Naver has become the first South Korean information technology company to join the global RE100 renewable energy initiative to achieve carbon neutrality, the firm said Monday. The RE100 initiative, which is led by the Climate Group in partnership with CDP -- formerly known as Carbon Disclosure Project -- commits members to using 100 percent renewable electricity. Naver said it plans to initiate its “2040 Carbon Negative” roadmap, which was established last year, to meet the goal

Samsung Life Science Fund has invested $15 million in US biotech Senda Biosciences in efforts to foster core technology of next-generation biopharmaceuticals, Samsung Biologics said Wednesday. Senda Biosciences is a therapeutics platform company specialized in programming to the cell by using the code from natural nanoparticles. The US biotech’s platform includes a messenger RNA engine and the first-ever atlas of nature-derived programmable systems at the molecular level and across all k

The Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute has developed core equipment required for the ground testing of NASA’s future space observatory project, the Ministry of Science and ICT said Tuesday. The state-run KASI has put together a cryogenic vacuum chamber for NASA’s project -- Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization, and Ices Explorer, also known as SPHEREx. If successful, the project will mark the world’s first observation of the entir

SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won discussed shared commitments to global health with Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Foundation, SK Bioscience said Wednesday. According to officials, SK Discovery Executive Vice Chairman Chey Chang-won and SK Bioscience CEO Ahn Jae-yong also attended the meeting in Yeouido, western Seoul. The SK leaders and Gates talked about how they can cooperate to improve global health. SK Bioscience said the company and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation hav

SK Group, South Korea’s second-largest conglomerate, has invested $250 million in Bill Gates’ small nuclear power reactor developer TerraPower in an effort to cut down global carbon emissions and build up the group’s green energy portfolio, officials said Monday. According to the group’s announcement, SK Inc. and SK Innovation became co-lead investors of TerraPower’s investment attraction plan worth $750 million along with Gates. The Korean companies’ i

Samsung Electronics executive vice president Yang Tae-jong said the IT giant’s newest smart wearable device -- Galaxy Watch5 series -- offers the world’s most advanced sleep-tracking technology in a press conference held Thursday in New York, a day after the Galaxy Unpacked August 2022 event. “Galaxy Watch5 is loaded with various technologies including an innovative bioactive sensor that can measure biometrics to help (users) stay healthy. Galaxy Watch5 will be the best partn

ANDONG, North Gyeongsang Province -- Hundreds of vials were lined up on the belt of a packaging machine at L House, SK Bioscience’s vaccine manufacturing facility in Andong, North Gyeongsang Province, on Wednesday afternoon, as the developer of South Korea’s first homegrown COVID-19 vaccine SKYCovione is poised to roll out the vaccine’s first batch by the end of August. A few technicians, who were covered from head to toe with sterilized gear -- protective shoes, clothing and

The Korea Communications Commission will look into whether app market operators -- Apple, Google and One Store -- are in violation of a Korean law that bans forcing certain in-app payment methods among app developers, the regulatory agency said Tuesday. The fact-checking investigation will begin from Aug. 16, according to the KCC. App market operators that only allow certain payment options or refuse app registrations or updates of app developers that use external links for in-app purchases co

The South Korean government will draw up a frequency spectrum plan by the end of this year in efforts to support the growth of new industries such as electric vehicles, robots and urban air mobility, the Ministry of Science and ICT said Tuesday. “We hope that the government’s preemptive supply of frequency and policy improvements will serve as a foundation for Korea to lead the global market in various new industries, including wireless charging of EVs in times of digital transform

Korean biotechnology firms hoping to ink successful deals with foreign pharmaceutical companies must fully comprehend their potential partners’ A to Z’s, a legal expert in out-license deals said. “(Global big pharmas) want something that’s going to be successful and hopefully innovative, and both help patients and provide care, but also be valuable and create profit for the company,” Joshua Hofheimer, a partner and co-head of Global Life Sciences industry group at

South Korea’s first lunar mission Danuri is all set to be launched into space on a SpaceX Falcon rocket on Friday morning, the Ministry of Science and ICT said Thursday. According to the ministry, the SpaceX Falcon rocket has been erected at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida as of 11:15 a.m., Korea time. Danuri, formally known as the Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter, will blast off at 8:08 a.m. on Friday, Korea time, or 7:08 p.m. on Thursday, local Eastern Standard time.

Scientists have developed a new technology to allow mass production of biodegradable microrobots that are likely to contribute to improving the efficacy of regenerative medicine such as stem cell therapy, Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology said Tuesday. A joint research team composed of scientists at DGIST, Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital of The Catholic University of Korea and Swiss public university ETH Zurich came up with a method to produce over 100 biodegradable microrobo

LG Chem has applied for phase 3 clinical trials of its gout treatment candidate Tigulixostat with the US Food and Drug Administration, the South Korean company said Monday. If the application gets the go-ahead sign from the FDA, it will mark the first time for LG Chem to carry out phase 3 clinical trials of its self-developed new drug candidate globally including in the US, according to the company. Gout is a painful form of arthritis that is characterized by sudden, severe attacks of pain, sw

SK Bioscience has submitted the application for conditional approval of the COVID-19 vaccine SKY Covione with the European Medicines Agency in efforts to expand its presence in the global market, the South Korean vaccine developer said Monday. Beginning with the European region, SK Bioscience said it will look to showcase the South Korean COVID-19 vaccine on the global stage as the size of the coronavirus vaccine market grows rapidly. South Korea’s Ministry of Food and Drug Ministry gav

GS Entec -- South Korean equipment and facilities manufacturer of chemical and energy plants -- has signed a strategic partnership with Sif Netherlands BV to enter the offshore wind power business, the company said Sunday. GS Entec will introduce the Dutch firm’s monopile manufacturing technology under the partnership, according to the company. A monopile is a steel tube foundation that serves as a supporting pillar in the water. Monopiles are most commonly used for offshore wind turbi