Daewoong Pharmaceutical disclosed on March 8 that its research and development (R&D) on treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis using the first-in-class Prolyl-tRNASynthetase (PRS) inhibitor DWN12088 has been selected for the government’s new drug development project.Accordingly, the company will
Nexen Tire will have four global bases when the Magok Central Research Institute is completed in the first half of 2019. The tire company has moved its research and development (R&D) centers in Europe and the United States to bigger buildings. In September of 2018, its European R&D center and sales
Korea Midland Power (KOMIPO) and Vitol Group, a global energy company, signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on cooperation in the LNG field on Feb. 26.The two sides will cooperate in business development and operation covering all areas pertaining to the LNG industry, including LNG production
The labor and management of Renault Samsung Motors failed to reach a collective bargaining agreement until March 8, a deadline set by the company’s parent, Renault Group of France. Therefore, Renault Samsung Motors is highly likely to be excluded from the group's distribution of global productio
South Korean private equity firm IMM Private Equity is planning to sell its Taihan Electric Wire shares. It bought 67.1 percent of the electric wire manufacturers’ shares in 2015. The possibility that the shares could be bought by Chinese capital is rising along with concerns over technology leakage
Blockchain incubators are becoming increasingly interested in game companies. With games based on blockchain platforms such as Ethereum and EOS appearing one after another, South Korean game companies are focusing on blockchain technology and working on related games as well.For example, Hashed, one
Hyundai Motor Group is pushing to build the Global Business Center (GBC) in Samsung-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, in cooperation with external investors rather than on its own. This is part of its strategy to minimize the financial burden in promoting the 3.70 trillion won (US$3.25 billion) project and n
The price of Bitcoin plunged to some 3 million won (US$2,639) earlier this year, generating a debate among analysts over the future of the cryptocurrency’s price. However, it has increased to some 4 million won (US$3,518), gaining upward momentum again. The current price is still low compared to its
Incheon Free Economic Zone (IFEZ) Authority announced on March 10 that it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Namangan Region Government of Uzbekistan for FEZ development and investment promotion.It is the fourth MOU between IFEZ Authority and Uzbekistan. Earlier, IFEZ Authority
North Gyeongsang Province is one of the most dynamic regions in South Korea. The province’s gross regional domestic product (GRDP) recorded 103 trillion won (US$91.2 billion) in 2017, the fifth largest among local governments in Korea. The province has a strong industrial base, especially in the IT,
Hyundai Mobis recently moved a production line at its factory in Tianjin, China, to Korea. The line produces parts for electronic devices for exporting to the United States. The move was made based on a strategic decision to avoid the U.S. government's high tariffs on products manufactured at fa
Korea will not be able to launch commercial 5G mobile services in March as scheduled. This is because it will take more time to verify the quality of 5G terminals. Industry insiders say 5G terminals are likely to go on sale in April at the earliest. They say the government caused confusion among con
The Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS) will provide 30,000 smart factories by 2022 to help SMEs innovate their manufacturing systems. The ministry believes that its smart factory supply project has contributed to stimulating manufacturing innovation at SMEs and establishing a win-win platform betwe
CJ CheilJedang Corp. is seeking to join hands with private fund management firm JKL Partners Inc. to acquire U.S. frozen food firm Schwan's Co. The two companies discussed 600 billion won (US$531.21 million) worth of joint investment last year, but the talks came to a rupture. However, they have
Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., the world’s largest shipyard by sales, is set to sign an official deal with Korea Development Bank (KDB) on March 8 to take over Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. (DSME). However, Hyundai Heavy will still have a lot of problems to solve in order to completely
Speculation is rife that Samsung Electronics Co. will seek to acquire a global semiconductor firm to strengthen its competitiveness in the non-memory sector. The company has enough capital to finance such an acquisition. Vice chairman Lee Jae-yong said in January, “We will show what we have really g
The Ministry of Science and ICT announced on March 7 that R&D projects worth 500.7 billion won (US$441.8 million) would be launched this year for data, artificial intelligence (AI) and hydrogen industry growth. In addition, 73 billion won will be spent on quantum computing and quantum sensor develop
Samsung Electronics ranked seventh, classified as Excellent, in this year's Harris Poll Reputation Quotient with a score of 80. For reference, Samsung ranked 35th with 77.56 in that survey last year. In this year’s survey, Sony climbed from 31st to 10th and 21st Century Fox climbed from 74th to
The Seoul Economic Daily reported on March 7 that Korea Development Bank (KDB) and General Motors (GM) reached a secret agreement earlier so that the public funds invested in GM Korea can be recouped even if the company goes under. This means KDB and GM put recoupment of investment before the normal
LG Electronics Inc. unveiled its latest OLED television lineup equipped with a second-generation artificial intelligence (AI) technology on March 6.With the 2019 edition OLED TV, the company is planning to raise the ratio of OLED TVs to total TV sales to 25 percent this year. In particular, the 8K O