South Korea's healthcare and cosmetics exports rose 42 percent last month from a year ago, led by shipments of COVID-19-related medical devices, industry data showed Monday. According to data from the Korea Health Industry Development Institute (KHIDI), South Korea's exports of pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and medical devices came to $1.69 billion in August, marking the 12th consecutive month of increase since September last year. The rise is largely attributable to growing demand for coronav

Doosan Group said Monday the firm sold its iconic building Doosan Tower to real estate investment company Mastern Investment Management for 800 billion won ($689 million). Doosan said the sale is aimed at improving the group’s financial structure. The group sold Doosan Solus and Doosan Tower one after another to normalize the management of its struggling construction firm Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction. It is also seeking to sell other subsidiaries such as Doosan Infracor

LG Chem is expected to notify the Spanish government within this month as to whether it will take over Nissan’s factory in the country to turn it into a battery plant, according to local media reports Monday. To salvage the Nissan plant in Barcelona that is scheduled for closure in December 2021, the Spanish government has proposed direct aid of 600 million euros ($711 million) out of the total 1.6 billion euros of investments required for the acquisition. LG Chem is set to respond to

Stinger Meister adopts Kia’s first 2.5-liter turbo engine used for Genesis models

LS Cable & System said Monday it has started mass-producing aluminum wires for electric vehicles. The cable provider expanded its investment in aluminum wires as it believes that aluminum will become a key material for vehicles amid growing competition in EV industries. Aluminium conductor wires are 40 percent lighter than conventional copper wires and can reduce the weight of wires from 25 kilograms per vehicle to about 15 kilograms, the firm said. LS Cable said it has built a factor

No. of revision bills proposed between June and Aug. jump by 40% on-year, posing great burden on businesses

Samsung Electronics Co. lost its status as the top smartphone vendor in the Indonesian smartphone market in the second quarter of the year, dropping to the third spot, a report showed Monday, as Chinese brands expanded their presence with budget devices. Samsung clinched a market share of 19.6 percent in the Southeast Asian country in the April-June period, down from 27 percent a year ago when it was the top smartphone vendor in Indonesia, according to industry tracker Counterpoint Research.

Samsung Electronics’ first wearable robot, GEMS Hip, has been certified for its safety requirements by the Korea Institute for Robot Industry Advancement, the company announced Monday. Samsung first unveiled the GEMS robot, which stands for gait enhancing and motivating system, at CES 2019. The company has developed three types of the wearable robot: GEMS Hip, GEMS Knee and GEMS Ankle. Each one supports the particular body parts’ abilities, enabling wearers to move more easily.

GC Pharma, a blood plasma-derived medicine company, said Monday that it has administered its COVID-19 plasma treatment GC5131A to the first domestic patient for a phase 2 clinical trial. In Korea, professor Chung Jin-won of the division of infectious diseases at Chung-Ang University Hospital was the first to take on GC Pharma’s GC5131A pipeline for treatment of a COVID-19 patient on Saturday. This phase 2 trial will determine the right dosage for safe and efficacious use of GC5131A. It t

Stung by the protracted new coronavirus outbreak, South Korean duty-free operators are struggling to overcome the industry-wide slump with belt-tightening measures, including increasing the number of closing days at some outlets in major local cities and cutting their overseas operations. Industry leader Lotte Duty Free began closing its outlets at COEX in southern Seoul and the southeastern port city of Busan every Sunday and Monday from this month. In April, Lotte decided not to open the tw

SK Telecom Co., South Korea's largest mobile carrier, said Monday it has released a mobile app-based DNA testing service in partnership with bio firm Macrogen Inc. and the mobile carrier's joint venture Invites Healthcare Co., expanding its involvement in the digital health care sector. The subscription-based service, named care8 DNA, is offered through a mobile application, on which users can sign up for 29 types of genetic testing, such as for nicotine reliance and hair loss, according to th

Hanwha Precision Machinery Co., a major assembly automation equipment maker in South Korea, said Monday it has developed core semiconductor packaging equipment in collaboration with the country's No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix Inc. Hanwha Precision and SK hynix worked together to commercialize the die bonder, a machine that attaches a semiconductor die to a package, such as a printed circuit board in the back-end chip packaging process. Hanwha Precision Machinery said its die bonder has better mate

Amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the volume of overseas direct investments made shrunk 27.8 percent in the second quarter, according to data released by the Ministry of Economy and Finance. The amount of overseas investments stood at $12.14 billion in the April to June period, a decline of 27.8 percent from the same period last year. The decline marked the biggest in nine quarters, since the first quarter of 2018. The net investment posted $7.61 billion, down 46 percent from a year earl

LG Electronics Inc., a major home appliance maker in South Korea, said Monday it plans to launch a hair loss treatment device within this year. South Korea's drug safety ministry recently approved the LG Pra.L MediHair as a laser apparatus for medical use, according to the company. LG said its hair growth helmet is based on Low Level Light Therapy (LLLT), which was cleared by the US Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of androgenetic alopecia. The wearable device combines 146 la

Renault Samsung Motors’ sport utility vehicles have been gaining popularity in South Korea as more consumers choose SUVs for city driving and commuting with the vehicle’s improved fuel efficiency and ride quality. Sales of SUVs in Korea this year were tallied at 315,534 so far, a 25 percent from the same period of last year. In line with the upward trend, RSM’s SUV sales have been on the rise too, the automaker said. Its best-selling model mid-sized SUV QM6 sold 24,946 uni