Economy

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  LS Cable completes reliability test of 525kV high-voltage direct current transmission cables for commercial use SEOUL -- LS Cable & System, a major cable maker in South Korea, has completed a reliability test of its 525-kilovolt high-voltage direct current transmission (HVDC) cables for commercial use. Competition for technology development is fierce as HVDC cables are more advantageous for long-distance transmission and have less loss than conventional AC transmission. HVDC converts alternating current into high-voltage DC and can send large amounts of current far away. 525 kilovolts (kV 2022-10-17
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  Naver Webtoon launches serialized fiction app 'Yonder' targeting North American market SEOUL -- The web cartoon wing of Naver, a top web portal service operator and IT company in South Korea, launched a serialized fiction app called "Yonder" to secure its foothold in North America. The platform aims to collaborate with various North American publishers including Blackstone Publishing. Web cartoons, also known as webtoons or webcomics, are digital comic books created to fit into web or mobile platforms. South Korea is the birthplace of webtoons. Popular webt 2022-10-14
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  [FOCUS] Starlink raises awareness in S. Korea's low-orbit satellite industry SEOUL -- Starlink, a satellite internet constellation operated by SpaceX, aroused awareness about active government action to improve systems and foster talent in South Korea's low-orbit satellite industry, which is in its infancy due to the slow accumulation of independent core technologies, unprepared for competition with a giant foreign company. South Korea was seized with confidence when its homegrown space rocket put satellites into target orbit in June 2022 as the seventh 2022-10-14
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  Hyundai E&C's technology to remove radioactive materials wins state certification SEOUL -- A method developed by Hyundai Engineering & Construction, a major builder affiliated with South Korea's Hyundai auto group, to remove radioactive materials at the site of dismantled nuclear facilities has won state approval for commercialization. Potassium chloride was used as cleaning water to remove cesium, which is one of the most reactive elements. The accumulation of cesium-137 in lakes has been a great concern after the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster in Ukrain 2022-10-13
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  SK Telecom partners with UAE's e& to push for metaverse business in Middle East SEOUL -- SK Telecom, a leading mobile carrier in South Korea, partnered with e&, a telecom operator based in the United Arab Emirates, to push for a metaverse business in the Middle East. Using e&'s customer analysis and service provision know-how, SKT said it would create metaverse services tailored to customer demands. Famous buildings and digital costumes reflecting Middle Eastern culture can be actualized in the virtual world where users can interact with others usi 2022-10-12
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  ​LG Electronics partners with research body to prevent home appliance arc flashes SEOUL -- LG Electronics tied up with a state-sponsored research body to verify and standardize its technology that prevents fire accidents caused by home appliance electrical arcs that take place because of different reasons such as the loose connection of power supply and damaged cables. According to data released by the Korea Electrical Safety Corporation (KESCO), more than 80 percent of electrical fires were generated by electric arc flashes in 2021. LG Electronics' technolo 2022-10-12
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  Taihan Cable to upgrade cable production facilities in South Africa SEOUL -- Taihan Cable & Solution, a power cable and grid infrastructure company in South Korea, has approved new investments to upgrade a joint-venture medium and low voltage cable plant in South Africa and nurture it as a forward base for expanding exports to neighboring countries. The investment will be completed by 2023. Taihan Cable said that the plant named "M-TEC" in South Africa would upgrade medium and low voltage cable production facilities by setting up a new 2022-10-12
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  Hyosung develops ultra-high-strength carbon fibers for space and defense industries SEOUL -- Hyosung Advanced Materials, affiliated with South Korea's Hyosung Group, has developed ultra-high-strength carbon fibers that are considered an essential material for space launch vehicles, satellite bodies and missiles. The company promised to speed up follow-up application research for early commercialization through collaboration with research bodies involved in a five-year state program. Carbon materials take numerous forms including graphite, carbon fiber, carbon n 2022-10-12
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  SK Trading International invests in U.S. e-fuel producer Infinium SEOUL -- SK Trading International, a petroleum product trading company affiliated with South Korea's SK Group, has made an unspecified amount of investment in Infinium, an American producer of electrofuels which are an emerging class of drop-in replacement fuels that are made by storing energy from renewable sources in the chemical bonds of liquid or gas fuels. SK Trading International (SKTI) said it has closed a round of institutional funding into Infinium, which possesses li 2022-10-12
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  POSCO earmarks $1.09 billion to boost lithium hydroxide production in Argentina SEOUL -- POSCO has earmarked $1.09 billion to produce 25,000 tons of lithium hydroxide, an inorganic compound used for electric vehicle batteries, in Argentina. The steel group has purchased lithium mining rights in a salt lake for $280 million to become a global player in the battery material market. POSCO Holdings, the group's holding company, has revealed a goal to produce 610,000 tons of cathode materials, 320,000 tons of anode materials, 300,000 tons of lithium and 22,000 2022-10-11
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  Lotte Chemical acquires Iljin Materials to expand battery material business SEOUL -- Lotte Chemical, a major chemical company based in South Korea, acquired a controlling 53.3 percent stake in Iljin Materials, the domestic producer of thin copper foils, for 2.7 trillion won ($1.9 billion) to accelerate the overseas expansion of its battery material business. At factories in South Korea and Malaysia, Iljin is capable of producing some 60,000 tons of thin copper foils. In June 2022, the company clinched a long-term order worth 8.52 trillion won from Samsung S 2022-10-11
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  Shell and DNV work with S. Korean companies to demonstrate SOFC on LNG carrier SEOUL -- Shell, a global energy and petrochemical group, formed a consortium with DNV, a classification society based in Norway, and three South Korean companies to develop fuel cells as an auxiliary power unit. It will be demonstrated on a trade route for one year from 2025 by mounting a 600-kilowatt solid oxide fuel cell system on a 174,000 cubic meter liquefied natural gas carrier. SOFC is an electrochemical conversion device that produces electricity directly from oxidizing a 2022-10-11
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  SK siltron and Britain's IQE work together to develop GaN wafers targeting Asian markets SEOUL -- SK siltron, a wafer company affiliated with South Korea's SK Group, has forged strategic ties with IQE, a British semiconductor company that manufactures advanced epitaxial wafers, to develop and commercialize compound semiconductor products mainly targeting Asian markets. Epitaxy refers to a type of crystal growth or material deposition in which new crystalline layers are formed with one or more well-defined orientations with respect to the crystalline seed layer. Th 2022-10-11
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  CJ Cheiljedang ties up with Yuhan Kimberly to develop consumer goods with biodegradable plastic material SEOUL -- CJ Cheiljedang, a key subsidiary of South Korea's food and entertainment conglomerate CJ Group, tied up with Yuhan Kimberly, a major domestic sanitary product maker, to promote the development of consumer goods such as diapers, wet wipes, masks, and packaging materials using a biodegradable plastic material produced by bacteria during the fermentation process of sugar or lipids including fats, oils and waxes to store carbon and energy. CJ Cheiljedang said that the par 2022-10-07
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  KG Steel releases new iron sheet with antibacterial and anti-fingerprint treatment SEOUL -- KG Steel, a steel company in South Korea, has released a new electro-galvanized iron sheet with anti-fingerprint treatment. An antibacterial agent containing silver ions was added for antibacterial properties that can be maintained for more than 10 years in the domestic climate. KG Steel said that its new anti-fingerprint steel plate brand-maned "BioCOT" showed excellent antibacterial and anti-fungal performances verified with customers for mass production in the 2022-10-07
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  ​POSCO joins group research to develop low-carbon plastic manufacturing technology with byproduct gas SEOUL -- South Korea's top steelmaker POSCO has joined a task force to utilize by-product gas generated by steel mills as a plastic raw material with carbon capture utilization technology that captures waste carbon dioxide and transports it to a storage site for recycling. Research on the development of low-carbon olefin manufacturing technology that can reduce carbon dioxide emissions by about 15 percent compared to existing technologies will be conducted for three years until 2022-10-06
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  Daewoo shipyard completes performance verification of ship-based carbon dioxide capture and storage equipment SEOUL -- Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, a major shipbuilder in South Korea, has completed the performance verification of ship-based carbon dioxide capture and storage equipment by mounting it on an actual natural gas carrier. Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) has teamed up with Gaslog, an LNG shipping service company in Greece, and the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS), a classification society based in the United States, to apply an onboard carb 2022-10-06
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  Hyundai shipyard wins $337 million order to build FSRU for Excelerate Energy SEOUL -- South Korea's Hyundai shipbuilding group clinched an order worth 475.7 billion won ($337 million) to build a floating storage regasification unit (FSRU), which is a special type of tanker fitted with equipment to gently warm liquefied natural gas (LNG) back into a gaseous state so it can be piped to customers on land. The 170,000 cubic meter FSRU vessel will be delivered to Excelerate Energy, a U.S.-based market leader in floating LNG regasification solutions, by the e 2022-10-05
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  SK hynix uses homemade neon gas in semiconductor production through localization SEOUL -- SK hynix, a major memory chip producer in South Korea, has expanded the proportion of homemade neon gas to 40 percent in semiconductor production since a localized facility was completed in early 2022 to preemptively address the risk of supply and demand instability. The company will fully use domestic neon by 2024. Neon is a raw material for excimer laser gas which is used in semiconductor photolithography, a process of engraving electronic circuits on silicon wafers usi 2022-10-05
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  LG Chem's bio-balanced PVC used for production of luxury vinyl tiles SEOUL -- Nox, a flooring company in South Korea, will produce luxury vinyl tiles for high-performance commercial and residential flooring using bio-balanced polyvinyl chloride (PVC), or simply known as vinyl, produced by LG Chem with biomaterials such as renewable waste oil and palm by-products. PVC is a high-strength thermoplastic material that is replacing traditional building materials due to its versatile properties, such as lightweight, durable, low cost and easy processabil 2022-10-05