South Korea’s largest alcoholic beverage provider by market share Oriental Brewery said Monday it has launched sustainable beer packaging for its flagship beer brand Cass. According to OB, it has replaced existing packaging boxes with 100 percent recyclable ones for a pack of 12, 500-milliliter bottles of Cass beer. For 640-milliliter bottles, the transition is currently taking place. “OB’s existing packaging boxes were previously 96-97 percent recyclable, but this is the

SK Innovation said Monday it has newly launched a unified brand to facilitate “deep change” and reestablish corporate values from the ground up in the face of challenges posed by the coronavirus outbreak. The new brand “Hi !nnovation” portrays its will to embrace new era by accelerating deep change through its “Green Balance 2030” initiative and is setting new corporate values, given the current economic circumstances, the company said. Though it started

Hiring in service sector declines 49.8 percent

South Korea has identified 38 coronavirus-neutralizing antibodies to treat those who are infected with the novel coronavirus, the country's public health agency said Monday. The state-run National Institute of Health (NIH) and local bio-pharmaceutical firm Celltrion Inc. secured the virus-neutralizing antibody candidates from the blood of people who tested positive for COVID-19, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC). The neutralizing antibodies possess prope

A government poll showed Monday that the global popularity of South Korea as a tourist destination increased for the sixth consecutive year in 2019, thanks to the promotional effects of the country's globally loved cultural content sector. According to the 2019 poll on the effect of tourism marketing, released by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO), the level of foreigners' recognition of South Korea as a tourist destination rose by 1.1 percent

The consumer market in Korea is experiencing a hiked interest for products that support deep sleeping, simultaneously with the increased sense of social unrest amid the coronavirus pandemic. According to Korea Ginseng Corp. on Monday, its health supplement pill Alpha Project Sleep Support’s revenue in March increased 32 percent compared to the month before. “It appears that the prolonged COVID-19 situation is disrupting sleep for many,” said Korea Ginseng Corp. “Whil

LG Display said Monday that its transparent organic light-emitting diode screen will debut through MBC broadcasting station’s general election ballot counting show slated for Wednesday. A transparent OLED is a next generation see-through screen that allows viewers to look beyond the panel even with the power turned on. LG Display and LG Electronics had commercialized the transparent OLEDs last year, but this is the first time the product will be revealed to the public through a TV show

Despite doctors’ reluctance, COVID-19 leading to growth of telemedicine infrastructure in Korea

Korean Air Lines Co. suspended flights on the Incheon-Washington route Monday due to the impact of the coronavirus. South Korea's national flag carrier did not provide a time frame when it will lift the temporary suspension. The move came amid the rising coronavirus death toll and infections in the United States. The COVID-19 pandemic has killed more than 22,100 people in the US, including 50 in Washington, DC. Currently, Korean Air flies from Incheon to only five US cities -- Los Angeles, N

Kia Motors Corp., South Korea's second-biggest carmaker, is considering temporarily suspending some of its plants in the country later this month due to the fallout from the novel coronavirus pandemic, industry sources said Sunday. It is planning to halt operations of three factories -- two in Gwangmyeong, south of Seoul, and one in Gwangju, 330 kilometers south of Seoul -- from April 23-29, according to the sources. The company runs nine domestic manufacturing facilities, including one as a j

Government fails to lay down ground rules for renewable energy industry, taking action when damage is done

South Korean video streaming platform Wavve said Sunday it has signed a partnership with NBCUniversal to export original hallyu k-pop content to the US media giant. According to Content Wavve, operator of the platform, the partnership was signed via a video conference on Friday and will allow the company to supply original content -- up to five movies and TV series a year -- produced by three South Korea terrestrial broadcasters -- KBS, MBC and SBS -- to NBCU for the next three years. &ldq

Doosan Group is planning to sell all of its stake in material solutions affiliate Doosan Solus, intent to deliver an intensive self-rescue plan after receiving a massive bailout from state-run banks. According to industry sources Sunday, Doosan Group is negotiating with private equity fund SkyLake Investment on handing over all of its 61 percent stake in battery copper foil and organic light-emitting diode materials maker Doosan Solus for 600 billion to 800 billion won ($495 million-$660 mil

The US Food and Drug Administration has lifted a clinical hold on the phase 3 trial of Kolon Life Science’s osteoarthritis drug Invossa in the US after a 11-month suspension imposed in May. According to industry sources on Sunday, the FDA sent an official notice to Kolon TissueGene, the biotech unit of Korea’s pharmaceutical firm Kolon Life Science, to resume the phase 3 trial of its degenerative arthritis treatment drug Invossa in the US. The official FDA notice said that all

SsangYong Motor will receive 40 billion won ($32 million) in special funds this month from its major shareholder, Indian carmaking conglomerate Mahindra & Mahindra, to urgently address liquidity issues, the Korean automaker said Sunday. SsangYong said it finalized its plan to raise 40 billion won in new funds at an extraordinary general meeting Friday. Mahindra will first invest in SsangYong as a loan, which will be converted to equity later upon Indian and Korean government agencies&rs