The South Korean government is looking for a significant budget cut for COVID-19 vaccine and treatment development programs next year, a lawmaker said Monday. According to the budget proposal that main opposition People Power Party Rep. Jeon Bong-min acquired from the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the government plans to spend 89.3 billion won ($76 million) on support of COVID-19 vaccine and treatment development in 2022, down 32 percent compared to this year. Rep. Jeon said the support to c

South Korean drug company JW Pharmaceutical said Monday that a patent regarding its gout treatment URC102 has been granted by the European Patent Office.　 URC102 is a potential inhibitor of human uric acid transporter 1, which JW Pharmaceutical is developing as a potential treatment for patients with gout. It completed the phase 2b clinical trial in March, which involved 171 patients with gout here. According to the firm, the patent includes manufacturing measures for URC102 and a key intermed

Taylor, Texas rises as another possible candidate, but Samsung remains undecided

Hanwha General Chemicals, the chemical affiliate of Hanwha Group, announced a new company name, “Hanwha Impact,” as it seeks to shift its identity to focus on future-oriented, green business fields. The new name reflects its new vision to “create a positive impact on humanity and the earth through technological innovations,” explained the company. To execute the vision, Hanwha Impact will increase what it called “impact investing,” investing in companies

Korean Air said Monday that it had joined hands with petroleum and refinery company SK Energy to launch carbon-neutral jet fuel in an effort to tackle climate change. Under the partnership, the airline will purchase a month’s worth of carbon-neutral jet fuel for domestic flights departing from Jeju and Cheongju. Carbon-neutral jet fuel can be achieved when enough carbon credits are purchased to offset the total carbon footprint produced through fuel production, transport and consumption

Samsung Heavy Industries Co. said Monday it has succeeded in demonstrating a ship collision avoidance system. The shipbuilder's remote autonomous navigation system, known as Samsung Autonomous Ship (SAS), helped two autonomous ships travelling their trajectories avoid by detecting each other in seas off the southwestern island of Gageo, Samsung Heavy said. Samsung Heavy said the demonstration on the sea is the first of its kind in the world. A 9,200-ton ship of Mokpo National Maritime Univers

 The government will virtually host its annual K-Safety Expo from Sept. 13-17, where about 300 local companies and state-funded agencies will showcase their products and technology.　 The fair is the local safety industry’s largest event, organized with pangovernmental support. It was originally planned to be held at the country’s largest convention center Kintex, just northwest of Seoul in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province.  Spectators can view the exhibits across seven fields &

The value of corporate mergers and acquisitions executed in South Korea rose 48.7 percent in the first half of this year, with conglomerates leading deal activity in a bid to identify new growth opportunities. According to data released Sunday by the Korea Fair Trade Commission, a total of 489 deals have cleared the FTC’s review process in the first half of this year, with their total value amounting to 221 trillion won ($191.2 billion). That is a 15.3 percent increase from a year earl

Volkswagen’s bestselling SUV comes with enhanced features

The number of drugs under development at South Korean companies has increased by 158 percent in the past three years, according to a local survey released Sunday. According to Korea Pharmaceutical and Bio-Pharma Manufacturers Association’s survey on 299 pharmaceutical and biotech companies here, 193 firms currently operate 1,477 new product pipelines, up 157.8 percent from 100 firms’ 573 pipelines in 2018. Of the 1,477 pipelines, 599 are for developing traditional nonbiologic pha

Sales of local restaurants and bars have dropped to their lowest level due to toughened social distancing rules during the COVID-19 pandemic, government data showed Sunday. According to the Korean Statistical Information Service, the retail sales index of restaurants and bars for the first seven months of this year marked 77, the lowest since it started to compile related data in 2015 with a benchmark of 100. The data showed the COVID-19 pandemic has weighed on the already-struggling restaur

Move marks shift away from car carriers to creating hydrogen value chain

Amid growing gamer fatigue over extreme pay-to-win games, a South Korean developer has come up with a new mobile game that offers just the opposite: Users can make money simply by enjoying the game. Wemade’s Mir 4 is a 3D massively multiplayer online role-playing game that carries on the previous success of the firm’s The Legend of Mir 2, which recorded 500 million global users. After its global launch in some 170 countries on Aug. 26, it ranked as the fourth-most-played MMORPG on

South Korea will host a hydrogen mobility show this week to showcase the latest technologies in fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) and trams, and discuss major trends in the hydrogen economy, its organizer said Sunday. H2 Mobility+Energy Show will take place at an exhibition center in Goyang, just north of Seoul, from Sept. 8-11, with more than 150 companies and research institutions from 12 countries, according to the Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association.  It is the nation's sec

Doosan Infracore Co., South Korea's major construction equipment maker, said Sunday it has won orders to deliver 28 large excavators to Egypt. Doosan Infracore said it has signed a supply contract for 36-ton excavators with the Egyptian defense ministry, which will be used for a state-run railway construction project. The construction unit of Korean conglomerate Doosan Group won orders for 30 pieces of construction equipment with the Egyptian government earlier this year. Doosan Infracore s