Starting with the Galaxy S10 released this year, Samsung Electronics Co. has begun to introduce its own blockchain wallet in the Galaxy series. Samsung’s move is fueling expectations that cryptocurrency payment and remittance services will be popularized. Moreover, the popularization of services lik
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
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 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 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
Imported car sales have plunged in Korea. Sales in January and February dropped 17 percent compared to last year. Market watchers even say that the figure will show a larger drop in the second half of the year as the fuel tax and individual consumption tax cuts end in the first half. Sales of import
Shareholder activism is changing the corporate landscape in Korea. It has triggered the introduction of a stewardship code by the National Pension Service, Korea Corporate Governance Improvement (KCGI)’s attempt to participate in the management of Hanjin KAL, and the abolishment of the shadow voting
Hyundai Motor Co. is planning to temporarily stop the operation of its first plant in Beijing with its sales volume in China dropping. It is going to cut back on manpower and facilities in order to deal with oversupply.The temporary shutdown by Beijing Hyundai, a joint-venture between BAIC Motor and
Expectations are growing among South Korea’s oil refining, shipbuilding and steel companies as the “IMO 2020” rules will take effect on Jan. 1, 2020, requiring vessels of 400 gross tonnage and above to lower the upper limit of sulfur oxides (SOx) emissions from 3.5 percent to 0.5 percent.The stricte
Under pressure from U.S. activist hedge fund Elliott Management, Hyundai Motor Group is expected to propose a stronger shareholder friendly policy and announce its new governance reform plan.The group scrapped its governance reform scheme last year due to opposition from institutional shareholders,
A red flag has been raised for 5G services of Korean mobile carriers as the government refused to approve a 5G service rate plan submitted by SK Telecom.The three carriers invested trillions of won in their 5G services, which were launched for the first time in the world. But it has become difficult
ENERZAi, a Korean startup that provides AI-based solutions for the energy sector, has received seed round investment from Springcamp, a venture capital subsidiary of Naver Corp.ENERZAi is a team comprised of engineers from Seoul National University’s Department of Electrical/Computer Engineering and
The Tesla Model 3 topped the list of the most popular electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles last year with a global sales volume of 145,846 units.It was followed by the BAIC EC-Series (90,637) and the Nissan Leaf (87,149). The Toyota Prius PHEV and the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV came in ninth and tent
Nowadays, South Korean and Japanese automakers are focusing on hydrogen-powered vehicles in order to respond to ever-tightening environmental regulations. U.S. and European automakers are poised to enter the market as well.Approximately two million cars are expected to be sold in the global hydrogen
SK Group has made a massive equity investment in a Chinese company that designs semiconductors capable of recognizing objects. These artificial intelligence (AI)-based chips are used for autonomous vehicles.Industry sources and Reuters said on Feb. 28 that SK China and SK Hynix participated, along w
The Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of Korea froze the key rate at 1.75 percent on Feb. 28, citing uncertain external conditions and concerns over a domestic economic slowdown. Previously, the central bank raised the key rate by 0.25 percentage point to 1.75 percent in November 2018.“These day
Naver, KT and Intel representing their respective industrial sectors among others will begin to make a foray into the 5G-based robot market.Naver Labs, an R&D arm of Naver, announced on Feb. 28 that it signed a strategic alliance deal for developing 5G robots with KT and Intel at the MWC 2019 with N