Despite forecasts that there will be an unprecedented boost in global demand for the flu vaccine this year, Sanofi Pasteur Korea said Friday it will continue to provide free inoculations for the homeless. “Due to COVID-19 this year, we have seen an unprecedented increase in influenza vaccine demand as health authorities seek to prevent what is preventable and keep people who are at risk of influenza safe,” a company official said. Sanofi Pasteur anticipates around a 20 percent i

ULikeKorea, a preventive health care company for livestock, said Friday that it has expanded its bio-capsule services to sheep in Mongolia. ULikeKorea’s LiveCare bio-capsule has passed proof of concept at sheep farms in Erdene Soum, Mongolia, some 50 kilometers east of the capital Ulaanbaatar using SK TNS’ 6-kilometer long-range Lora network and one other foreign partner’s collaboration. Mongolia has a vast number of sheep, with the country’s livestock population esti

SK Bioscience will contract develop and manufacture American biotechnology firm Novavax’s COVID-19 vaccine, the company said Thursday. Through a trilateral agreement, SK Bioscience, Novavax and Korea’s Ministry of Healthcare will collaborate to quickly and stably produce the vaccine; support equitable global distribution; and improve public healthcare in Korea through efforts to secure supply. SK Bioscience, a vaccine-specialized spin-off of SK Chemical, recently rose in global r

Hanwha Power Systems said Thursday it plans to generate electricity using pressure from gas pipelines. According to South Korea’s leading industrial air compressor maker, it will develop a system that can transform natural gas decompression energy into electrical energy. “High pressure gas has to be decompressed to low pressure gas before it is distributed to households. In the process, the gas expands, emitting energy. Hanwha Power Systems aims to tap this energy by installing

Korean Air and Asiana Airlines post Q2 earnings surprise

Chips, computers, smartphones chug along country’s outbound shipments

Unity said Thursday its game engine will check the safety of Doosan’s construction sites inside virtual reality. Unity Technologies Korea signed a memorandum of understanding with South Korean machinery manufacturer Doosan Infracore to verify the safety of construction sites by running a simulation inside a virtual reality built by Unity’s game engine. “Based on Unity’s game engine, the simulator will allow Doosan Infracore to accurately predict potential variables t

Starbucks Korea said Thursday it has donated 200 million won ($168,900) to support preservation of independence cultural heritage and provide scholarships to the descendants of independence patriots. As Saturday marks the country’s National Liberation Day, the coffee chain said it held a ceremony Thursday to deliver 100 million won to Cultural Heritage Administration and the National Trust for Cultural Heritage. The funds will be used to purchase and preserve cultural heritage artifact

Posco, South Korea’s largest steelmaker, said Thursday it succeeded in developing the world’s first free cutting steel using graphite, and is set for mass production of the eco-friendly steel named PosGRAM. With its new development, Posco said it will be able to raise the country’s industrial competitiveness, as PosGRAM would replace lead free cutting steel, of which its entire supply has been imported. Free cutting steel refers to the steel that is high in strength, easy t

Hyundai Glovis said Thursday it has partnered with Incheon International Airport Corp. to establish a smart parking system. The South Korean logistics firm has signed an agreement with the IIAC to establish a test bed for smart parking. The signing ceremony was attended by CEO Kim Jung-hoon and IIAC President Koo Bon-hwan. Under the agreement, the company plans to carry out smart parking system projects in three stages, including technical verification of parking robots, pilot operation of

With wider free immunization, vaccine makers ponder how to expand production

SsangYong Motor is facing increased pressure to find new investors as it struggles to stay financially afloat as one of its local creditors withdrew their loans. Industry sources said KB Kookmin Bank has recently recovered all loans from SsangYong Motor, the balance of which stood at 8.75 billion won ($7.39 million) as of the end of the first quarter. The move puts the automaker under more pressure to repay other borrowings in time, with 389.9 billion won worth of loans coming due over the ne

GM Korea said Thursday its Chevrolet Trailblazer has been awarded the annual Wards 10 Best UX list by US automotive analysis provider WardsAuto. WardsAuto has been selecting 10 best user experience vehicles since 2016 by assessing the user-friendly technology such as touchscreens, smartphone pairing, voice-control navigation, head-up displays and the effectiveness of driver-assistance technologies such as adaptive cruise control and blind spot monitoring. A total of 18 models with new or hi

US electronics giant Whirpool has filed a petition to extend the current safeguard against South Korean competitors Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics over their exports of washing machines to the US market, according to Korean industry sources Thursday. However, the Korean companies expect the safeguard to have little impact on their current businesses even if the restriction is extended. The import restriction took effect in 2018, as Whirpool requested a 16 percent tariff on up to 1.2

The ratio of mountainside solar farms has declined from 39.2 percent in 2017 to 32.5 percent in 2018 and 31.5 percent in 2019, according to the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Energy. However, the scale of such solar farms has increased. In 2016, 529 hectares of mountainside solar farms were built. After President Moon Jae-in took office, 1,435 ha, 2,443 ha and 1,024 ha of solar farms were newly built in 2017, 2018 and 2019, respectively. As of Sunday, 12 landslides have occurred at mountai