Jul 9, 2020

Hanwha Energy bags 50MW solar power deal in Spain

Hanwha Energy said Thursday it has won a solar power plant deal with 50 megawatt capacity in Spain. According to the Hanwha Group affiliate, it has signed a contract with Spanish firm GRS for the construction of the solar power plant in Seville, Spain. The plant will be completed by the end of this year at the earliest. The Las Naranjillas plant, equipped with 121,800 solar modules, is expected to generate electricity enough for 13,997 households and reduce 51,977 metric tons of carbon dio

Jul 9, 2020

S. Korea rolls out midterm plan to nurture materials, parts industries

Government to spend over 5 trillion won and relax regulations to boost the sectors

Jul 9, 2020

South Korea’s heating tobacco product market to grow in 2020: research

While South Korea’s tobacco market is expected to decline overall, the sales of heated tobacco products will edge up this year, a market research firm said Thursday. According to Euromonitor International, the Korean tobacco market reached 17.19 trillion won ($16 billion) in 2019. Of the total, 1.89 trillion won was spent on heat-not-burn cigarettes, which put the country as the second-largest market in the world after Japan. The industry tracker forecast Korea’s heating tobacco

Jul 9, 2020

Cosmetics makers' Q2 profits tipped to have fallen 20% amid pandemic: poll

South Korea's major cosmetics makers are forecast to have seen their operating profits fall nearly 20 percent in the second quarter from a year ago as sales at duty-free shops faltered amid the coronavirus pandemic, a poll showed Thursday. The combined operating profits of Amorepacific, LG Household & Health Care Ltd. and Aekyung Industrial Co. are estimated to have reached 319.2 billion won ($267.4 million) in the April-June period, down 19.3 percent from the previous year, according to t

Jul 9, 2020

Bio associations to explain support plans for COVID-19 treatment, vaccine developments

Five bio associations in Korea and their 50-something member companies will discuss plans to support ongoing efforts to develop COVID-19 treatments and vaccines in Korea. The talks will be livestreamed on YouTube on Tuesday at 4 p.m. by the Korea Pharmaceutical and Bio-Pharma Manufacturers Association. The physical event will take place at KPBMA’s auditorium in Seocho-gu, Seoul. The Korea Biotechnology Industry Organization, Korea Biomedicine Industry Association, Korea Medical Devices

Jul 9, 2020

Moon lauds materials industry progress

President says Korea stronger than ever despite Japan curbs, vows to go on offensive

Jul 9, 2020

[Monitor] Samsung remains largest by fair value in Korea

Local corporate tracker CEOScore conducted a survey on changes in assets, market capitalization, performance and financial status of the nation’s top 30 conglomerates over the past 10 years. Samsung ranked first with 59 affiliates and 424.8 trillion won ($355 million) in fair value. The top six groups -- Samsung, Hyundai Motor, SK, LG, Lotte and Posco -- remained in the first to sixth place, while Hanwha and NongHyup were newly listed in the top 10. GS and Hyundai Heavy Industries fel

Jul 9, 2020

Celltrion chief enjoys biggest gain in stock value in H1

The chief of the pharmaceutical group Celltrion saw the value of his stock holdings rise the most among the heads of South Korea's major business groups in the first half, data showed Thursday. Seo Jung-jin held 5.85 trillion won ($4.9 billion) worth of listed shares in group flagship Celltrion Inc. and other affiliates as of end-June, up 116.4 percent from the start of the year, according to the data from market researcher CXO Institute. Seo also became the third-richest stockholder in South

Jul 8, 2020

Celltrion says new antibody treatment effective in tests with mutated type of new coronavirus

Celltrion, a leading pharmaceutical firm in South Korea, said on Wednesday that its new antibody treatment showed some promise in treating a mutated version of the new coronavirus in recent tests. The company said the new drug successfully neutralized the "G614" type of the virus. It was 10 times more effective in treating the G614 type than the original virus, the company said.  The test was conducted last month by the state-run Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Jul 8, 2020

STX Offshore urges workers to stop strike

Mid-sized shipbuilder STX Offshore & Shipbuilding Co. called Wednesday on its unionized workers to stop their general strike.  The shipbuilder's unionized workers went on general strike starting on June 1, calling for a stop to six-month unpaid furloughs, which half of about 500 unionized workers have taken in rotation since June 2018.  Due to the strike, operations at the company's shipyard in Jinhae, 410 kilometers southeast of Seoul, are being suspended from June 17 till

Jul 8, 2020

Games exports outstrip K-pop 10 times over: report

The South Korean game industry propelled the nation’s content exports last year, clocking $6.9 billion, more than 10 times that of the music industry’s $640 million, according to a report released by the Ministry of Culture and Korea Creative Content Agency on Tuesday. The report noted that the Korean game industry’s exports grew 8.9 percent on-year last year, commanding 67.2 percent of the nation’s total content exports of $10.3 billion and topping 10 other industries.

Jul 8, 2020

Netmarble launches 3-inning mobile baseball game

Netmarble on Wednesday launched the three-inning mobile baseball game Magumagu 2020 on Google Play and Apple’s App Store, targeting local baseball fans staying home due to concerns over the coronavirus outbreak. According to the Korean game publisher, Magumagu 2020 -- a mobile version of the company’s 15-year-old PC game Magumagu -- consists of only three innings and takes about 10 minutes per game, offering swift gameplay for mobile users. The launch came at a time when the COVI

Jul 8, 2020

KAI’s first KF-X prototype scheduled for April 2021, test flight in 2022

Korea Aerospace Industries said Wednesday it plans to roll out the first prototype of its next-generation KF-X fighter jet next April and commence test flights in 2022. “KAI will roll out the first KF-X prototype by April next year. After the first prototype, the remaining five prototypes will come out one after another within the same year. Test flights are scheduled in 2022,” a KAI official said. Of the six prototypes, one will be delivered to Indonesia, co-developer of KF-X p

Jul 8, 2020

Han Sung Motor presents graffitied Mercedes-Benz to Gen.G Esports

Han Sung Motor, an official local dealer of Mercedes-Benz in Korea, said Wednesday it has delivered specially decorated vehicles to Gen.G Esports, one of the world’s leading esports organizations. The gifted cars will be used as official vehicles for the esports organization’s League of Legends team, according to Han Sung Motor. “The company conveys the best regards and wishes to Gen.G Esports’ League of Legends team,” said Han Sung Motor CEO Ulf Ausprung. Graff