With less than a month left to the Samsung Galaxy S21 debut, leaks of renders of the first new phones of 2021 are raising expectations about remarkable changes brought to the Samsung devices. The leaks offered glimpses into some noticeable changes in the Galaxy S21 lineup, such as smaller camera cutouts and greater use of flat displays. While it has been widely known that the Galaxy S21 Ultra, the highest-end model among the lineup, would support the stylus S Pen as an option, the entry mo

South Korea said Tuesday it will invest 520 billion won ($468.7 million) in biotechnology next year as part of efforts to develop treatment and vaccines for COVID-19. The Ministry of Science and ICT said the figure represents a 24.9 percent hike from 2020. The ministry said it will spend 31.7 billion won on COVID-19 treatment and vaccine development next year and 10.2 billion won to acquire technology to respond to new infectious diseases. For research into new core biotech industries, the mi

Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering Co., the world's leading shipbuilding group, said Tuesday it has received a 607.2 billion-won ($549 million) liquefied natural gas (LNG) ship order in Panama. Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries Co., one of three shipbuilding affiliates of the holding company, will build the three LNG carriers for an unidentified shipper in Panama by September 2024, the company said in a regulatory filing. Two other shipbuilding affiliates are Hyundai Heavy Industries C

SK Telecom Co., South Korea's largest mobile carrier, said Tuesday it has partnered with Samsung Electronics Co. and Kakao Corp., the country's top mobile messenger operator, to develop an artificial intelligence (AI) platform to help combat the COVID-19 pandemic. The telecom operator said the three companies formed a joint research and development group to develop and unveil the AI, which will offer preventative advice against COVID-19 infections, by early next year. According to SK Telecom,

Cash-strapped SsangYong Motor on Monday filed for court receivership, after failing to pay back about 165 billion won ($149.5 million) worth of debts to its creditor banks. In a statement, the automaker said its executive board has made the decision to apply for corporate rehabilitation and related documents were submitted to the Seoul Bankruptcy Court in the afternoon. “We are truly sorry to worry all interested parties, financial institutes and employees at this time when the world

South Korea’s Ministry of Economy and Finance said Monday it will establish 110 hydrogen charging stations by the first half of next year, as part of its plan to nurture three target industries -- non-system semiconductor, future mobility and bio-health. The plan was unveiled at the first steering meeting for “the innovative growth of big 3 industries,” presided over by Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki on Monday, to draw up a comprehensive blueprint to h

Different tactics deployed to unlock markets abroad

South Korea has the fastest 5G download speed in the world, reaching over 350 megabits per second (Mbps), a report showed Monday. The country's 5G download speed stood at an average 351.2 Mbps, followed by Saudi Arabia at 272.8 Mbps and Taiwan at 247.7 Mbps, industry tracker Opensignal said in a report, citing data collected between Sept. 1 and Nov. 29 in 15 global markets with 5G networks. The result marks an improvement for South Korea from a previous report by Opensignal in October, which h

The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety said Monday it has approved South Korea’s first N95 respirators for use by health professionals and quarantine workers in COVID-19 situations. Current KF94 masks are available for the general public, as they are not medical devices. However, the N95 masks are classified as medical devices, and are only available to medical personnel. “The N95 masks can filter 95 percent of particles of 0.3 micrometers, offering the same safety and function wit

T’way Air has signed a letter of intent to lease three Airbus A330-300 jets late next year to introduce new medium and long-haul flights, the South Korean low-cost carrier said Monday. The move comes as part of the budget airline’s efforts to prepare for a rebound in air travel demand after the pandemic that has dealt a severe blow to the aviation industry is over. The budget airline currently operates 27 B737-800 chartered aircraft on routes to Vietnam, China, Japan and Taiwan. Bu

A new survey has revealed that face masks, hand sanitizers and other personal protective equipment against the coronavirus are among the least-wanted gifts during this year’s Christmas. While the pandemic-safe gifts failed to drum up enthusiasm, cash and gift cards were the most wanted gifts, found the survey conducted by job reccrutiing portal Incruit. Though antivirus items remain crucial amid the ongoing pandemic, people are not looking forward to receiving them as gifts for the hol

JTI Korea has made donations to Community Chest of Korea to provide smart devices to support education of the socially vulnerable, the company said Monday. The tobacco company said the fund will be delivered to Work Together Foundation to buy smart devices for education, as schools are running online classes in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. “We are making the donations to help students who are facing difficulties in taking classes online (due to lack of devices) and to improve th

Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering said Monday it had clinched a deal worth 582 billion won ($528 million) for seven vessels with European shipping companies. The Korean shipbuilder said it has signed the contract to build four 13,200-twenty-foot-equivalent-unit container vessels, two 40,000-square-meter liquefied petroleum gas carriers and one product carrier, for the companies in Europe, unidentified. The four container vessels, which are 335 meters in length, 51 meters in widt

South Korea's video game market was the fifth largest in the world in 2019, falling one position from the previous year, a report showed Monday. The country's video game market reached sales of 15.6 trillion won ($14.2 billion) last year, up 9 percent from the previous year, according to an annual report by the Korea Creative Content Agency. The country ranked behind the United States, China, Japan and the United Kingdom in the global video market worth a total $186.5 billion last year. South

South Korean drugmaker maker Daewoong Pharmaceutical Co. aims to launch a treatment drug for the novel coronavirus early next year, the company's chief said Monday. Foistar, an oral protease inhibitor, is currently undergoing phase two clinical trial on COVID-19 patients with mild symptoms. The company aims to release the outcome of the clinical study later this month. "Our aim is for actual patients to be able to take the drug starting early next year through a conditional authorization