Latest News

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  Girl band Le Sserafim's Kim Ga-ram suspended over school bullying SEOUL -- Le Sserafim, a six-member girl group formed by Hybe's music label, hit a snag, just 18 days after its proudly debut as a sister band of BTS, with a 16-year-old member succumbing to a scandal over her alleged school bullying. The band will perform as a five-member group for a while until Kim Ga-ram recovers from trauma. "Through discussion, Kim Ga-ram decided to stop her activity for a while and focus on healing her injured mind," Source Music said on Twitter o 2022-05-20
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  Hyundai Mobis unveils next-generation 'swivel' display for self-driving cars SEOUL -- Hyundai Mobis, the parts-making unit of South Korea's Hyundai auto group, has developed the world's first variable display technology that moves a large curved screen. It is optimized for an integrated diver's seat system for self-driving cars. The 34-inch swivel screen applied with 6K high-resolution OLED panels moves up and down. It is a multi-curved screen that can be bent in three stages from top to bottom, Hyundai Mobis said, adding that the display can be 2022-05-20
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  Zara adopts AR technology for customers to wear various makeup SEOUL -- Augmented reality technology was adopted at a store run by Zara, a Spanish apparel retailer, where customers can try on different types of makeup through three-dimensional simulation. The store located at a shopping complex in southern Seoul is Zara's fourth experimental store after Spain's Madrid, Japan's Ginza, and Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. Augmented reality (AR) filters are computer-generated effects overlapped with the actual images displayed by th 2022-05-20
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  SK ecoplant secured 30% stake in Malaysia's waste management company Cenviro SEOUL -- SK ecoplant secured a 30 percent stake in Cenviro, a waste management service provider in Malaysia, to cement its competitiveness as an environmental and energy solution provider and secure its foothold in Southeast Asia. Financial terms were not disclosed, but the deal reflects SK ecoplant's active push for business expansion abroad. Cenviro, which operates Malaysia's first integrated waste management center, specializes in solid waste management and public cleansi 2022-05-20
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  Scanline pledges $100 million investment in S. Korea's special effects film production facility SEOUL -- Scanline VFX, a prominent visual effects and animation company acquired by Neflix, will invest some $100 million in South Korea's special effects film production facility using virtual reality production technology. The investment will be made over six years until 2027. The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said that Trade Minister Ahn Duk-geun and Scanline President Stephan Trojansky were to attend an investment signing ceremony in Seoul on May 20. Scanline has wo 2022-05-20
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  Hanhwa Group installs smart solar panel beehive to help preserve honeybees SEOUL -- In an effort to raise awareness about a rapid decrease in the population of honeybees worldwide, South Korea's Hanwha Group unveiled a smart beehive that protects the living environment of honeybees using solar power. The beehive capable of monitoring the temperature and humidity of bees' habitat will be used by researchers to increase the population of honeybees. Data released by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) showed that more th 2022-05-19
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  Axiom founder holds business talks with Boryung's CEO as partners in space project SEOUL -- Kam Ghaffarian, the founder of U.S. space infrastructure developer Axiom Space, has held business talks with Boryung Corp.'s leader during his visit to South Korea as a partner in their joint initiative to advance the next generation of pharmaceutical, bioscience and medtech development in space. The meeting with CEO Jay Kim of Boryung Corp. engaged in pharmaceutical manufacturing, took place on May 17 in Seoul. Boryung has made an unspecified amount of equity investmen 2022-05-19
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  Kakao Enetertainment merges two American subsidiaries to compete with domestic rival SEOUL -- The content and entertainment wing of South Korea's web service giant Kakao expanded an unyielding turf war with its domestic archrival from Asia to North America by merging two American webtoon and web novel platform subsidiaries into a new entity to create synergy and become a leading player in the storytelling industry. Tapas Media, an American snack culture content provider known as "YouTube of Comics," and Radish Media, a U.S.-based web novel platform, wi 2022-05-19
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  Convenience store chain CU partners with drone developer to help communities SEOUL -- BGF Retail, the operator of South Korea's largest convenience store chain CU will adopt drone technology to help communities in case of disasters in cooperation with a domestic drone developer. BGF Retail will create relief goods and use its delivery vehicles as charging stations for drones. Drones designed for rescue purposes are equipped with various optical equipment such as cameras, radars and thermal imaging sensors. Some drones carry out structural safety checks 2022-05-19
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  SK Biopharmaceuticals partners with U.S. biotech company Cala to fuel innovation in neurology SEOUL -- SK Biopharmaceuticals and its parent investment company, SK Inc., will make an unspecified amount of investment in Cala Health, a Silicon Valley-based bioelectronic medicine company, to secure opportunities for potential technology collaboration and explore solutions for new indications in neurology. The two SK Group units have participated in a Series D funding round for Cala, the leader in non-invasive bioelectronic therapy via a wearable device that is proven to reduce e 2022-05-19
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  Hancom to launch S. Korea's first private satellite for integrated image analysis service SEOUL -- South Korea's first private satellite for earth observation will be launched aboard a SpaceX rocket with the aim of providing video services in high demand for satellite data in Asia and the Middle East. The ultra-small satellite weighing 10.8 kilograms would collect image data after a one-month test operation at an altitude of 500 kilometers (310 miles). The low-orbit satellite named Sejong 1, developed by Hancom Inspace, a subsidiary of South Korea's Hancom Group 2022-05-18
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  Hyundai auto group unveils massive investment plan to boost domestic electric vehicle production SEOUL -- In an unheralded announcement, South Korea's Hyundai auto group came up with the proposed investment of some 21 trillion won ($16.6 billion) to boost the domestic production of electric vehicles to 1.44 million units per year by 2030. The domestic production of electric vehicles in 2022 is estimated at 350,000 units. Without specifying where and how much their investment will be funneled, Hyundai Motor and its affiliate, Kia Motors, vowed to enhance a domestic electri 2022-05-18
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  Meal kits to be available soon at Seoul subway stations for hungry commuters SEOUL -- Targeting hungry and busy commuters, ready-to-eat meal shops will be put into service at crowded subway stations in Seoul. Students and workers who lack time to have breakfast or dinner can grab a meal kit package right after getting off the train. Meal kits are convenient heat-and-eat food packages that provide processed ingredients and seasonings so that consumers can easily complete the dish just by following the simple cooking instructions using a stove or a microwave 2022-05-18
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  Business alliance launched to speed up commercialization of self-driving robots SEOUL -- A business alliance involving LG Electronics and 17 other companies was launched to speed up the commercialization of intelligent self-driving robots, which have expanded their use in South Korea's service, delivery and other sectors thanks to rapid technological development. The self-driving robot alliance headed by the Korea Association of Robot Industry was formed on May 18 in an event sponsored by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy at an exhibition center in 2022-05-18
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  S. Korea's first forensic entomology lab in service to track death time with insects SEOUL -- South Korea has opened its first forensic entomology lab to efficiently estimate the time of death by analyzing insects found in the body. The investigation technique that helps determine elapsed time after death can be used in unsolved criminal cases and for investigating elder abuse or animal cruelty. It is difficult to figure out the time of death if the body has been dead for a long time. The investigation technique can help find out the death time through the analysis 2022-05-18
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  SK Chemical establishes business platform for recycled plastic circulation ecosystem SEOUL -- SK Chemical has established a business platform for a recycled plastic circulation ecosystem that connects producers, partners, and brands online. It is a green platform that provides experience in recycling materials and AI-based digital marketing channel services. The platform will be released to the public on May 30. SK Chemicals would provide a material experience kit made of its sustainable packing solution (SPS) material to brand companies. AI image search services a 2022-05-18
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  BTS 'Dynamite' to be tested for space internet during S. Korea's first lunar exploration SEOUL -- BTS would be remembered as a space trailblazer if its global mega-hit song, "Dynamite," were streamed from Moon to Earth using an experimental wireless space internet service as part of South Korea's space program to send a lunar orbiter aboard a rocket manufactured by SpaceX. "Dynamite" aims to be the first K-pop song in space when South Korea's first lunar orbiter, the Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter (KPLO), will be launched on August 1. Fans t 2022-05-17
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  SK Group ties up with U.S. company TerraPower for SMR cooperation SEOUL -- South Korea's SK Group tied up with TerraPower, an American nuclear reactor design and development engineering company, for comprehensive business cooperation in the development and commercialization of next-generation mall modular reactor technology. Small modular reactors (SMRs) can address the limitations of light-water reactors using low-enriched uranium that cost a lot to replace nuclear fuel and require a vast emergency evacuation zone, nonproliferation and waste 2022-05-17
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  SeAH Besteel allies with American partner Orano for cooperation in nuclear fuel dry storage SEOUL -- Orano TN, an American provider of total system solutions for used nuclear fuel and radioactive waste management, forged a business alliance with two South Korean companies to find new business opportunities in the dry storage of spent nuclear fuel from nuclear power stations. SeAH Besteel, a special steel producer in South Korea, signed a memorandum of understanding with its American partner, Orano, and KEPCO E&C, the power plant design and engineering wing of South Ko 2022-05-17
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  Daewoong Pharmaceutical uses HD Junction's cloud EMR for entry into Southeat Asia SEOUL -- Daewoong Pharmaceutical, a bioengineering company in South Korea, tied up with HD Junction, a domestic provider of healthcare information technology solutions, for their joint entry into Southeast Asian healthcare markets using a cloud-based electronic medical record (EMR) platform. Daewoong will build a local business model using existing infrastructure, and HD Junction will provide cloud EMR technology to support business expansion. "HD Junction and Daewoong Pharmac 2022-05-17