SK Bioscience will look to spend “trillions of won” on aggressive mergers and acquisitions in taking the next step to become a vaccine and bio powerhouse, CEO Ahn Jae-yong said Thursday. “We will secure more funding through the assets compiled with the (initial public offering), operating cash and additional acquisition financing,” he said in an online press conference to mark the company’s one-year anniversary of going public. “We will use the funding on

The technology of artificial intelligence will be used in every step of developing drugs to cut the time it takes to discover a new drug in half, the newly appointed leader of the Korea AI Center for Drug Discovery and Development said Wednesday. “Starting from designing candidate substances, AI technology can set up clinical trials based on biometric data and minimize uncertainty, time and cost by deriving the optimal patient group,” said Kim Woo-youn, head of KAICD at the Korea P

Cha Medical and Bio Group has officially begun the construction of Cell Gene Biobank, which is expected to be world’s largest single facility in the business of contract development and manufacturing organization for cell and gene therapy, the company said Wednesday. According to the company, it has invested 300 billion won ($248 million) into building CGB that features 10 stories above ground and four below ground to cover a total floor area of 66,115 square meters in Pangyo, Gyeonggi P

INCHEON -- With the buyout of Samsung Bioepis’ stake, Samsung Biologics will become a global bio company based on the three pillars of contract development and manufacturing, biosimilars and new drugs, CEO John Rim said Tuesday. “Through issuing new stocks to raise about 3 trillion won ($2.46 billion) this year, we will take a full-fledged leap into becoming a global comprehensive bio company and lay the groundwork for sustainable growth,” said Rim during the company’s

In the wake of the collapse of an HDC Hyundai Development apartment building under construction in Gwangju in January, the government is pushing for legislation that would allow it to hand out stronger penalties against companies for poor construction. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport on Monday revealed plans for a “one-strike, you’re out” policy that would allow authorities to rescind the company’s construction license if three or more people die as a

Hanwha Group Chairman Kim Seung-youn met former US Vice President Mike Pence in Seoul last week and discussed a wide range of issues centering on bilateral ties between South Korea and the US, and the growing geopolitical uncertainty over the Ukraine war. On the war in Ukraine, Kim pointed out that companies are going through a rough time due to the economic crisis caused by international conflicts. He also asked Pence to share his thoughts about how global leaders can solve the problems that t

South Korean steelmaker Posco has been recognized for its sustainability efforts by the World Steel Association, the company said Sunday. The World Steel Association, also known as worldsteel, has picked as Posco as one of the 39 sustainability charter members which proactively embraces the sustainability principles of the steel industry, according to the South Korean steel giant. A total of 142 companies and associations across the world are members of worldsteel. The recognition of the sus

SK Biopharmaceuticals is in the process of developing a new device that can record brain activities to sense signs of seizure as part of the company’s efforts in strengthening its digital therapeutics, CEO Cho Jeong-woo said Thursday. “The drive for digital therapeutics means that we are working on developing AI-driven platforms for new drugs based on the data that we have compiled over the last 30 years of our expertise in (central nervous system),” said Cho in an online pre

Nearly a quarter of the South Korean public are dangerously reliant on smartphones, with almost 40 percent of the country’s youth diagnosed with smartphone overdependence, the Ministry of ICT and Science said Thursday. According to the ministry’s survey on the country’s digital divide and overdependence on smartphones, 24.2 percent of 10,000 households nationwide fell under the category of smartphone overdependence, up 0.9 percentage points on year. The ministry divided the

The South Korean government has approved the emergency use of anti-COVID-19 pill Lagevrio, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety said Wednesday. The medicine, co-developed by US pharmaceutical company MSD and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics, is the second anti-coronavirus pill to be authorized by the country’s health officials, following the approval of Pfizer’s antiviral drug Paxlovid in December. Amid the surging number of COVID-19 cases, the ministry said the approval decision was ma

South Korean gaming giant Nexon will launch Dungeon & Fighter Mobile -- the latest title of the developer’s megahit intellectual property -- on Thursday, the company said Wednesday. Similar to the PC version, the mobile title is a fast-paced 2D anime-styled side scrolling action game combined with elements of role-playing games and based on a continuously developing storyline. Dungeon & Fighter is one of Nexon’s most popular franchises as the PC version has 850 million re

Naver will become an incubator that creates innovative technology penetrating the global market and seek to go beyond providing services that are popular today, the company’s new CEO said Monday. “Not only all businesses owned by Naver began with the thought of going global from the start, but all of the objectives also point to going global,” Naver CEO Choi Soo-yeon said at a meeting with shareholders and board of directors where she was appointed as the new chief. The IT g

Saudi Arabia is pouring money into South Korean game makers NCSoft and Nexon, doubling down on its bet in the gaming industry. Public Investment Fund, the Middle Eastern country’s sovereign wealth fund, acquired an additional 563,566 shares of NCSoft for about 290 billion won ($240 million) through six transactions between Feb. 8 to 16., according to a regulatory filing submitted to the Financial Supervisory Service on Thursday. With the latest investment, PIF has become NCSoft’s s

Orion and Lotte Confectionery -- the makers of Choco Pie, a popular snack in Russia -- are closely monitoring the economic sanctions imposed by the international community against Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine, as they could cause instability in the supply of raw materials, a drop in the ruble’s value and a local economic recession. Orion, known for its popular signature snack Choco Pie, has expanded the production capacity of its local plants in Russia. Since 2019, the company has

As one of South Korea’s online game pioneers, Kim Chang-han -- a computer engineer-turned-entrepreneur -- had early success in his life with his creation, PUBG: Battlegrounds. Since its debut in 2017, the popular battle royale game has sold over 75 million copies in 200 countries and also turned the small game company Krafton into a global studio generating 1.89 trillion won ($1.55 billion) of revenue a year. Kim, also known as the father of PUBG for his key role in developing the game, i

Kim Jung-ju, the founder of South Korea’s biggest game maker Nexon and an engineer-turned-entrepreneur who led the country’s burgeoning game industry which also made him the richest man here, passed away on Monday. He was 54. According to Nexon’s holding company NXC, Kim died on Feb. 28 in Hawaii, the United States. He had been undergoing treatments for depression and it appeared that the symptoms had become worse as of late, the company said. Born in February 1968 in Seoul,

Kim Jung-ju, founder of South Korea’s biggest game maker Nexon, passed away on Monday. He was 54. Nexon’s holding company NXC said Tuesday evening that Kim died in Hawaii, US, on Feb. 28. He had been undergoing treatments for depression and it appeared that the symptoms had become worse as of late, it said. The cause of death was not given. Nexon CEO Owen Mahoney paid condolences to Kim. “It is difficult to express the tragedy of losing our friend and mentor Jay Kim, a man w

The technology of next-generation genome writing in the field of platform bio will be essential to leading the future in the competitive era of technology hegemony, the Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology said Monday, as it announced 10 promising future biotechnologies for this year. The state-run institute said the technology of next-generation genome writing, which allows designing DNA and quickly combining it at a mass scale, will help mankind overcome technical limitat

Located in the heart of Seoul, Gwanghwamun has been an essential hub for Korea’s history, culture and art. A new project there offers a glimpse of what the future might look like, with the help of cutting-edge 5G and artificial intelligence technologies. 　 The immersive media art project “Age of Light,” or “Gwanghwa Sidae” in Korean, was unveiled by the Korea Creative Content Agency and Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.  The project provides eight dif

South Korea’s first homegrown rocket Nuri will go for a second launch in June, aiming to complete the full launch sequence this time, the Ministry of Science and ICT said Friday. The first liftoff, which took place in October last year, came short of a successful mission as the rocket’s third stage engine shut down earlier than planned. The dummy satellite could not reach sufficient orbital speed as a result. The early stages of the launch were deemed successful as the three-stage