Seoul International Sourcing Fair 2021, a platform for discovering new business partners and carrying out business-to-business transactions through networking, is currently being held at Coex. With the environmental, social and governance sector gaining momentum, some 150 small and medium-sized enterprises and startups are displaying eco-friendly consumer goods in various categories, including gifts, living, beauty, smart devices and wellness.  Participants browse a variety of eco-friendl

South Korea's industry ministry said Saturday it will spare no efforts to win a nuclear plant project from the Czech Republic as the European country is open to have Asia's No. 4 economy as a potential partner. The remark came after Industry Minister Moon Sung-wook visited the European nation, where he met Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis on Friday (Czech time) to discuss the two countries' possible cooperation in the nuclear energy segment. During the meeting, Babis pointed out that South Ko

South Korean biopharmaceutical company Celltrion’s monoclonal antibody treatment Regkirona, or CT-P59, has shown initial promise in treating patients infected with COVID-19 variants, the company said Friday, quoting preclinical results from its recent animal test. Celltrion said it found that the injection of its COVID-19 treatment Regkirona significantly reduced viral titers in 50 experimental mice infected with the South African variant. The mice injected with Regkirona showed a 100 p

Hanwha Solutions said Friday that its wholly-owned subsidiary Hanwha Compound has signed an agreement with SPC Pack to co-develop a biodegradable plastic material and use it for packaging SPC’s products. SPC Group is a South Korean food and confectionery conglomerate owning some 40 brands including Paris Baguette, Shake Shack Korea, Baskin Robbins Korea, Dunkin’ Donuts Korea, among others. The new packaging material will be based on poly lactic acid, which is made from fermented

South Korea, which aims to go carbon neutral by 2050, will expand its smart water management by installing floating solar farms near dams and applying hydrothermal energy technologies to data centers. The Ministry of Environment said Friday that it will conduct six water management projects reflecting discussion results on carbon-neutral water management for climate resilience at the P4G Seoul Summit held last month. As part of the projects, the government will begin the construction of eigh

LG Electronics’ North American headquarters in New Jersey has been granted an eco-friendly certification from the US Green Building Council, according to the company’s newsroom Friday. At the USGBC Leadership Awards held this month, LG Electronics received a Platinum New Construction certification, the highest grade in USGBC’S Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design rating system, which measures how buildings promote employee well-being, are energy and water efficient,

South Korea’s government has officially approved three major taxi-hailing service brands as platform operators, in a gesture to diversity transportation means, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport said Friday. Under the revised Automobile Transport Business Act, transportation platform operators are to register themselves at the Land Ministry in order to charge brokerage commission to users. The three brands are Kakao T, run by Kakao Mobility; Banban Taxi by Kornatus; and

Samsung Electronics Co. is considering holding its technology conference this year despite the novel coronavirus pandemic, industry insiders said Friday. The South Korean tech giant is reviewing a plan to hold the Samsung Developer Conference (SDC) in October or November as vaccinations pick up pace around the globe. Samsung, the world's largest memory chip and smartphone vendor, is reportedly looking to hold an in-person conference this year but is also considering online options for the even

Hyundai Motor and affiliate Kia said Thursday their combined sales in Europe more than doubled last month from a year earlier on robust demand and lower base effect. Hyundai and Kia sold a total of 88,171 vehicles in Europe in May, sharply up from 42,492 units in the same month a year ago, the companies' sales data showed.  The monthly result got a boost from strong sales of Hyundai's Tucson and Kona sport utility vehicles and Kia's Sportage SUV and Cee'd crossover utility vehicle, a

South Korea’s Ministry of Science and ICT said Thursday it has revoked approvals for around 1,700 pieces of network equipment and communications devices manufactured by a nearly 400 companies, including China’s Huawei and Korea’s Samsung Electronics. The decision affected a total of 1,696 pieces of equipment from 378 companies that were found to have test records certified by an entity not approved by the Korean government. Under the country’s radio wave law, communi

KT, the second largest telecom business in South Korea, is moving to expand its presence in the financial sector by making an investment in a local fintech firm, the carrier said Thursday. The mobile carrier signed a deal to invest a total of 23.6 billion won ($20.8 million) in WebCash Group that owns WebCash, BizPlay and Roum IT, as part of forming a strategic partnership with the financial IT platform group for enterprises. It is KT’s second investment made in a financial firm afte

The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety has granted approval for a phase 2a clinical trial of Engensis, an investigational gene therapy for treating amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, under development by South Korean biotechnology company Helixmith, the company said Thursday. Engensis is a gene therapy that utilizes a plasmid, a small circular DNA molecule, to provide the hepatocyte growth factor gene to patients’ nerve and nerve-supporting cells, whi

Kakao, the nation’s largest mobile messenger operator, is preparing to launch a new subscription-based content platform in August, according to the company on Thursday. The company is currently running a closed beta test of the new platform among its content partners, it said. The platform will allow producers to create, edit and publish various forms of content including news, videos, music and texts. Users can choose the content they want and subscribe via KakaoTa

South Korean biotechnology company Cha Biotech has received approval from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety for its plan to conduct a phase 1 clinical trial of a hepatitis B third-generation vaccine, the firm said Thursday. Following the green light, Cha Vaccine Institute, the firm’s vaccine development subsidiary, will begin administrating the vaccine candidate to adults between the ages of 19-65, aiming to complete the study by October 2023. The hepatitis B vaccine candidate is dev

Kia on Thursday unveiled the new design concept for its showrooms, renamed “Kia Stores” to reflect a renewed brand identity and strategy. Each Kia Store will provide customized service and a varied mobility experience to users, officials said in a release. The Kia Store model was inspired by the company’s “opposites united” design philosophy, which seeks to embrace opposing concepts and combine them in an integrated design. To maximize the contrast, every Kia