Woongjin Coway is now simply Coway after Netmarble’s acquisition of the company. Coway convened an interim shareholders meeting on Friday at its head office in Gongju, South Chungcheong Province, where it voted on loosing Woongjin from its company name. Netmarble Chairman Bang Jun-hyuk was made a director, as well as Netmarble-Coway task force team leader Seo Jang-won and Coway CEO Lee Hae-sun. 　 Four newly appointed outside directors were Kim Jin-bae, professor at Korea University Bus

Game company Smilegate said Thursday it made a 10 million yuan ($1.4 million) donation to help the people in Wuhan, China, epicenter of the novel coronavirus outbreak. The donation has been delivered to China’s Ambassador to Korea Xing Haiming. “China and Korea are long-time neighbors who must help each other to overcome hardships. I thank the support from Smilegate, as well as many other Korean companies,” the envoy said. Smilegate is the third Korean game company to reac

진행자: 임정요, Kevin Lee Selzer 1.   China envoy urges Seoul to follow WHO advice on virus response 아이튠즈(아이폰): https://itunes.apple.com/kr/podcast/koliaheleoldeu-paskaeseuteu/id686406253?mt=2 팟빵 (안드로이드): http://www.podbbang.com/ch/6638 [1] New Chinese Ambassador to South Korea Xing Haiming on Tuesday called on Seoul to follow the World Health Organization’s recommendations on handling the new coronavirus, as Korea began barring entry of noncitizens who have visited China’s v

Korean biologics firms are putting their heads together to contain the spread of novel coronavirus, with experts opining that a potential vaccine development would require governmental investment. The natural market development of a coronavirus vaccine is unlikely given the characteristics of the epidemic, said Lee Jong-koo, professor of family medicine at Seoul National University, speaking at an open debate on Wednesday. A new vaccine would take more than a year to develop, by which time th

Nexon Korea set a precedent in the domestic gaming industry Monday by revealing the average 6.8 percent wage hike it agreed upon with the labor union, saying the disclosure would prompt a “constructive future.” The company’s labor union, Starting Point, said it had reached a tentative agreement with the management last week to raise the average wage for 2020. This is the first time a South Korean game company has made public its wage hike rate. Its subsidiary Nexon GT&rsquo

Multinational pharma firms in South Korea are scaling up the telecommuting options for their employees -- work from home or remote places -- to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus, industry sources said Tuesday. Pharma employees, by the nature of their work, often visit hospitals where they can be exposed to various pathogens. The Korean offices of MSD, Pfizer, Amgen, Novartis, Astrazeneca, BMS, Sanofi-aventis, AbbVie and UCB as of Tuesday have decided to allow their employees to teleco

The Korea Game Society on Monday initiated a fundraiser among gamers to support the people of the recent novel coronavirus-hit Wuhan in China’s Hubei province. “We support the people of Wuhan and the greater China fighting against the new coronavirus,” said KGS head Wi Jong-hyun. “Games is an industry where Korea and China hold a special relationship like none other. Korean games have received much love from Chinese fans, and it is only a matter of course that we rise t

Boryung Holdings, the holding company of Boryung Pharmaceutical, established its first overseas entity, Hayan Health Networks in San Francisco, the firm said Monday. “Hayan Health Networks will monitor the local clinical trials of Boryung Pharmaceutical, as well as build rapport with global pharmas, investors and early-stage research and development biotechs there,” said a Boryung Pharmaceutical official. Boryung Pharmaceutical’s lymphoma treatment pipeline BR2002 is curren

A Korean college student’s self-coded “Coronamap,” showing the movements of confirmed coronavirus-infected patients before they were put in quarantine, has recorded more than 3 million visits and may soon record 5 million, reports said Sunday. The map is marked with a web of lines showing the places visited by the 15 patients in Korea and where they are currently confined. It also spells out the number of people showing symptoms of pneumonia and other complications possibly r

Any vaccine for the fast-spreading 2019 novel coronavirus is unlikely to take shape in the near future, experts said Sunday, citing the rapid mutational characteristic of the ribonucleic acid virus as what makes speedy pharmaceutical countermeasures impossible. “It would take more than a year even if the government allows all fast-track clearance for drug development,” a vaccine company employee told The Korea Herald. No vaccine has been developed for Middle East respiratory syndro

Describing Samsung Biologics, the biotech arm of the mammoth Samsung Group, as a “startup,” Executive Vice President John Rim is confident that the company’s competitive edge will bring Korea’s footprint forward in the biologics drugs field. Armed with 34 years of experience working at multiple global pharmaceutical companies, Rim joined Samsung Biologics in September 2018. “Korea has to find technology and competitive advantage where it can survive for the long

Curiosity about the world has fanned many cultural byproducts. The Multiculture Museum in Eunpyeong-gu, Seoul, is one such example. Tucked inside the four-story museum is director Kim Yoon-tae’s private collection of cultural objects from 40 countries, including the US, Canada, Russia, China, Mongolia, India, Thailand, Turkey, Egypt, Kenya, Italy, France, Brazil and Peru. Miniature replicas of the Tower of Pisa or a Dutch windmill and Venetian gondolas are only part of the vast coll

LG Electronics posted a record revenue of 62.3 trillion won in 2019, as the home appliances division spurt past the 20 trillion won milestone, according to its earnings report Thursday. In the fourth quarter alone, the company notched 16.6 trillion won in revenue and 101.9 billion won operating profit, up 1.8 percent and 34.5 percent on-year, respectively. At the same time, the company suffered quarterly net loss of 87.8 percent due to subsidiary LG Display’s flat performance, turning

Korea Consumer Agency officials attend a press briefing on their review of the quality of UHD TVs at the government complex in Sejong on Thursday.  Their results showed LG’s organic light-emitting diode TV had better viewing angle and high-definition resolution than Samsung’s quantum-dot light-emitting diode TV. Both products met international standards of contrast modulation, the KCA said. (kaylalim@heraldcorp.com)

Hanmi Pharmaceutical said Thursday its high blood pressure treatments notched 14 percent revenue growth in 2019, raking in 153 billion won ($129 million) and dominating the market in South Korea. The company said that its 15 types of combination molecules for treating hypertension, all independently developed, accounted for 8.3 percent of the entire Korean high blood pressure treatment market last year which amounted to 1.8 trillion won.  These treatments include the three Amozaltan drug

In a study of early cases of the Wuhan coronavirus (2019-nCoV), a team of Chinese scientists discussed potential treatments for the rapidly spreading illness. In the latest issue of the Lancet medical journal, the scientists looked at key features of the virus and its effects in the first 41 confirmed patients. As the 2019-nCoV is an emerging virus, there is no vaccine or clear treatment specifically targeted to cure it. However, as all 41 patients developed pneumonia, they were all given anti

Yesco Holdings CEO Koo Bon-hyuk, 42, voluntarily stepped down from his role 10 days after his appointment, citing a lack of experience, the company announced Wednesday.Koo is the third-generation scion of the Koo-family who founded and own LS Group, the overarching business above Yesco Holdings, the holding entity of city gas retailers.His promotion from the executive vice president of LS-Nikko Copper to the CEO position at Yesco Holdings had made headlines last year as what many perceived as a

Samsung Biologics said Wednesday its operating profit in 2019 rose 65 percent on-year, on the back of increased revenue. The company recorded 701.6 billion won ($602 million) revenue with operating profit of 92 billion won operating profit, up 31 percent and 65 percent on-year, respectively.The growth was credited to the enhanced operation rate of its three plants.Its net profit recorded 203 billion won, a 21 billion won, or -9.5 percent, fall on-year. Samsung Biologics explained this reflects t

Daewoong Pharmaceutical said Wednesday it has signed a deal worth $50 million to supply Mexico’s Moksha8 with gastric acid blocker fexuprazan. Given the local authorities’ approval, Moksha8 aims to launch fexuprazan in the second half of 2022. The expansion of Daewoong’s fexuprazan to overseas markets is in direct competition with CJ HealthCare’s tegoprazan-based K-CAB. Both fexuprazan and tegoprazan are potassium-competitive acid blockers, an advanced treatment compared

A3: Still Alive’s launch in Korea in March will be developer Netmarble’s latest attempt at challenging the game market, CEO Kwon Young-sig said at a press event Wednesday.Since becoming the majority stakeholder of home appliance subscription firm Woongjin Coway in December, Netmarble has been receiving investor feedback that it must show better performance on its core business area of games. “A3: Still Alive is Netmarble’s fresh try at the game market. It is a completely