of taking a share of the world’s largest market for pharmaceutical and health care goods.　Leading the move is Celltrion, the developer of the world’s first biosimilar drug referencing Johnson & Johnson’s Remicade, which treats chronic inflammatory illnesses such as rheumatoid arthritis and Crohn’s disease. Celltrion’s US marketing partner Pfizer officially began sales of Cell

Industry Dec. 25, 2016

As an entrepreneur and an investor, Jeffrey Lim, head of Google Campus Seoul, has seen the rise and fall of various South Korean startups.In the startup world, ideas driven by passion have immense potential, but are prone to failure. Knowing this, what concerns Lim most about Korean startups is not the quality of their ideas, but an absence of entrepreneurship and teambuilding efforts which he believes are more important considerations for budding enterprises.Jeffrey Lim, head of Google Campus S

Technology Dec. 23, 2016

South Korea’s Drug Ministry said Thursday that it has officially joined the international pharmaceutical cooperation body ICH, a move expected to ease the entry of Korean pharmaceutical products into overseas markets. The Korean Ministry of Food and Drug Safety is the sixth member of the International Council for Harmonization of Technical Requirements for Pharmaceuticals for Human Use, which aims to establish a shared international standard across all stages of the pharmaceuticals regulation pr

Industry Dec. 22, 2016

South Korean biopharma company Green Cross said Thursday that its self-developed quadrivalent influenza vaccine has obtained the World Health Organization’s prequalification approval.　The approval grants Green Cross eligibility to join the United Nation’s procurement bid for influenza vaccines in the future to potentially win vaccine supply orders from UN affiliates such as UNICEF and PAHO.Green Cross’ GC Flu Quadrivalent is able to protect against four strains of influenza -- two influenza A st

Industry Dec. 22, 2016

South Korean retail giant Lotte Group said Wednesday that it will build a new shopping assistance chatbot using IBM’s artificial intelligence system Watson with an aim to provide customized shopping support to customers.Lotte signed a partnership with IBM Korea in Seoul on Wednesday, agreeing to adopt the US tech giant’s cognitive computing software for use by Lotte’s various retail and consumer goods units, including the Lotte Department Store.“Faced with a rapidly changing business environment

Technology Dec. 21, 2016

South Korea’s leading motel-booking app operator Yanolja said Wednesday that it has signed a strategic partnership with Minda, another homegrown startup which facilitates bookings for Korean guesthouses overseas.Under the new partnership, which will involve unspecified investments, Yanolja will add some 1,600 Minda-registered lodging options around the world to its app, widening user options.With the addition, Yanolja will now operate a network of more than 30,000 motels and guesthouses in and o

Technology Dec. 21, 2016

Philips Korea, the local branch of Dutch health care company Philips, said Tuesday that it donated dental and household goods worth 35 million won ($29,300) to a local hospital for disabled children.　The company has delivered items including sonic electronic toothbrushes, kitchen appliances, vacuum cleaners and clothing irons to the Purme Foundation Nexon Children’s Rehabilitation Hospital. “The donation was made to enhance the rehabilitation treatment effect and support disabled children to hav

Industry Dec. 21, 2016

Ultra-fast 5G wireless network systems are set to gain a solid global presence alongside the rise of revolutionary technologies in the coming years, according to Swedish telecom equipment and services company Ericsson.Short for fifth-generation, 5G is an ultra-fast wireless network system offering around 20 times faster transmission speeds than the existing 4G or Long-Term Evolution networks. This super-fast network boasts extremely low latency -- delays caused when transmitting large amounts of

Technology Dec. 20, 2016