Latest News

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  LG Chem partners with US' advanced biofuel company to co-develop bioplastic technologies SEOUL -- In a bid to become the leading company in the rapidly-growing global bio-based plastic material industry, South Korean chemical company LG Chem has partnered with Gevo, an American renewable chemicals and advanced biofuel company. The two companies will cooperate to develop ethanol-to-olefin (ETO) technology which is vital for the commercialization of biomaterial-based propylene. Olefins are a class of chemicals that include ethylene and propylene is the key material of pl 2023-04-13
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  About 60% of S. Korean firms do not predict China's "reopening" will help boost business performance SEOUL -- China, which tightly locked up its borders during the COVID-19 pandemic, has started its step-by-step "reopening" process, trying to normalize the country's economy-related sectors including the international trade sector and domestic commerce sectors. However, about 60 percent of South Korean companies feel that China's trade normalization will not be much help in boosting South Korea's exports to China, a survey showed. Since early 2020, China has a 2023-04-13
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  Research institute KAIST to showcase AI and metaverse-based factory capable of controlling actual plant SEOUL -- At a global trade fair in Germany, a South Korean technology institute will showcase an artificial intelligence-based virtual factory where operators can remotely control actual manufacturing sites in a metaverse environment. In case of emergency, the AI system will notify human operators in the virtual world so they can counteract. The virtual plant can also be used to monitor facilities and educate employees. The metaverse, which uses virtual reality (VR), augmented real 2023-04-13
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  S. Korean elderlies struggle to adapt to over-digitalized world of kiosks and smartphones SEOUL -- "My friend and I went to a fast food restaurant to have a hamburger but we had to turn back and leave because there was no one at the counter but a digital kiosk for ordering. The letters were too small and we did not know how to use the ordering machine." Kim Kwee-hee, a 65-year-old housewife, recalled her recent incident with the ordering robot. Kim said that she has trouble using digital kiosk machines every time she encounters one. "I would at least try 2023-04-12
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  ​President Yoon promises generous government support to beef up EV production by 500% by 2030 SEOUL -- South Korean President Yoon Seok-yeol has promised that the government will provide "generous" support, including tax benefits and administrative support for research and development of technologies, for South Korean carmakers to beef up the country's annual electric vehicle production capacity by 500 percent in a bid to put South Korea in the list of the world's top three EV manufacturing countries. The president made the promise during an opening ceremo 2023-04-12
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  BLACKPINK member Jisoo's dance song 'Flower' gains worldwide popularity SEOUL -- K-pop girl band BLACKPINK member Jisoo's song "Flower" ranked second on two Billboard charts -- Global 200 and Global Excl. In the dance song featuring dreamy vibes, the 28-year-old portrayed the end of a relationship between two people that has left nothing but the scent of a flower. Billboard said in a statement on April 11 that the title track of Jisoo's solo album "Me" has recorded 108.7 million streaming and 210 million downloads worldwide. 2023-04-12
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  ​Spotify selects S. Korean rapper Huh as promising rapper for artist support program SEOUL -- Heo Sung-hyun, a South Korean rapper known by his stage name Huh, was selected for an artist support program by Spotify, the world's most popular music streaming service. The 24-year-old who finished second in "Show Me The Money," a cable TV hip-hop audition show series, has garnered attention through a rap song titled "Midnight law." Spotify said in a statement that the rapper was selected for this year's RADAR KOREA, a program designed to nurt 2023-04-11
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  Researchers develop PCR test system capable of detecting viruses within 10 minutes with 95% accuracy SEOUL -- South Korean researchers have developed a hand-sized polymerase chain reaction test device that can detect infectious diseases such as COVID-19 within 10 minutes. The device can be carried to places where a proper screening center cannot be set up or places where quarantine specialists require high-accuracy on-site test equipment. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test method has been widely used as its accuracy is much higher than rapid an 2023-04-11
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  Health food company Ildong Foodis takes first step into pet nutritional supplement market SEOUL -- Targeting South Korea's rapidly-growing pet market, Ildong Foodis, a South Korean health supplement company specializing in baby formula products, made a foray into the pet nutrition supplement market through an animal nutritional supplement brand caked "Foodis Pet." The brand consists of four different products designed to improve animals' intestines, immunity, joints, and eyes. According to data released by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Af 2023-04-11
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  Popularity of camping in S. Korea skyrocket due to COVID-19 pandemic SEOUL -- Camping has become one of the most popular leisure activities in South Korea with the country's camping service and product market standing at about 6.3 trillion won in 2022, up 8.2 percent from a year ago. The COVID-19 pandemic has brought many changes to South Koreans' lives as the infectious disease grounded many people and encouraged them to stay away from crowded places to avoid infection. While the country's tourism sector was devastated, the camping prod 2023-04-11
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  Coupang to build logistics center operated by robots porters to improve work environment SEOUL -- Coupang, the South Korean counterpart of global retail giant Amazon, will invest more than 100 billion won ($757.8 million) to build the company's second fulfillment center, a logistics center for overnight and instant deliveries, in Hwaseong south of Seoul, Aju Business Daily found through during a news coverage process. While many of South Korea's retail sectors including offline stores such as mega-marts and grocery stores received a huge blow due to strict soci 2023-04-11
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  Pinkfong partners with Apple to provide Baby Shark's podcast content in 170 countries SEOUL -- The Pinkfong Company, famous for its children's YouTube mega-hit song "Baby Shark, will launch a channel on Apple Podcasts, a streaming service accounting for more than 25 percent of audio content distributed through the global internet network. Users in 170 countries can enjoy Baby Shark content in English and Korean. Baby Shark, which depicts the story of a great white shark family with colorful visuals and a catchy melody, has gained global popularity since 2023-04-11
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  Contemporary dance group 'Ambiguous Dance Company' to perform at arts festival in southwest of Seoul SEOUL -- Ambiguous Dance Company, a South Korean contemporary dance performance team that collaborated with the British rock band Coldplay for dance song "Higher Power," will perform at a mask-free street festival in Ansan southwest of Seoul. Ansan earlier announced that the city would come up with diverse programs by inviting foreign performance groups to the annual event visited by more than 700,000 people every year. Higher Power, released in May 2021, was nominated fo 2023-04-10
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  ​GI Innovation to adopt new manufacturing process for immunotherapy agent GI-101 SEOUL -- South Korea's bio-venture company GI Innovation will adopt a new production process for the company's immune-oncology candidate substance called "GI-101." GI-101 is a dual fusion protein with the functions of CD80 and IL-2, proteins that play important roles in the immune system. Through a joint clinical trial with global pharmaceutical companies including America's MSD and Britain's AstraZeneca, the first patient treatment was launched in Febru 2023-04-10
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  Hyundai shipbuilding group launches large-sized frigate capable of detecting targets in all directions SEOUL -- South Korea's Hyundai shipbuilding group launched a new 3,600-ton frigate armed with a multifunction phased array radar capable of detecting and responding to targets in all directions. Through the adoption of the ship called "ROKS Chungnam," South Korea's Navy can upgrade its defense capability from various types of threats such as aircraft and submarines. ROKS Chungnam is the first frigate developed as a state project to build a total of six frigates we 2023-04-10
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  About 60% of S. Koreans worry about AI stealing humans' jobs: survey SEOUL -- About 60 percent of South Koreans worry that artificial intelligence-based solutions could steal humans' jobs in the future, a survey showed. Currently, AI-based robots and other smart solutions are widely used in South Korea with about 21 million working people. AI systems that mimic the way how people think and work are adopted by business operators to cut down operating costs and speed up simple processes such as sorting documents and moving parcels from one section 2023-04-10
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  Busan to launch consortium to nurture the southern port city's coffee industry SEOUL -- A consortium consisting of various coffee-related associations and research institutes will be launched in South Korea's southern port city of Busan to nurture the city's thriving coffee industry. The group will develop various policies to support the city's coffee industry with the biggest number of coffee shops compared to the city's population of about 3.3 million. According to the Korea Customs Service, South Korea imported about $1.3 billion worth of c 2023-04-10
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  Exports of S. Korean instant noodles hits highest-ever to record $208 mln in 1Q 2023 SEOUL -- Exports of South Korean instant noodles has hit the highest-ever record of $208 million in the first quarter of 2023, up 14.3 percent from the same period a year ago. The increased popularity of South Korean instant noodles called "Ramyeon" is accelerated thanks to high global recognition of South Korean cultural content including K-pop, films, and dramas. It has been decades since South Korean instant noodles were exported to overseas countries but were mainly c 2023-04-10
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  British Embassy in S. Korea introduces wind farm tech trends through webinar SEOUL --The British Embassy in South Korea has introduced the country's latest trends in wind farm technologies, one of the main future renewable energy sources, through a webinar. Wind farms are basically large fans connected to turbines that generate electricity when the fans are turned by strong winds. Britain is the biggest operator of wind farms with more than 11,000 turbines with a total installed capacity of some 28 gigawatts and supports about 25 percent of electricity 2023-04-07
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  Samsung Electronics' operating profit in Q1 2023 plunges 96% year-on-year SEOUL -- Through an earnings report, Samsung Electronics announced its operating profit in the first quarter of 2023 was 60 billion won ($455 million), down 96 percent from the same period a year ago. The conglomerate currently suffering declines in semiconductor prices has experienced operating profit of below one trillion won in 14 years. Samsung's regulatory filing released on April 7 showed that the company's sales reached 63 trillion won, down 19 percent year-on-year. 2023-04-07