A South Korean research team has built the world’s largest dataset and new browsing tools for the study of large-scale genomic rearrangements that could potentially cause cancer, the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology said Monday. Researchers led by KAIST professor Jung In-kyung and Korean Bioinformation Center professor Lee Byung-wook have collected and processed around 230 billion raw reads including 220 Hi-C samples. Based on the data, the team has completed constructi

The US is expected to become the most promising market for local carmakers next year, while China is to yield the greatest opportunities for chipmakers, according to big data analysis released Monday. The state-run Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency’s report looks into market prospects of major markets overseas for Korean exporters expected to lead the post-pandemic economic recovery. Markets that would show solid demand for automobiles in 2021 include the US, Germany, the UK and

South Korea’s kimchi exports have reached an all-time high this year, government data showed Sunday. According to the Korea Customs Service, overseas sales of kimchi amounted to $131.52 million as of November, surpassing $106 million, recorded for the whole of 2019. By export destination, Japan accounted for 49.3 percent of the shipments, valued at $64.95 million. The US and Hong Kong followed, with $21.04 million and $7 million worth of sales. The largest exporter was Daesang, the

The COVID-19 outbreak shook up the startup scene around the globe. While many suffered, some well-placed companies, like US-based videoconferencing firm Zoom, saw explosive growth because they offered pandemic-friendly solutions. Hwang Jong-duck, who helps foreign startups enter the South Korean market, sees plenty of opportunities for Zoom-like success in Korea as disruptive solutions gain ground in everyday life and spread to a wider range of business sectors. “Firms are now launchi

South Korean food and beverage manufacturer Dongsuh Foods and its holding firm, Dongsuh Companies, made year-end donations worth 550 million won ($500,000), the companies said Sunday. The donations are for the Community Chest of Korea, ChildFund Korea and the Korea Foundation for Women, according to the companies. The money will be spent on basic necessities for low-income families as well as medical care for children from those families. “We have decided to deliver the donation dur

Telecommunications firm LG U+ introduced a 5G network-based autonomous parking solution, during a closed demonstration held in Seoul, Thursday. 　 In an online video demonstration, the carrier tested the self-driving vehicle, which traveled about five minutes on roads and managed to park itself in a public parking lot. 　 The test car, a Genesis GV80 SUV equipped with lidar and radar sensors, started off on a road 800 meters from the parking lot, followed traffic signals on the way and parked i

SK Bioscience announced Thursday that the typhoid conjugate vaccine it is developing jointly with the International Vaccine Institute has garnered positive results from phase 3 clinical trials. The phase 3 clinical trials of vaccine material NBP618 were conducted on 1,350 people aged between 6 months and 45 years old. The company said the test subject group has shown immune responses as effective as existing typhoid vaccines. There was no side effect found, the company added. SK Bioscience n

The Ministry of Science and ICT of South Korea said Tuesday that it has asked Google for a report explaining the server outage that interrupted Google services a day earlier. Multiple Google services, including YouTube, Gmail, Google Assistant and Google Docs, were down for around an hour late Monday. “The ministry has requested Google to report back to the authorities, to identify detailed causes for the recent issue with its services,” the ICT Ministry said. “The ministr

The Ministry of Science and ICT will invest 287.9 billion won ($263 million) in the research and development of new materials and nanotechnology next year, according to the ministry’s announcement, Tuesday. The ICT Ministry’s 2021 budget for nanotechnology and materials R&D has increased 25 percent from the previous year and accounts for 70 percent of the 417.3 billion won allocated to support the materials, parts and equipment sectors here.　 Around 41.5 billion won will be in

The US government has expressed worries over South Korean lawmakers’ move to block a new pricing policy of US platform giant Google, a lawmaker claimed Monday. According to Rep. Jeon Jae-soo of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, multiple government ministries and agencies received a letter from the Korean Embassy in the US that summarized a phone conversation between the embassy’s official and the deputy United States trade representative. The discussion, classified as confid

LG CNS has clenched a contract worth 100 billion won ($92 million) to digitize Indonesia’s national tax administration system, the information and communication technology solutions provider said Monday. LG CNS, a LG Group company, was the only South Korean firm among the seven bidders for the project, which included IBM and Nippon Telegraph and Telephone. Under the deal, LG CNS will digitize Indonesia‘s tax administration system, used by the nation’s 42 million taxpayers

Celltrion announced Friday that the company’s adalimumab biosimilar candidate CT-P17 has received a positive opinion for marketing authorization from the Committee for the Medicinal Products for Human Use under the European Medicines Agency. Celltrion’s CT-P17 is a biosimilar of Humira, a treatment for autoimmune and inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, ulcerative colitis and psoriasis. The CHMP’s positive assessment will be soon reviewed by the European Commi

The South Korean government will create a fund worth 26 billion won ($23.9 million) by March next year to invest in local startups and small firms producing over-the-top solutions and digital content, the Ministry of Science and ICT‘s announced Friday. The government will inject around 16 billion won into the fund, while the remaining 10 billion won will be raised from private investors. About 60 percent of the fund will be spent to support media productions by local companies and hel

The coronavirus pandemic has upended the world of travel, as people become more reluctant to take public transport or stay at guest lodgings. That has provided a golden opportunity for the local camper van market, which has enjoyed solid growth over the past few years. According to government data, the number of camping vehicles registered in South Korea reached 24,869 in 2019, marking a 20-fold increase from 1,300 in 2011. Industry officials expect the number to further grow, as the govern

The public online identification system, which has reigned as the single dominant security platform for online transactions here, will lose its legal, official status from Thursday, opening up a new market for private digital certificates providers, the government said Wednesday. “With the effectuation of the revised Electronic Signature Act on Dec. 10, the system will lose its official status given by the government,” the Ministry of Science and ICT and the Ministry of the Interi

Posco International, South Korea’s largest trading company, said Tuesday that it has invested in local laser cutting applications developer Innovated Technology. The two firms partnered through an acquisition of shares in Innovated Technology by Posco International. The details were not disclosed. 　 Innovated Technology currently has a wide range of laser cut solutions used in making tempered glass, as well as those used to protect displays. The firm currently processes ultrathin glass

SK hynix announced Monday that the chipmaker has finished development of its 176-layer 512-gigabit 4D NAND flash chips, the third generation product in its 4D NAND line-up. The Korean chipmaker is the second player, after US-based Micron to announce the industry’s highest-level NAND product, beating market leader Samsung Electronics. According to the company, its new 176-layer NAND flash has cells with 20 percent faster read speed and 33 percent data transfer speed at 1.6Gbps -- when co

KT, South Korea’s leading telecommunications firm, will provide support to local companies to join a foreign tech fair to help them enter the global market, the company said Sunday. The telecommunications firm recently selected four partner firms that it will provide support in introducing products at KT‘s designated exhibition booth at the Gulf Information Technology Exhibition 2020. The fair, which celebrates its 40th anniversary this year, has been attracting some 4,000 firms

Separated from the notorious car and foot traffic of the Gangnam neighborhood, Kukkiwon sits on a small hill in a calm area filled with trees. Kukkiwon, a traditional-looking building with white columns, has been the heart of the Korean martial art of taekwondo for the past half century.  The institution was established in November 1972 as the world headquarters of taekwondo. The same year, to celebrate its founding, it held the first-ever international competition. Since then, the orga

South Korean actors Jung Woo-sung (left) and Lee Jung-jae pose for a picture at a pop-up shop designed to promote Ballantine’s Single Malt Whisky at cultural complex KOTE in Insa-dong, central Seoul, last Friday.  The two actors, official models for the Scotch whisky brand, had a film shoot the same day.  The pop-up shop will be open to the public for free until Sunday and offers six single-malt whiskies, according to the brand. Visitors must wear masks. The shop is also limit