Doosan Bobcat Inc., a South Korean manufacturer of farm and construction equipment, said Thursday that it has posted robust sales in the North American compact tractor market. Doosan Bobcat sold a total of 1,400 compact tractors in the January-May period in North America and expects to meet its annual sales target of 3,000 units this year, the company said in an emailed statement. "Doosan Bobcat has made successful entry into the North American compact tractor market, buoyed by its var

LG Electronics said Thursday a study found its flagship steam-based home appliance Tromm Styler is capable of disinfecting viruses in masks. According to a recent test by a research team at Chonnam National University, the anti-virus clothing care course of the Tromm Styler removes over 99.99 percent of viruses such as influenza A, adenovirus, herpes and porcine epidemic diarrhea virus, the company said. The PEDV is another type of coronavirus, which is different from the novel coronavirus

Samsung Electronics Co., the world's largest memory chip producer, said Thursday it has launched a cloud based design platform for local small fabless semiconductor companies to better foster the country's system chip industry.  The South Korean tech titan introduced the Samsung Advanced Foundry Ecosystem (SAFE) Cloud Design Platform, in collaboration with Rescale Inc., a major high performance computing solutions provider. The platform provides a virtual environment for chip design in

YouTube is seen to be the biggest online platform through which misinformation and fake news is being spread in South Korea, according to a new survey. The latest “Digital News Report 2020” released by the UK-based Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism noted that 31 percent of online news consumers surveyed picked YouTube were most concerned about the platform being used to spread false information. It was followed by Facebook (10 percent), KakaoTalk and other messenger se

South Korea's drug safety watchdog said Thursday it has decided to revoke the permit of the country's first botulinum toxin products by Medytox for using an unapproved ingredient and fabricating related documents. The three Meditoxin products -- which come in bottles of 50 units, 100 units and 150 units -- will be permanently removed from domestic shelves starting on June 25, according to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety. The ministry also ordered Medytox to recall the three products, urg

Samsung Electronics Co. launched a blood pressure monitoring mobile application in South Korea on Thursday.  Samsung said users of its smartwatch, the Galaxy Watch Active2, will be able to access the Samsung Health Monitor app, which can measure and track their blood pressure. The software leverages the smartwatch's wrist sensors and conducts pulse wave analysis to check a person's blood pressure. To measure blood pressure, users must have the app installed on both the Galaxy Watch Activ

Purchases made through mobile gadgets like smartphones in South Korea reached a record high in the first quarter of the year due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, a report showed Thursday. The total value of mobile shopping transactions reached a fresh high of 24.79 trillion won ($20.3 billion) in the January-March period, up 280 billion won from three months earlier, according to an e-commerce report from market researcher DMC Media. In contrast, overall online shopping purchases dropped

South Korea's major retailers are expected to see their operating profits more than halve in the second quarter amid the new coronavirus pandemic, a poll showed Thursday. The combined operating profits of Lotte Shopping Co., Shinsegae Inc., E-Mart Inc. and Hyundai Department Store Co. are estimated to be 60.3 billion won ($50 million) in the April-June period, compared with 180.4 billion won a year earlier, according to the survey by Yonhap Infomax, the financial news arm of Yonhap News Agency

Kia Motors Corp., South Korea's second-biggest carmaker, unveiled renderings of its all-new Carnival minivan on Thursday ahead of its domestic launch in the third quarter. The fourth-generation Carnival comes with a dynamic radiator grille and a bold side character line that runs the length of the car, the company said in a statement. At the rear, the side character line trails into the back and merges with the rear lamp graphics. The roof has a bit of a fastback look, ending at the trunk li

Han Sung Motor, an official dealer of Mercedes-Benz Korea, said Wednesday that it has completed the preliminary match for the Mercedes Trophy Korea 2020 Give ’N Golf tournament. Some 380 Han Sung Motor customers participated in the match, called the Han Sung Classic, on May 25, June 8 and June 15 at the Gapyeong Benest Golf Club and Anyang Benest Golf Club, the company said.  Prizes already awarded included products from KGC Korea Ginseng Co., Swedish bedding brand Duxiana and prem

GS Group Chairman Huh Tae-soo urged company executives Wednesday to pay more attention to new consumer trends, adding digital transformation based on mobile and artificial intelligence will become more active in the future. His remarks came at the GS executive forum held for the second time since he took the helm early this year. The forum was attended by around 30 senior executives from all affiliates. “The political, social and economic shocks and changes caused by the pandemic are

Korea Aerospace Industries on Wednesday signed an agreement with the government of South Gyeongsang Province and the Human Resources Development Service of Korea to help support the hiring of foreign workforce. The signing ceremony was held at KAI’s Sacheon headquarters in the presence of ambassadors representing relevant countries. The program will benefit those who fall under South Korea’s Employment Permit System. The system allows efficient employment of foreign workers for

South Korean e-commerce giant Coupang said Tuesday it ranked second in the eighth edition of the CNBC Disruptor 50 list from among 1,355 nominees worldwide. The list of 50 private companies with the potential of becoming the “next generation of billion-dollar businesses” is released by the US broadcaster annually. Coupang said it was the first Korean company to be included in the list. According to CNBC’s description, the 2020 CNBC Disruptors are “50 private companie

Starbucks Korea said Tuesday it is set to open its renovated Hwangudan Store in Seoul, upping its efforts to safeguard the domestic cultural heritage. According to the coffee chain, it has revamped the existing Sogongdong Store in Jung-gu to reflect the designs of Hwangudan -- a site for performance of the rite of heaven, designated as South Korea’s Historic Site No. 157 in 1967. Starbucks Korea held the opening ceremony of the store with the Cultural Heritage Administration and Nation

JW Pharmaceutical said Wednesday it has applied to patent its anti-cancer pipeline CWP291 as a potential COVID-19 treatment. CWP291 is a Wnt/beta-catenin inhibitor that is under development as a first-in-class treatment for acute myeloid leukemia, multiple myeloma and stomach cancer. The South Korean firm is reviewing the pipeline’s ability to hinder Glucose Regulated Protein 78 (GRP78) manifestation to be applicable as a COVID-19 treatment. GRP78 plays a central role in a tumor&rsqu