From assisting disease prevention with DNA diagnosis, company aims for potentially curing genetic diseases

Samsung Electronics has conducted its first inspection on human rights at its smartphone manufacturing plants in Vietnam, where health, safety and labor violation issues regarding female workers have been raised. According to the company’s recently released sustainability report 2019, Samsung said it had run on-site inspections, including interviews and document reviews, for Human Rights Impact Assessment from last year to earlier this year, as part of the procedure for due diligence

The two Koreas and Russia should take an economic -- not political -- approach to the trans-Korea gas pipeline project to make the idea feasible, said the chief of the Korea Energy Economics Institute at a forum on Friday. “As for the gas pipeline project, South Korea, North Korea and Russia have different interests and calculations,” said Cho Yong-sung, president of the KEEI, in a keynote speech during a forum, titled “Trans-Korea Gas Pipeline Project: Enhancing Regional Coope

A South Korean court has rejected Mercedes-Benz's request to cancel a multibillion-won penalty imposed on the carmaker for violating emission rules, judicial sources said Friday.The environment ministry fined the German luxury carmaker's Korean unit about 7.8 billion won ($6.75 million) in 2017 for importing and selling 8,246 vehicles in 21 models without obtaining approval for changes in components controlling emissions and noise.The Seoul Administrative Court ruled against the company in a sui

YouTube on Thursday announced two big changes to its browsing features, giving users more control over video recommendations.Users will soon have a “Don’t recommend channel” button, for content that is not relevant to their interests. Videos from rejected content creators will still be discoverable on the platform, but they will not come up on the recommended list or on the YouTube homepage. There will also be a new feature that sorts recommended videos into different topics, s

Cloud-based software streamlines biosimilar business

South Korea and Iraq have initialed a double taxation avoidance pact, South Korea's finance ministry said Friday, in a move that could boost bilateral economic cooperation.The agreement is set to take effect after a formal signing and parliamentary ratifications in both countries, according to the ministry.The move comes as South Korean construction companies are participating in major infrastructure projects in the war-torn country. Hanwha Engineering & Construction Corp. is set to build 10

South Korea's industrial output edged down 0.5 percent in May from a month earlier due in part to decreased oil refining, government data showed Friday.The data compiled by Statistics Korea showed oil refining fell14 percent in May from a month earlier, while production in the service sector increased 0.1 percent on-month.From a year earlier, industrial output rose 1 percent. Kim Bo-kyoung, director of Statistics Korea's industry statistics division, said decreased oil refining can be blamed on

South Korea is ready to provide an array of benefits to US companies seeking to invest in Asia's fourth-largest economy, the country's trade minister said Friday."Cooperation between South Korea and US investors has become even more important than ever amid increased investment in high-end technologies, emerging industries and startups," Trade Minister Yoo Myung-hee said during a meeting with members of the American Chamber of Commerce in Korea. The remark came as US firms have been ex

　Kakao’s blockchain subsidiary Ground X on Thursday launched a public network platform for companies and developers, as dozens of regional tech giants pledged to work with it to promote blockchain-based businesses. 　Ground X said that its blockchain platform Klaytn has officially begun operations by releasing its mainnet for commercial use. Klaytn is designed for easier access and faster speed compared with existing blockchain platforms, and various companies have joined its test operation

Samsung Electronics plans to soon release a wide range of foldable smartphones, including one that folds outward, sources familiar with the matter told The Investor on Thursday. They said the out-folding phone would come ahead of Huawei Technologies’ version of the foldable phone. “The launch date has yet to be unveiled, but it’s likely to be earlier than the date set for Huawei,” said one of the sources on condition of anonymity. “Suppliers have already begun m

LG Electronics will offer its core technology for the manufacturing of ice-making refrigerators to one of its competitors, GE Appliance, under a licensing contract, it said Thursday. GE Appliance is currently owned by China’s Haier. The Chinese company acquired the home appliance unit of US-based electronic giant GE and operates the business in the US.  The latest licensing contract allows the Haier subsidiary to use LG’s proprietary technology for making ice cubes inside the fr

Woongjin Group said Thursday that the group will resell water purifier business Coway, just three months after completing its reacquisition, to stave off financial risks. The group will seek to sell a 25.08 percent stake in Woongjin Coway by hiring Korea Investment and Securities as an overseer. Woongjin had sold the unit to private equity MBK Partners in 2013. Then, in March, the group repurchased a 22.17 percent stake from the PE for 1.68 trillion won. It later bought an additional 2.91 percen

South Korean industrial conglomerate Hyosung said Thursday it will partner with Saudi Aramco in the area of carbon fibers. Under a memorandum of understanding, signed by Hyosung Group Chairman Cho Hyun-joon and Saudi Aramco CEO Amin H. Nasser on Tuesday, the two sides agreed to consider building a carbon fiber plant in Saudi Arabia or Korea. They also agreed to cooperate on technology development of carbon fiber production. Carbon fibers are fibers that weigh one-fourth less than steel but

GS Group said Thursday it had signed a memorandum on energy and investments with Saudi Arabia’s state-run oil company Saudi Aramco on Tuesday at Conrad Hotel in Seoul.The ceremony was attended by GS Group Vice Chairman Jung Taek-geun and Saudi Aramco President Amin H. Nasser, as well as executives of GS Engineering & Construction and GS Caltex.  Based on the agreement, the two companies will seek new business opportunities in areas such as oil and petrochemicals as well as constru