Latest News

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  Solus Advanced Materials acquires land for battery foil plant in Canada SEOUL -- In an effort to establish a bridgehead targeting the North American secondary battery component market, South Korea's electric component maker Solus Advanced Materials has acquired land in Canada to build a 60,000 ton-capacity battery foil factory. The plant will start the mass production of foils as early as 2024. Battery foils made of aluminum and copper are used as anodes and cathodes for secondary batteries. Foils work as the bridge between external components an 2021-11-15
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  S. Korea releases Minecraft-based metaverse game to promote agricultural policies SEOUL -- South Korea's agriculture ministry has released metaverse content based on a worldwide popular "Minecraft" game. The metaverse-based game offers various experiences through virtual tours of agriculture museums, smart farms and government facilities. Minecraft, which has some 126 million monthly users as of 2020, is an open-world exploring game for PC and consoles. More than 200 million copies were sold worldwide. In May 2020, South Korean President Moon Jae-in 2021-11-15
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  Wave power plant to be demonstrated at southern resort island SEOUL -- South Korea will demonstrate a wave power plant at the southern resort island of Jeju. Unlike other renewable energy sources like wind and sunlight, ocean waves can generate electricity 24 hours a day. Wave power plants harvest electricity using the power of waves. The up-and-down motions of ocean waves are turned into continuous mechanical motions that move the turbine to generate electricity. Wave power plants use air pressure to move its turbine even during low tide. 2021-11-15
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  Hyundai Mobis develops self-driving tech capable of navigating through narrow alleyways SEOUL -- Hyundai Mobis, the car parts maker of Hyundai auto group, has developed the world's first self-driving technology that helps autonomous vehicles to navigate through narrow alleyways. Using the new technology, self-driving cars can travel through narrow roads and reverse out of a dead-end road. Hyundai Mobis said in a statement on November 14 that the company has developed Mobis Parking System (MPS) that helps cars autonomously travel through narrow alleyways and move in 2021-11-15
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  ​Amore releases vegan-certified hair care products for pets SEOUL -- South Korea's top beauty product maker Amore Pacific released fragrance-free pet shampoo products, targeting the country's six million households with animal companions. Consumers favor using non-fragrance pet products than using fragrance items because animals such as dogs and cats have a much sensitive nose and a strong smell can affect pets' sense of smell. According to data released by KB Financial Group, there are about 15 million people who live with pets 2021-11-15
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  Hanwha Corporation partners with domestic company to supply navigation devices for coastguard vessels. SEOUL -- Hanwha Corporation, the producer of precision-guided munitions, navigational systems for guided weapons and lasers, tied up with a domestic company to turn its defense technology into civilian use and supply sophisticated navigation devices for South Korean coastguard vessels. Navigation devices for military use provide information on the location, posture, and speed of military platforms. They consist of accelerometers, navigation computers, and gyro. Hanwha Corporation 2021-11-12
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  POSCO leads project to capture and reuse CO2 from high-temperature emissions in steel manufacturing SEOUL -- South Korea's steel group POSCO will lead a state-sponsored demonstration project to capture carbon dioxide from high-temperature emissions in steel manufacturing and convert it into coke oven gas that can be used as a heat source for by-product gas power generation. POSCO has promoted the development of carbon capture utilization (CCU) technology. "We hope the level of CCU technology in South Korea will grow to the next level through the world's first large- 2021-11-12
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  BTS agency empowers former SM Entertainment creative director to lead new label SEOUL -- Hybe, the agency of K-pop phenomenon BTS, has launched a new label titled "ADOR" to launch a rookie girl band based on members who were selected through a 2019 global audition held in 16 cities including Los Angeles, Perth, Hanoi and Osaka. The new label will be commanded by Min Hee-jin, a former SM Entertainment creative director picked by BTS creator Bang Si-hyuk as chief brand officer. Hybe said in a statement on November 12 that Min would focus on branding the 2021-11-12
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  [FOCUS] Air taxi operation tested at airport for future transportation service to city center SEOUL -- A two-seater multirotor personal air vehicle from Volocopter, a German aircraft manufacturer specializing in the design of electric multirotor helicopters for air taxi use, was mobilized for a government event to see how air transportation and urban air mobility can coexist at crowded airports. After a three-minute flight of about three kilometers (1.86 miles) at a speed of 48km per hour in a designated corridor, the Volocopter flying vehicle landed safely onto a takeoff 2021-11-12
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  SK Group invests $340 mln in Vietnam's consumer-retail platform CrownX SEOUL -- South Korea's third-largest conglomerate SK Group strengthened its strategic partnership with Masan Group by investing $340 million in the Vietnamese group's consumer-retail platform, CrownX, as part of efforts to expand its presence in Southeast Asian nations. Through its new investment, SK would expand cooperation with Masan in online and offline distribution, logistics and fintech in Vietnam. SK's Southeast Asia investment head Park Won-cheol described Masa 2021-11-11
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  All vehicles operated by SK Networks and subsidiaries to go green by 2030 SEOUL -- All vehicles operated by SK Networks, a trading arm of SK Group, and its subsidiaries, will go green by 2030, as South Korea, which has a low renewable energy dependency rate of 4.8 percent in 2020, is trying hard to achieve net-zero carbon dioxide emissions by 2050 by promoting the use of renewable energy and eco-friendly fuels. SK Networks said in a statement on November 11 that the company has joined EV100, a global initiative launched by a London-based international non 2021-11-11
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  SK Biopharmaceuticals launches biotech company in China SEOUL -- SK Biopharmaceuticals, affiliated with South Korea's third-largest conglomerate, launched a central nervous system-focused biotech company with investors led by 6 Dimensions Capital, a healthcare investment firm based in Shanghai, to establish a new drug development and commercialization platform in China. SK Biopharmaceuticals said it would receive an upfront payment of $20 million and a milestone payment of $15 million, as well as royalties on net sales, for out-lic 2021-11-11
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  LG Electronics pushes for new business to supply automotive AR software solution SEOUL -- LG Electronics will push for a new business to supply an augmented reality software solution that can be connected to various sensors in real-time and show visual information on pedestrians and surrounding vehicles as graphic images. The solution underlines LG's strategy to diversify its business structure and preemptively respond to various needs of automakers which are gradually expanding cases of outsourcing only software. The augmented reality (AR) software soluti 2021-11-11
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  Seoul's satellite city to build infrastructure for flying taxis SEOUL -- A vertical takeoff and landing site for flying vehicles will be built in Goyang, a northwestern satellite city of Seoul, along with a flight control center, as part of a government project to prepare for the era of urban air mobility that incorporates drone taxis and personal flying vehicles. South Korea aims to commercialize manned drone taxis in 2025. Remote-controlled vehicles will be adopted in 2030 and a fully autonomous service in 2035. A safety manager will board eac 2021-11-11
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  Samsung works with France's Orange to disaggregate hardware and software of traditional RAN SEOUL -- Samsung Electronics will work with France's Orange S.A. to disaggregate the hardware and software elements of a traditional radio access network (RAN) by participating in the opening of the mobile network operator's open RAN center in Paris. Orange plans to deploy base stations compliant with the Open RAN (O-RAN or ORAN) Alliance, starting with indoor and rural configurations. The alliance is a global carrier-led effort to drive new levels of openness in the radio 2021-11-11
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  POSCO Chemical acquires 15% stake in Chinese synthetic graphite company SEOUL -- POSCO Chemical, a leading company in coal chemistry and carbon materials, will acquire a 15 percent stake in the Chinese producer of synthetic graphite anode materials for electric vehicle batteries. The investment is aimed at securing a production base to cope with growing demands for synthetic graphite in the global battery market. In a regulatory filing on November 10, POSCO Chemical said its board approved the proposed investment of 26.1 billion won ($22 million) in Inn 2021-11-10
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  Kyobo to adopt AI-based demand forecasting platform for efficient inventory management SEOUL -- South Korea's top bookstore franchise Kyobo Book Center will adopt an artificial intelligence-based demand forecasting platform to efficiently predict market demands and manage inventory. Various kinds of demand forecasting platforms, or demand prediction software, are used by retailers for the efficient management and reduction of operating costs. Using AI-based prediction models, a forecasting platform can analyze sales data and market trends to calculate future deman 2021-11-10
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  Kolon Industries ties up with Origin Materials to produce eco-friendly bioplastics SEOUL -- Kolon Industries, a chemical and textile manufacturing company in South Korea, tied up with Origin Materials, a major carbon-negative materials company in the United States, to produce eco-friendly bioplastics made of 100 percent bio-materials. Origin Materials has developed a platform for turning the carbon found in inexpensive, plentiful, non-food biomass such as sustainable wood residues into useful materials while eliminating the need for fossil resources and capturin 2021-11-10
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  ​Firefighter cadets carry out drill to snuff out EV fire using portable water tank SEOUL -- Firefighter cadets carried out a drill to snuff out electric vehicle battery fire using a portable water tank containing waterproof and flame-resistant materials. Secondary batteries used in electric vehicles are combustible. As the adoption of clean energy vehicles equipped with batteries grows, firefighters and researchers are trying to find efficient methods to extinguish battery fires. Battery fires have been reported in South Korea with some one million battery-powered 2021-11-10
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  Researchers develop new method to quickly diagnose bean viruses SEOUL -- Soybean virus diseases result in reduced yields and inferior quality. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR), a method used in molecular biology, has been widely used to diagnose bean viruses, but it takes up to two weeks to acquire results. South Korean researchers have developed an envelope protein screening method that can easily identify bean viruses. The common mosaic virus is seed-borne and causes mosaic and lesions on foliage as well as blackened roots. The yellow mosaic 2021-11-10