BANGKOK, Thailand -- There’s a reason why Korean game makers are foraying into Thailand. The Southeast Asian nation’s game market is currently valued at 500 billion won ($445 million), with an annual growth rate of 20 to 30 percent indicating strong buying power. Netmarble Thailand accounts for 3 percent of the total annual revenue of Netmarble, one of the early Korean pioneers in the Thai market. The Korean games company recorded 2.4 trillion won in revenue in 2017. “The figure should b

 진행자: 임정요, Kevin Lee Selzer1. Netflix attributes popularity of ‘Kingdom’ to technological innovation기사요약: 넷플릭스 오리지널 신작 '킹덤'의 성공비결에 혁신적인 더빙과 자막기술이 뒷받침 되었다는 시사회 발표 내용.아이튠즈(아이폰): https://itunes.apple.com/kr/podcast/koliaheleoldeu-paskaeseuteu/id686406253?mt=2팟빵 (안드로이드): http://www.podbbang.com/ch/6638[1] Without Netflix’s innovative technologies, period drama “Kingdom” might have been tough for foreign viewers to understand, as the series set in 17th century Korea features a wide range of historica

LG Electronics’ transparent organic light-emitting diode signage is introduced at Europe’s biggest commercial screen event, Integrated Systems Europe 2019, in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. LG’s see-through screens serve various functions, such as digital windows, mirrors and touch-screen panels. The ISE 2019 runs from Tuesday through Friday. (LG Electronics)

South Korean parents’ enthusiasm for child education goes back as far as the moment they are born. It is common for parents to wonder whether they are doing enough for their children, and whether they are giving them as many opportunities possible to ignite their hidden genius. Such is the sentiment that propels the infants and toddlers’ educative playthings markets in Korea, which now has toys for 1-year-olds to play with to learn how to code. The difference in the niche yet lucrative market fo

Seeking the efficient utilization of existing infrastructure for new technologies, GS Caltex and LG Electronics have agreed to work together to provide various next-generation charging services at gas stations, the companies said Tuesday.The two sealed a memorandum of agreement to build energy and mobility convergence charging stations, which will have all the previous services offered by GS Caltex-run gas stations. New services will encompass electric vehicle charging, rental and maintenance. L

Kyung Hee University’s Global Center for Pharmaceutical Ingredient Materials is hosting a symposium on Wednesday for working-level novel drug developers and students pursuing careers in the field. Firms involved with the Gyeonggi-do Regional Research Center, a regional project that supports advancement of science and technology, have also been invited, the organizers said.In July 2017, GPIM was selected as a GRRC business for a six-year research project to foster collaboration between business,

JW Pharmaceutical said Sunday that it had gained the South Korean drug regulator’s nod to begin domestic sales of the hemophilia treatment Hemlibra, developed by Chugai, a Roche-owned company.JW Pharmaceutical obtained an exclusive license to sell Hemlibra on the Korean market in 2017.The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety has now approved the antibody for the treatment of patients with hemophilia A, with or without factor VIII inhibitors. (flickr @zhouxuan12345678)Hemlibra is the first, and so fa

Samsung Bioepis’ Ontruzant, a breast cancer treatment biosimilar referencing Roche’s Herceptin, won US Food and Drug Administration approval Saturday, expanding the list of Herceptin successors in the US market to three.Ontruzant is the third FDA-approved biosimilar of Switzerland firm Roche’s blockbuster breast cancer antibody. Its FDA approval is preceded by Mylan’s Ogivri in December 2017, and Celltrion’s Herzuma in December 2018.The three firms’ biosimilars are expected to simultaneously hit

Whether you are a believer or a skeptic of divination, the following are questions you may ask a Korean “saju” reader: Is 2019 a good year to change jobs, start a business, or relocate to a new country? Will I meet “the one” this year? When is a good year to get married, if ever, and will I have a wholesome family? If I heighten my nose through plastic surgery, will my luck slide down my newly straightened nose bridge?Visiting a saju shop is easy. Compared to a “mudangjip,” the house of a shaman

The Korean biopharma industry can become one of Korea’s main economic growth engines, but only if the government helps shift its paradigm from domestic market to overseas, said Korea Pharmaceutical and Bio-Pharma Manufacturers Association’s Chairman Won Hee-mok at a press briefing held Thursday.“(Korea’s) biopharma industry has so far duly served the social role of providing affordable drugs for the local market, but now is the time for the government to help the industry turn focus and advance

Biannual esports league “League of Legends” Champions Korea’s 2019 spring split season opened Wednesday, with SK Telecom T1 and Jin Air Green Wings going head-to-head in the first match at LoL Park in Jongno, Seoul.The 10 teams competing in this split, which will continue through March, are the Afreeca Freecs, Damwon Gaming, Gen.G, Griffin, Hanwha Life, Jin Air Green Wings, Kingzone DragonX, KT Rolster, Sandbox Gaming and SK Telecom T1.SK Telecom T1 and KT Rolster have garnered much attention, w

The health supplement market grew 20 percent over the past three years to reach 4.3 trillion won ($3.8 million) in 2018 as compared with 3.5 trillion won in 2016, the Korea Health Supplements Association said, crediting the growth spurt to e-commerce channels.Tablets and pouch-type health drinks such as ginseng extract led the sales, according to a KHSA representative. The rapid growth of the market for health supplements was largely the result of strong purchases through online shopping platfor

Nexon is up for sale because of the dismal future of the Korean games industry, experts argued Monday in a discussion at the National Assembly about the potential sale of one of the country’s biggest game companies.Earlier this month, speculation spread that NXC CEO Kim Jung-ju had decided to put on the market 98.64 percent of shares in NXC, Nexon’s biggest shareholder. Kim later said he was considering various ways to make the firm more globally competitive.While Kim has neither confirmed nor d

Riot Games will become its own broadcaster for the biannual esports championship “LoL Champions Korea” starting this year, the company said Friday. Taking a step away from its former broadcaster partners OGN and Spotv, which have had the rights to broadcast LCK in the previous years, Riot Games is certain that its ownership of the game IP will outshine its novelty in the broadcasting area. “Our biggest strength is that we are the original developer and the IP owner of the game,” said producer Yi

Despite the growing mobile game market, more than 10 million people visited internet cafes, or PC rooms, in Korea last year, data showed Friday. Approximately 1.7 billion hours were spent playing games at internet cafes, up 3.9 percent from a year earlier, according to the latest report from statistics body The Log, which specializes in figures related to internet cafes. Broken down by The Log, if a person visits PC rooms at least once a week and around six times a month, spending 2.3 hou

Hugel, a South Korean botulinum toxin manufacturer, has completed the patent registration for its technology to develop patch-type BTX here, taking an innovative approach for an alternative to the conventional injection-type BTX.The biopharmaceutical firm announced Wednesday that it has secured and patented the technology to develop adhesive BTX patches with micro-needles coated with botulinum toxin. Although they may prickle, the company says they won’t hurt as much as a BTX injection.  Stock i

Korean pharma companies Handok and Genexine became joint majority stakeholders in US biopharmaceutical group Rezolute through a 50-50 joint investment of 28 billion won ($24.9 million), Handok announced Tuesday.Handok and its subsidiary Genexine now together hold 54 percent of Rezolute. The deal will allow the Korean pharma firms to acquire information about the work Rezolute has undertaken in biopharmaceutical development, and may also serve as a bridge to the US market. (Yonhap)Rezolute, estab

During the Consumer Electronics Show 2019, household appliance company Coway showcased its cutting-edge water and air purifier solutions and electronic toilet seat as part of its new technologies.Coway’s CIROO 2.0 filter system for direct water purification was awarded the CES 2019 Innovation Award in the home appliances category. Short for Coway Intensive Reverse Osmosis, the CIROO filter was recognized for enabling unlimited use of room-temperature and cold water. Its replaceable water channel

The number of South Korean manufacturing companies that posted operating losses spiked in 2017, data from Statistics Korea showed. According to the agency’s research on the corporate activities of major manufacturing businesses here, those who saw their yearly net profit ratios dip below zero percent rose 4.2 percentage points to 22.8 percent in 2017 from the previous year’s 18.6 percent. A net profit ratio refers to the ratio of net profits to net sales. A net profit ratio below zero percent tr

South Korea’s healthcare company Yuhan Corporation signed a deal worth over 878 billion won ($785 million) with US’ Gilead Sciences to jointly develop potential new drugs for the treatment of patients with advanced fibrosis due to nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, the company said Monday.Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is a chronic and progressive liver disease characterized by fat accumulation and inflammation in the liver, which can lead to scarring, or fibrosis, that impairs liver functio