Handok Inc. and Genexine announced on Jan. 8 that they have become the largest shareholder of Rezolute Inc., a U.S. biotech company, by jointly acquiring a 54 percent stake for US$25 million.This investment is part of open innovation being pursued by the two Korean companies. Through this joint inve
SK Innovation is reportedly reconsidering acquiring a stake in Australian Mines (AM) which produces electric vehicle battery materials as global cobalt prices have sharply dropped.Petrochemical industry watchers say that SK Innovation is unlikely to exercise its option to purchase 19.9 percent of
Korean petrochemical companies have competitively made a large investment in new ethylene production facilities in the past few years. As these new plants will start commercial production in from this year, concern is growing that there could be a supply glut. However, some analysts say that the com
Hanjin Heavy Industries & Construction Co., a midsized shipyard in South Korea, announced on Jan. 8 that its affiliate in Subic of the Philippines has filed for a rehabilitation program with a Philippine court due to a prolonged business slump.The Philippine court will decide within 120 days whether
Daewoong Pharmaceutical announced on Jan. 7 that it has filed a request with the China Food and Drug Administration (CFDA) to change the manufacturing facility specified in the clinical trial application (CTA) for its botulinum toxin Nabota. Daewoong intends to change the production site of Nabota f
LS Cable announced on Jan. 7 that it would supply submarine cables to Taiwan, becoming the first Korean cable producer to advance into the Taiwanese market.LS Cable signed a contract with WPD, a leading wind power company of Germany, to supply 170 km of 66 kV submarine cable to an offshore wind farm
The South Korean gaming industry faces deepening challenges. Chinese games have already outpaced South Korean games in terms of technical skill and quality. To top it off, the owner of nation’s largest gaming company Nexon Co. has put his entire stake for sale.Gaming industry sources said on Jan. 6
Samsung Electronics is stepping up efforts to strengthen its non-memory semiconductor business. The company is seeking to strengthen the profit structure of the non-memory business by raising its competitiveness to the level of its world-leading semiconductor business.The Korean tech giant is accele
Korean patients with cancer and dementia will soon be allowed to have genetic tests without going to hospitals by using direct-to-consumer (DTC) devices, which test using their saliva.DTC usually refers to the marketing of pharmaceutical products but also applies to the direct marketing of medical d
The main keywords in the New Year messages of the chairmen and CEOs of major Korean business groups were “customers,” “growth” and “global.” Last year, “survival,” “competition” and “change” were the keywords, reflecting increased uncertainties in the business environment. Analysts say that this yea
About 4,500 companies from 155 countries across the world will gather at CES 2019, the world's largest consumer technology event to take place for four days from Jan. 8 in Las Vegas of the United States, to showcase new technologies that will shape our daily life in the future.Smart home, smart
The founder of South Korea’s largest gaming company Nexon Co. has put his entire stake in NXC Corp., the group’s holding company, up for sale.Gaming and investment banking (IB) industry sources said on Jan. 3 that NXC CEO Kim Jung-ju has offered to sell off NXC shares owned by him and his affiliated
The South Korean government will benchmark the United States and introduce an approval system for foreign companies’ attempts to acquire Korean companies to prevent technology leaks. It will also increase the penalties for those who leak core national technologies, including fines of up to three tim
As institutional investors sold more than 400 billion won (US$356.35 million) worth of local shares on the first trading day of the new year, there is growing concern that the benchmark KOSPI can fall below the 2,000 level again.Analysts say investors are chilled by the global economic slowdown stem
As the competition for new customers has become severe in the domestic insurance market due to saturation, business expenses spent by non-life insurance companies, including marketing cost, last year is expected to reach a record high.Insurance industry and Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) source
Korean blockchain and cryptocurrency companies are entering the competition in the simple payment market.Dunamu, the company behind South Korea’s cryptocurrency exchange platform Upbit, plans to allow partner companies of its “Luniverse” blockchain platform to build a main net, or an independent blo
The composite investment index of major Korean companies for 2019 has fallen to the lowest level since the government began to calculate the index in 2008.The index is based on five indicators – the investment trend index, the investment sentiment index, the investment performance index, the entrepr
Korean gaming companies are incorporating blockchain technology into their games. They have released or are preparing to release new games where blockchain technology is applied.Hanbit Soft is carrying out an internal test with its overseas partner, Asia Soft in Thailand, to link the global version
SsangYong Motor Co., part of Mahindra Group of India, announced on Jan. 2 that it sold a total of 143,309 vehicles in 2018 – 109,140 units in domestic sales and 34,169 in exports including CKD kits.In 2018, SsangYong showed a similar sales performance to 2017, recording a growth for nine consecutive
The National Pension Service (NPS) suffered a loss of more than 16 trillion won (US$14.34 billion) in its assets in October as its investment return entered into negative territory again in one month, according to a report released by the NPS fund management committee on Dec. 28.The NPS lost 15 tril