Economy

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  Atomy receives consumer-friendly award from financial watchdog SEOUL -- South Korea's direct selling company Atomy has received an award from the country's state financial watchdog for rolling out consumer-friendly business management plans. The company was certified as a consumer-centered management company by the state consumer agency for the first time as a direct selling company in 2019. Founded in 2009 by chairman Park Han-gil, Atomy is a global direct distributor that recorded more than 2 trillion won in sales in 2021. The compan 2022-12-09
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  KT deploys AI concierge system to hotel in central Seoul SEOUL -- In an effort to popularize the company's artificial intelligence-based hotel concierge system, South Korea's largest telecom operator KT has deployed an AI concierge to a hotel in central Seoul. The AI-based system will help hotel operators save manpower costs and effectively manage customer inquiries. After commercializing a 5G-connected autonomous hotel concierge robot called "N bot" at a hotel near central Seoul in December 2019, KT has accelerated the 2022-12-08
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  Hyundai shipyard works on offshore floating facility to store and vaporize liquefied ammonia SEOUL -- South Korea's Hyundai shipbuilding group will develop a ship-type floating facility that can store and vaporize liquefied ammonia offshore for transfer to onshore pipelines. Ammonia is seen as a next-generation fuel that emits no carbon oxide during combustion, but floating storage and regasification facilities for ammonia at sea have not yet been constructed globally. In a joint project with Korea National Oil Corporation (KNOC) and Lloyd's Register, a Lon 2022-12-07
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  State body certifies Ace One's method to increase hydrogen content in synthetic gas SEOUL -- Ace One tech, a material inspection, measurement and analysis equipment manufacturer in South Korea, has worked out an eco-friendly method to increase the content of hydrogen in synthetic gas produced by the high-temperature pyrolysis of plastic waste. Synthetic gas, or syngas, is a mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide. Korea Testing Laboratory (KTL), a state-run certification body, certified that syngas produced by Ace One through the high-temperature gasification of pl 2022-12-07
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  KT provides first cloud-based virtual desktop service for central bank SEOUL -- South Korea's central bank became the first public financial body to adopt a cloud-based virtual desktop service provided by KT. The service provides a higher level of security than ordinary operating systems and allows bank officials to access their worksites anywhere, anytime. By law, South Korean financial organizations should use built-in virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) operated through a centralized network controlled by an on-premise main server. The built-i 2022-12-07
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  S. Korea to invest $140mln to accelerate development for affordable carbon composite materials SEOUL -- In a bid to nurture technological capabilities in manufacturing carbon-based materials and products at affordable prices, South Korea will invest 185 billion won ($140 million) by 2030 to accelerate the technological development of carbon composite materials. A carbon composite is basically carbon and carbon fibers mixed with various polymers to be made into hard blocks and other shapes. The carbon-based material has more than 10 times higher strength compared to steel of 2022-12-06
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  Air Liquide-Lotte joint venture aims to complete high pressure hydrogen filling center in 2024 SEOUL -- Through their newly established joint venture, Air Liquide, a French supplier of industrial gases and services, and Lotte Chemical, a major chemical company based in South Korea, will build a high-pressure hydrogen filling center capable of handling about 5,500 tons per year. It would have South Korea's largest production capacity, enough to fuel 4,200 passenger vehicles or 600 commercial buses for a day. The filling center to be built on a site within Lotte Chemical 2022-12-06
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  CJ Cheiljedang partners with US biotechnology company Emmyon to develop anti-muscle loss material SEOUL -- Targeting old people at high risk of muscle loss, CJ Cheiljedang, a key subsidiary of South Korea's food and entertainment conglomerate CJ Group, will develop materials capable of preventing sarcopenia using ursolic acid, a chemical compound that is found in the peels of fruits, as well as in herbs and spices like rosemary and thyme and can serve as a starting material for the synthesis of more potent bioactive derivatives. There have been studies that ursolic acid is u 2022-12-06
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  LS Mtron clinches three-year contract to supply 28,500 compact tractors through CNH Industrial SEOUL -- LS Mtron, a heavy machinery and electronic component manufacturer affiliated with South Korea's LS Group, has clinched a three-year contract worth about 500 billion won ($386 million) to supply 28,500 multi-purpose compact tractors from 2023 through CNH Industrial, an Italian-American agricultural and construction equipment maker. LS Mtron said its product featuring user convenience, sustainable quality levels, and eco-friendly engines would be sold to hobby farmers, w 2022-12-05
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  POSCO Chemical secures six-year deal to supply synthetic graphite anode materials to GM-LGES joint venture SEOUL -- POSCO Chemical, a coal chemistry and carbon material company affiliated with South Korea's leading steel group POSCO, has secured a six-year deal worth 939.3 billion won ($727 million) to supply synthetic graphite anode materials to a battery joint venture between General Motors and LG Energy Solution. GM's joint venture with LG Energy Solution (LGES), a major battery maker in South Korea, would receive synthetic graphite anode materials from POSCO Chemical's p 2022-12-05
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  KAERI's uranium silicide plate-type fuel to be tested at Polish research reactor SEOUL -- South Korea's state nuclear research center will test-supply high-density, low-enriched uranium silicide plate-type fuel to a research reactor in Poland. Uranium silicide (U3Si2) is an accident-tolerant fuel due to its advantageous thermophysical properties, including high uranium density and high melting temperature. Plate-type nuclear fuel is a low-enriched fuel with a concentration of 20 percent. Under a memorandum of understanding with the National Centre for Nucle 2022-12-05
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  Convenience store franchise GS25 partners with matchmaking agency to provide marriage advice service SEOUL -- The operator of South Korea's convenience store franchise GS25, partnered with Gayeon, a popular domestic matchmaking consulting agency, to provide a marriage advisory service for consumers looking for lifetime partners. Convenience store customers can receive marriage-related advice by simply scanning a QR code of Gayeon's matchmaking service-related advertisement attached near GS25 convenience store's counter. Matchmaking service is used by some consumers w 2022-12-05
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  Taihan Cable seeks business opportunities with high-voltage direct current transmission cables SEOUL -- Taihan Cable & Solution, a power cable and grid infrastructure company in South Korea, will actively seek business opportunities in Europe and the United States with high-voltage direct current transmission cables that convert alternating current into high-voltage DC and can send large amounts of current far away. Competition for technology development is fierce as HVDC cables are more advantageous for long-distance transmission and have less loss than conventional AC 2022-12-05
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  LG Chem supplies new eco-friendly ABS product to U.S. toy maker Mattel SEOUL -- LG Chem, the chemical unit of South Korea's LG Group, has supplied a new eco-friendly acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) product based on vegetable bio-materials to Mattel, a toy manufacturer in the United States. The company leads the global market of transparent ABS products with an annual capacity of about two million tons. ABS is a common thermoplastic polymer used in manufacturing household and consumer goods as well as medical and industrial products. It provid 2022-12-05
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  Nine companies join force to build industrial pier with large ammonia storage tanks SEOUL -- A new industrial pier equipped with large ammonia storage tanks and liquid cargo ship berthing facilities will be built on reclaimed land near an industrial park in Dangjin, about 80 kilometers (49.7 miles) southwest of Seoul. When completed in 2030, the pier will be able to handle two million tons of ammonia per year. In a ceremony on December 2 at the office of Kim Tae-heum, governor of South Chungcheong Province, nine companies agreed to invest about 450 billion won 2022-12-02
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  Hanwha Aerospace secures deal to lead production of space rockets SEOUL -- Hanwha Aerospace, an aircraft parts maker involved in the production of engines for South Korea's homegrown space rocket, secured a deal worth about 286 billion won ($212 million) to lead and supervise the production of three space rockets that will be launched for three years from 2023. The deal marked the beginning of South Korea's "Space Pioneer" program aimed at creating a self-sustaining industrial ecosystem and cultivating companies like Space X, a U.S. 2022-12-02
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  Hotel Shilla's duty-free shop operator to provide metaverse-based styling class using Gucci's fashion items SEOUL -- The duty-free shop operator affiliated with Hotel Shilla, a luxury hotel brand run by the sister of Samsung Group's de facto leader Jay Y. Lee, will provide a metaverse-based styling class using various fashion items from the South Korean office of Gucci, a high-end luxury fashion brand based in Italy. Two-way communication with instructors is possible and various inquiries about the product can be easily made through the virtual platform. After creating avatars, users 2022-12-02
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  LG Chem's farm tech unit launches biochar commercialization project to solve livestock manure problems SEOUL -- Farm Hannong, the agricultural technology unit of LG Chem, has launched a joint project to accelerate the popularization of biochar, a solid carbon-capturing material made from biomass, mainly by using manure from livestock farms. The company will demonstrate the effectiveness of biochar for crops such as rice, cannabis, garlic, and chilly pepper. Biochar, which is a hybrid word of biomass and charcoal, is created by heating biomass at temperatures between 350 and 700 degr 2022-12-02
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  POSCO Chemical expands production of synthetic graphite anode materials for lithium-ion batteries SEOUL -- POSCO Chemical, a coal chemistry and carbon material company affiliated with South Korea's leading steel group POSCO, will expand the production of synthetic graphite anode materials for lithium-ion batteries as part of the parent group's strategy to become a global player in the battery material market. POSCO Chemical said it would jack up its investment in the synthetic graphite anode material plant in the southeastern industrial port of Pohang from 217.7 billion 2022-12-02
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  VA Corporation hopes to lead virtual production field through commercial virtual scouting platform 'V Stage' SEOUL -- VA Corporation, a virtual production company in South Korea, will release a commercial virtual scouting service that pre-visualizes filming locations and sets in a virtual environment. Without making a site visit, content creators can check backgrounds and environments through web pages while actualizing backgrounds by choosing and designing locations just by setting cameras and arranging lights in advance. VA Corporation's platform called "V Stage" efficientl 2022-12-01