Samsung Electronics has asked local governments in Texas to provide tax breaks for its new chip plant in Austin, raising speculation that it is about to expand its production capacity in the US, according to news reports Friday. Reuters reported that the South Korean chipmaker is seeking combined tax abatements of $805.5 million over 20 years from Travis County and the city of Austin, among other tax breaks, citing documents filed with Texas state officials. There were rumors that Samsung

Financially troubled carmaker SsangYong Motor Co. said Friday it will extend the suspension of its local plant due to a lack of parts supplies from contractors. SsangYong Motor already halted its plant in Pyeongtaek, 70 kilometers south of Seoul, on Dec. 24, Dec. 28, and Feb. 3-5 as its subcontractors refused to deliver parts due to outstanding payments. The SUV-focused carmaker filed for court receivership on Dec. 21 after it failed to obtain approval for the rollover of existing loans from i

South Korea's drug safety agency said Friday it has approved pharmaceutical giant Celltrion Inc.'s COVID-19 treatment candidate on several conditions. The conditional marketing authorization of CT-P59, an anti-COVID-19 monoclonal antibody treatment candidate, marks the country's first homegrown COVID-19 treatment. The Korean Ministry of Food and Drug Safety said CT-P59 can be administered to COVID-19 patients at higher risk, referring to people aged 60 or older, or with health conditions like

Samsung Electronics Co. has asked Texas state officials to give tax breaks for its potential new chip plant, news reports showed Friday, raising speculation that the South Korean tech titan could make a big investment in the United States. The world's largest memory chipmaker has requested authorities in Texas to grant tax abatements over 20 years, which would be worth a total of $805.5 million, for its new $17 billion chip facility in Austin, Texas, according to the Austin American-Statesman n

South Korea's two largest home appliance makers -- Samsung Electronics Co. and LG Electronics Inc. -- are set to begin their duel in the vacuum cleaner market, industry observers said Friday, as they released new products boasting upgraded charging stations. LG began to sell its new CodeZero ThinQ A9S stick vacuum cleaner in South Korea that comes with a charging station, which automatically cleans out the dustbin. When the vacuum cleaner is docked in the stand, which LG calls it "all-in-

Samsung Electronics Co. clinched the No. 2 spot in US patent grants among global corporate giants in 2020, industry data showed Friday. Samsung Electronics, the world's top smartphone and memory chip maker, received 8,539 US patent grants last year, down 1 percent from the previous year, according to the data from the US Intellectual Property Organization. Yet, the flagship of Samsung Group, the top family-controlled conglomerate in South Korea, retained the No. 2 title for 14 years on end. S

Korean Air Lines Co., South Korea's biggest carrier, said Thursday its net losses narrowed in 2020 from a year earlier, as it offset the pandemic-caused slump in passenger travel with increased cargo deliveries and enjoyed decent gains from an asset sale. Net losses narrowed to 291.45 billion won ($260 million) last year from 622.76 billion won the previous year, the company said in a regulatory filing. "The proceeds from the sale of its in-flight catering and duty-free business and forei

SK Bioscience is collaborating with GlaxoSmithKline in COVID-19 vaccine development, the company said Thursday. According to SK Bioscience, its COVID-19 vaccine candidate GBP510 has shown improved T cell activity, or immune response, when used in combination with GSK’s adjuvant AS03. The two companies are running a clinical phase 1/2 trial of GBP510 and AS03, since the local drug authority’s approval of the clinical test design on Jan. 26. Adjuvants are immune boosters that are ad

Hyundai Heavy Industries Holdings Co. (HHIH) said on Thursday that it swung to the red last year from a year earlier due to losses from equity ties with its oil refining unit and the new coronavirus pandemic. Its net loss came to 789.7 billion won ($705.8 million) in 2020, compared with a net profit of 115.3 billion won a year ago, the company said in a regulatory filing. Sales fell 29 percent on-year to 18.91 trillion won last year, while it suffered an operating loss of 597.1 billion won, sw

South Korean search giant Naver Corp. said Thursday it will shut down its online portal's real-time search chart service this month amid a yearslong controversy over whether it could be prone to advertising or be used to rig public opinion. The portal giant, which draws 30 million users everyday, said in a blog post that it will shut down the service on Feb. 25 as user searches have become more diversified and specific. The search chart first appeared in 2005 and has served as a major part of

Automobile companies worldwide have been forced to curtail production as they run out of automotive chips, according to industry sources on Thursday. US-headquartered General Motors announced Wednesday, US time, that the carmaker will suspend manufacturing at three plants in North America, and operate its Bupyeong 2 assembly line in Korea at half capacity starting from Monday. Although the company didn’t reveal the exact volume of the reduction, market watchers estimate it would reach

Solar sector needs better grid infrastructure, subsidy plans and rules

SK Materials and Hyosung Chemical’s NF3 gas is enjoying an unprecedented boost in sales as demand for semiconductors and displays have spiked amid the pandemic. NF3, short for nitrogen trifluoride, is a special type of gas used during the manufacturing process of semiconductor, display and solar panels. The gas removes residue left on inner walls of the manufacturing chamber. “Thanks to the recovery of global chip and display industries, NF3 is currently selling like hotcakes,&rd

A South Korean research team funded by Samsung Electronics has developed a system that can be used to calculate the time that has elapsed since the onset of disease. The research, titled “Recording of elapsed time and temporal information about biological events using Cas9,” has been published in Cell, an international journal publishing research papers regarding life sciences. It is the first time for research funded by Samsung Future Technology Development Project to be publish

Hyundai Motor Group strides ahead, SsangYong struggles in liquidity crunch