The Korea Game Society on Monday initiated a fundraiser among gamers to support the people of the recent novel coronavirus-hit Wuhan in China’s Hubei province. “We support the people of Wuhan and the greater China fighting against the new coronavirus,” said KGS head Wi Jong-hyun. “Games is an industry where Korea and China hold a special relationship like none other. Korean games have received much love from Chinese fans, and it is only a matter of course that we rise t

Boryung Holdings, the holding company of Boryung Pharmaceutical, established its first overseas entity, Hayan Health Networks in San Francisco, the firm said Monday. “Hayan Health Networks will monitor the local clinical trials of Boryung Pharmaceutical, as well as build rapport with global pharmas, investors and early-stage research and development biotechs there,” said a Boryung Pharmaceutical official. Boryung Pharmaceutical’s lymphoma treatment pipeline BR2002 is curren

LG Chem Ltd., South Korea's leading chemicals firm, said Monday that it swung to a loss in the fourth quarter from a year earlier due to one-off costs related to energy storage systems. The net loss stood at 56.8 billion won ($47.5 million) in the three months that ended Dec. 31 from a net profit of 126.5 billion won a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing. A company spokesman said one-off costs related to safety measures following a series of fires in ESS are to blame for the

A Korean college student’s self-coded “Coronamap,” showing the movements of confirmed coronavirus-infected patients before they were put in quarantine, has recorded more than 3 million visits and may soon record 5 million, reports said Sunday. The map is marked with a web of lines showing the places visited by the 15 patients in Korea and where they are currently confined. It also spells out the number of people showing symptoms of pneumonia and other complications possibly r

While South Korea’s exports failed to rebound from a minus figure in January, the daily average exports showed an upturn for the first time in 14 months, raising hopes for an overall recovery. The government has forecast the exports to rebound to a plus from this month, although such a projection remains questionable with the impact of the new coronavirus outbreak that is seen to affect sales and production both domestically and globally. According to data from the Ministry of Trade, exp

Park Seon-hee, a resident of western Seoul, stayed home over the weekend, canceling her plans to meet friends, as more cases of coronavirus infections were reported. She and her husband chose to order in food, though she is now considering purchasing premade food products online or cooking from scratch. South Korean consumers are increasingly turning to online shopping as the prolonged outbreak of a new coronavirus continues to fuel concerns about going to crowded areas, potentially pulling

Any vaccine for the fast-spreading 2019 novel coronavirus is unlikely to take shape in the near future, experts said Sunday, citing the rapid mutational characteristic of the ribonucleic acid virus as what makes speedy pharmaceutical countermeasures impossible. “It would take more than a year even if the government allows all fast-track clearance for drug development,” a vaccine company employee told The Korea Herald. No vaccine has been developed for Middle East respiratory syndro

South Korea's three major telecommunication companies said Saturday they will participate in the upcoming mobile technologies trade fair as planned despite growing fears over the spread of the new strain of coronavirus. The three -- SK Telecom Co., KT Corp. and LG Uplus Corp. -- said they have no plans to skip the Mobile World Congress 2020 in Spain. The event is scheduled from Feb. 24 to 27 in Barcelona. The MWC is one of the top three tech events in the world, along with the Consumer Electr

Semi Korea, the local organizer of Semicon Korea, on Friday canceled the nation’s semiconductor show due to mounting concerns over the new coronavirus. Semi Korea’s decision came in line with World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus’ announcement, in which he declared the outbreak a “public health emergency of international concern.” Semi Korea added that it is currently looking into contingency plans for Semicon Korea 2020 and will post updates

Samsung on Friday announced a donation of 10,000 articles of anti-contamination clothing, as well as 30 million yuan ($4.3 million) to support China’s response to the novel coronavirus, the company announced Friday. The donations will be sent to the Red Cross Society of China, via Samsung’s Chinese headquarters, it added.  By Shim Woo-hyun (ws@heraldcorp.com)

The heiress of South Korean airline-focused conglomerate Hanjin Group, widely known for the "nut rage" incident in 2014, has joined hands with a local fund and a builder for the group's management control ahead of a shareholders meeting in March. In a joint statement with local activist fund Korea Corporate Governance Improvement (KCGI) and midsized builder Bando Engineering & Construction, Cho Hyun-ah, the eldest daughter of late Hanjin Group and Korean Air Lines Co. Chairman Cho

South Korean automakers are struggling to operate manufacturing lines here following difficulties in sourcing components from China due to the suspension of factory operations in the mainland.  According to Hyundai Motor Group, the automaker has decided to cancel extra working hours at its Ulsan and Jeonju plants this week, following the temporary shutdown of the two partnering factories in China that are responsible for supplying components such as wiring.  To contain the rapidly s

Hyosung Heavy Industries said Friday it won a contract to supply high-voltage switchgears in Sweden, clenching a second deal in Europe to expand its presence there. According to the company, it recently landed a contract with Svenska Kraftnet, Sweden’s national power grid, to supply 420-kilovolt switchgears. The company said it will supply the high-voltage switchgears to electric stations in Stockholm by 2021. “Hyosung Heavy Industries plan to expand its power apparatus business

South Korean steel giant Posco said Friday its operating profit dropped 30.2 percent in 2019 from the previous year, amid the overall industry downturn and protectionism by major trading partners. The steelmaker said its revenue stood at 64.3 trillion won ($53.9 billion), down 0.9 percent on-year. The operating profit posted at 3.86 trillion won, while net profit was 1.98 trillion won last year. The operating margin recorded 6 percent. Its sales volume increased by 400,000 tons on-year to re

South Korean chipmaker SK hynix’s operating profit in 2019 plummeted 87 percent to 2.7 trillion won ($2.2 billion), amid the continued fall in memory chip prices and lower demand, according to its earnings report released Friday. The world’s second-biggest memory provider raised 26.9 trillion won in annual sales last year, a 33.3 percent plunge from 2018. The net profit nosedived 87 percent to 2.02 trillion won for the whole year. The company’s operating margin also droppe