The licenses of six botulinum drugs will be revoked on Dec. 13, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety announced Thursday. The Drug Ministry said the drugs were being sold in the country without obtaining the state approval to sell them in the domestic market. The drugs are four of Hugel’s Botulax units and two of Pharma Research Bio’s ReNTox units. The Drug Ministry will also shut down Pharma Research Bio’s production for six months, citing that the biopharmaceutical firm&

South Korea will foster 89,000 more people specialized in software technology by 2025 to cope with a shortage of digital talent in the future, the Ministry of Science and ICT said Thursday. Unveiling the government’s plan to support younger generations in times of digital transformation, the ministry said a total of 413,000 software professionals will be supplied over the next five years. The government’s original plan was to raise 324,000 software talents, but the expected demand

The government’s Innovation-Communication Open Network (i-CON) project has been helping Korea’s small and medium-sized bio companies expand their networks and improve the quality of their products, according to the Korea Biotechnology Industry Organization. The organization is currently running the bio and health program of the i-CON project to support small and medium-sized enterprises to develop technology capabilities by using infrastructure and manpower owned by research instit

Celltrion Healthcare has inked supply contracts for its COVID-19 antibody treatment Regkirona with nine European countries as of Monday, the company said Tuesday. Under the contract, Celltrion Healthcare, an affiliate of local biopharmaceutical company Celltrion, plans to roll out an initial supply of 150,000 vials of Regkirona to the countries before the end of the year. The amount is enough to treat 50,000 people. More supply orders of the antibody are expected to be placed in consideratio

SK Square became the second-largest shareholder of Korbit, one of South Korea’s top four cryptocurrency exchanges, by investing about 90 billion won ($75.5 million) to acquire a 35 percent stake, the company announced Monday. The largest shareholder of Korbit is NXC, the holding company of local online game maker Nexon. SK Square expects that holding a stake of Korbit itself will increase the net asset value of SK Square, as the volume of cryptocurrency transactions has rapidly increase

The total value of South Korean biotech and pharmaceutical companies’ technology exports is expected to reach $10 billion for the first time this year, according to the Korea Pharmaceutical and Bio-Pharma Manufacturers Association. The country’s biotech and pharmaceutical companies’ technology exports amounted to 11.4 trillion won ($9.6 billion) as of Nov. 17, the KPBMA said Monday. As there were deals that did not disclose their contract values, the KPBMA expected the total

South Korea’s two presidential front-runners -- Lee Jae-myung of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea and Yoon Seok-youl of the major opposition People Power Party -- paid their respects at the Seoul and Daejeon national cemeteries soon after winning their parties’ primaries. “The state’s first duty is the security to protect the national community,” Lee said during his visit to the Daejeon National Cemetery on Oct. 11, a day after winning the primary. “Of

Supporters in MAGA hats have been a common sight on the campaign trail in the US in recent years, but in Korea that kind of promotion won’t wash. According to Korea’s Public Official Election Act, a hat bearing a campaign slogan candidate can lead to a fine or even jail if the wearer is not a candidate or on the campaign staff. This is one of several obscure clauses in addition to the more widely known rules such as prohibiting giving money out to voters, damaging candidates’

"When I met a new friend in Busan, he asked me where I was from. I said Gwangju and he called me a ‘Jeolladian.’ I did not know what it meant at first." A 20-something cellphone seller in Busan, S has lied about his hometown to his customers, not wanting to cause any unnecessary trouble. "My customers would ask me where I was from," he said. "I did not say that I was from Gwangju because I thought it would not benefit me in any way if I told them the truth

Two weeks into Korea’s “living with COVID-19” scheme, the number of critically ill patients in intensive care is inching closer to the government’s threshold. The number of coronavirus patients undergoing intensive care treatment reached 483 as of Saturday, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency. The figure is just short of the record high of 485 reported on the previous day. Of the 483 critically ill patients, 82.2 percent were over the age of 6

High schools across South Korea are turning to remote classes from Thursday to prevent the spread of the coronavirus among teenagers ahead of the country’s once-a-year college aptitude exam a week later. In the Greater Seoul area, where majority of COVID-19 infections have been reported since the beginning of the fourth virus wave in July, high school seniors switched to remote classes last Thursday. The Ministry of Education has made it clear that this year’s Suneung will take p

A week into the government’s “living with COVID-19” drive, the “quarantine pass” system remains dogged by controversy. A full vaccination certificate, a negative PCR test result, or confirmation of exemption from vaccination, is required for entry to places deemed “high risk,” such as karaoke parlors, indoor sports centers, nightclubs and public bathhouses. “The number of customers already dropped after the fourth level of social distancing mea

The Justice Party’s presidential candidate, Sim Sang-jung, pledged Wednesday to put an end to the two-party system that has dominated South Korea’s political landscape for decades. “The rival structure between the progressives and conservatives has passed its expiration date. The two big parties have been in power for the past 30 years and become the front-runners of vested interests,” Sim said during a sit-down with reporters at the National Assembly. “In the b

Four local governments in the center of the country -- Daejeon, Sejong and the North and South Chungcheong provinces -- are gaining momentum in their bid to host the 2027 Summer Universiade, with universities vowing to provide support. On Friday, the local governments’ joint organization -- Chungcheong Megacity Bid Committee -- and the presidential association of national universities and public junior colleges discussed ways to cooperate in hopes to land the 2027 FISU World University G

진행자: 간형우, Brolley Genster 1. Almost half of Koreans say lifting business hour limits is timely: poll 요약: 국민 절반 “영업시간 완화 조치는 시의적절” [1] Almost half of Koreans think that lifting business hour limits is a timely decision, as the country takes its first steps in the direction of “living with COVID-19” this week, a poll showed Monday. *limit: 제한, 한계 *timely: 시의적절한, 때맞춘 *in the direction of: ~의 방향으로 [2] According to Realmeter’s poll of 500 people aged 18 and olde

Almost half of Koreans think that lifting business hour limits is a timely decision, as the country takes its first steps in the direction of “living with COVID-19” this week, a poll showed Monday. According to Realmeter’s poll of 500 people aged 18 and older nationwide, 47.5 percent of respondents said health authorities’ decision to ease restrictions on operating hours comes at the right time, whereas 26.1 percent said it is still too early and 21.8 percent said it is

A well-known Korean saying goes, “There is no superiority or inferiority in a job.” That means all jobs are equally valuable and honorable, so no one should be treated differently based on how they make their living. In today’s South Korea, however, the saying appears to hold little weight. According to a 2016 survey conducted by job-searching website Saramin, more than half of all respondents said they thought there were superior and inferior jobs. When asked why, the majori

Despite a recent resurgence in the number of daily COVID-19 infections, Korea is taking its first step in return to normalcy from Monday with its "living with COVID" strategy. The government on Friday revealed the roadmap to ease social distancing measures in three phases with each of them slated to take four to six weeks. According to the health authorities’ plan, the first phase of changes is mainly focused on lifting restrictions for businesses that suffered from operating

Hanshin University has established Korea’s first graduate school of interdisciplinary convergence for esports. The school on Monday said in a press release that students will be granted a Master of Science degree upon finishing the program of esports convergence, which will open from the spring semester next year. The courses for esports convergence will be led by professors from the departments of software convergence, computer engineering and public service as well as the colleges of

More than 3 in 10 Koreans drink tap water or boil it before drinking, a survey showed Wednesday. According to the Environment Ministry’s survey on people’s tap water consumption, 36 percent of the respondents said they drink water straight from the tap or boil it before drinking. The Environment Ministry conducted the first tap water drinking habit survey from April to June under the revised Water Supply and Waterworks Installation Act, which was amended in October last year. The