The South Korean government announced Tuesday it will inject 61.9 billion won ($51.3 million) by 2025 to foster Asia’s first human resources platform for bioprocessing talents. Ministers of trade and health -- Sung Yun-mo and Park Neung-hoo -- attended the signing of a memorandum of understanding in central Seoul. In what would be Asia’s first state-driven agenda to foster bioprocessing professionals, the memorandum holds the Trade Ministry responsible for establishing a good manuf

South Korean full-service carrier Korean Air has released a video featuring Korean Air CEO Cho Won-tae and some 30 employees disinfecting the inside of an airplane, the airline said Tuesday.  In a video titled “We are waiting for you,” which runs just over a minute and a half, Cho and the employees sanitize the interior of the plane by spraying disinfectant on shelves, monitors, safety belts, tables and lavatories. The disinfectant, called MD-125, is effective for seven days.

Low-cost carrier Jin Air Co. said Tuesday it will resume its flights to the Chinese city of Xian, about six months after suspending them due to the new coronavirus outbreak. A 189-seat B737-800 is set to depart Thursday from South Korea's southern resort island of Jeju at 8:30 a.m. in the resumption of a weekly flight to Xian. Jin Air stopped its flights to Xian on Jan. 30 following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic from China late last year. Jin Air had suspended all of its internationa

LG Electronics Inc. said Tuesday it has launched a networking group with industry experts to explore future technologies and new business opportunities in a move to boost its digital capability. The South Korean tech firm said the group, named the Innovation Council, is comprised of 12 experts in the fields of artificial intelligence, big data, cloud, robots and mobility. The members of the council include Sri Shivananda, chief technology officer (CTO) at Paypal; Adrian Cockcroft, vice pres

The new coronavirus pandemic has crippled every aspect of daily life as people increasingly opt to reduce contact, stay at home and shun visits to closed environments out of fear of contracting the virus. But the movie industry, one of the sectors hit hardest by the COVID-19 outbreak, is pinning hopes on a rebound during the summer, albeit far slower and weaker than expected, as the economy and people begin to limp back to normality. "July will be our most important pacemaker for a rebou

South Korean food maker Nongshim said Monday its US sales totaled about $164 million in the first half of this year, the firm’s highest-ever figure in the country, led by sales of Shin Ramyun. The company attributed the notable sales in the US to the brand power of Shin Ramyun, its flagship noodle brand. The company also said the popularity was helped by increased demand for instant food products amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The South Korean company’s instant noodle products are g

BAT Korea said Monday that it has appointed Kim Eun-ji as its new country manager. She is the first female chief in the South Korean tobacco industry. Kim, who served as the company’s brand director in Indonesia, joined the company in 2004 and has 16 years of experience in the tobacco industry, BAT Korea said. As the new CEO, she will be responsible for leading the domestic trade business of BAT Korea, aligned with the group strategy, the company said. The company said Kim will help

For public health, authorities around the world should adopt differentiated regulations for heated tobacco products and conventional cigarettes, as the two are too different to be grouped together, Philip Morris International Chief Executive Officer Andre Calantzopoulos said Monday. Speaking at a webinar media brief, Calantzopoulos hailed the recent decision of US Food and Drug Administration to authorize marketing of its heated tobacco product IQOS as a ”historic“ and ”impo

The Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology said Monday its researchers have identified interferon as the cause of cytokine storm in severely affected COVID-19 patients. Interferon is a type of cytokine that has been known to bring up antiviral defenses against infections. While they have been known as the good cytokines, the researchers at KAIST believe they may trigger adverse effects in COVID-19 patients. This finding may provide grounds for new treatment approaches that target

A new law to fast-track the market entries of regenerative medicines and biologics drugs is to go into effect from next month. Relevant players in South Korea have been hoping the new rules will accelerate their development. To be effective starting Aug. 28, the new bio law, nicknamed the “Cheomsaeng” law, seeks to ensure the safety of and support for cutting-edge regenerative medicine and biologics drugs. “Cheom” is short for “cheomdan,” which means “c

Powerful batteries on the way from LG Chem, Samsung SDI and SK Innovation will offer longer range

The average number of days South Korean workrs will spend their summer vacation is slightly up from last year to reach 3.8 days, according to a survey of the Korea Enterprises Federation. According to its survey of 793 local firms with five or more employees, 58 percent of companies with 300 or more employees said they would allow employees to take five days or more for their summer vacations. Around 51.3 percent of companies with less than 300 workers said they plan to have workers to take a

The operator of South Korea’s top mobile messenger KakaoTalk is testing a new solution specifying intra-office communication, according to sources Monday. Kakao has been developing the platform since May and it is likely to be launched in September. The company’s artificial intelligence subsidiary Kakao Enterprise is currently testing the messenger service, and will be distributed to affiliates to carry out additional pilot tests. Kakao co-CEO Yeo Min-soo first hinted at the lau

Since Mercedes-Benz Korea introduced its first E-Class premium family sedan lineup here in 2003, 239,760 of the cars had been sold as of June.  The current E-Class, the 10th-generation model, was launched in 2016. Within three years, it became the first premium sedan model from a foreign carmaker to achieve 100,000 units of sales in such a short time. Behind the popularity of the E-Class is not only its dynamic performance and intelligent driving assistant features, but a varied lin

GS Engineering & Construction said Monday that it will begin using a four-legged robot named Spot at its construction sites following successful trials. This is the first time the robot -- developed by American engineering company Boston Dynamics -- will be put to work on construction sites in South Korea, said the building company, which is teaming up with construction software startup Cupix. During the tests earlier this month, Spot was equipped with cutting-edge devices such as an inter