Netflix’s latest Korean original “Hellbound” has caught the attention of both local and foreign fans with horrifying depictions of death and episodes full of suspense. The series, directed by the mastermind behind megahit zombie sensation “Train to Busan” Yeon Sang-ho, is an adaptation of a highly rated webtoon of the same title, also by Yeon. Though Yeon said he tried “not to veer much from the original webcomics,” avid readers of the webtoon that end

South Korea broke ground Monday for an artificial intelligence complex in the southwestern city of Gwangju to foster the related industry, the science ministry said. The groundbreaking ceremony was held in Gwangju, 330 kilometers south of Seoul, for a major construction project to create an AI complex center, including data centers and facilities in automobiles and energy sectors. A total of 393.9 billion won ($332 million) will be spent from 2020 to 2024 for the project, according to the mini

Netflix will ring in the Christmas season with the sci-fi mystery “The Silent Sea,” its last Korean original series of the year. The platform on Monday announced the show’s release on Dec. 24 and unveiled a mysterious poster showing a lone astronaut in outer space. The series, which revolves around a group of space explorers on a classified mission to an abandoned research facility on the moon, is an adaptation of a short film of the same title by director Choi Hang-yong. T

The total value of South Korean biotech and pharmaceutical companies’ technology exports is expected to reach $10 billion for the first time this year, according to the Korea Pharmaceutical and Bio-Pharma Manufacturers Association. The country’s biotech and pharmaceutical companies’ technology exports amounted to 11.4 trillion won ($9.6 billion) as of Nov. 17, the KPBMA said Monday. As there were deals that did not disclose their contract values, the KPBMA expected the total

Politicians want to show their political legitimacy, experts say

South Korean pharmaceutical giant Celltrion Inc. said Monday its COVID-19 antibody treatment has won an emergency approval from Peruvian authorities. The drug authority in the South American country granted the approval for an emergency application of Rekirona to adult COVID-19 patients. The approval was based on recent top-line results from a global phase three clinical study of Rekirona, a pivotal part of the study to obtain more comprehensive safety and efficacy results. Rekirona is a mono

Jailed former President Park Geun-hye was admitted to a hospital on Monday for an unspecified illness, officials said. According to the justice ministry, Park was transferred from the Seoul Detention Center, where she is serving her 22-year prison term, to the Samsung Medical Center in southern Seoul earlier in the day and was receiving treatment. It marked her third hospitalization this year. Park, 69, was previously hospitalized in January and July in connection to her left shoulder surgery

Both candidates kick-start revamped campaigns

SK hynix CEO Lee Seok-hee said Monday that the company will respond "wisely" to the US-China trade tension that could cloud the chipmaker's plan to upgrade its Chinese plant. "The fourth-generation DRAM chips have been produced in South Korea since July and it is still a long way to go before we can apply the same technology in our Chinese plant," he told reporters on the sidelines of an annual event of Semiconductor Day. He referred to the most advanced 10nm chips produce

South Korea's exports are expected to touch an all-time high in 2021 on brisk overseas demand for key products amid the global economic recovery, with their growth momentum likely to continue next year, a report said Monday. The country's overseas shipments are projected to swell 24.1 percent from a year earlier to $636.2 billion this year, according to the report from the Korea International Trade Association (KITA). Imports by Asia's fourth-largest economy are likely to amount to $605.7 bill

A total of 1,956 people have been apprehended in special drug crackdowns between August and October, with 406 of them formally arrested, police said Monday. Of the total, 1,404 were caught for using or distributing methamphetamine, ecstasy and other psychotropic drugs, another 417 for marijuana-related products and the remaining 135 for other types of narcotics, including opium, cocaine and fentanyl, according to the National Police Agency. Those in their teens, 20s and 30s totaled 1,365, almo

In-person school classes fully resumed across South Korea on Monday in line with the country's "living with COVID-19" scheme. All kindergarten, elementary, middle and high schools welcomed students without anyone left behind for remote-learning for the first time since schools switched to learning from home or classes being held in shifts since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020. The full reopening of schools came after the country kicked off the first stage of "li

North Korea has yet to reopen its land border with China amid indications of brisk preparations to ease lockdown measures attributable to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Seoul's unification ministry Monday. South Korea has been closely monitoring signs of the North reopening its border, which has remained closed for nearly two years due to the virus crisis. "Signs of preparations to resume trade have been continuously detected, but it's not at a stage to say trade has resumed or the N