Today   Transport

Global shipbuilding orders at historic low in H1

Global new orders of ships fell to a historic low in the first half of the year amid the coronavirus pandemic, industry sources said Tuesday. In the January-June period, global new shipbuilding orders totaled 5.75 million compensated gross tons (CGTs), or a total of 269 ships, according to data provided by global market researcher Clarkson Research Service. The tally marks the lowest since 1996, when the market tracker began to compile related data, and a 42 percent drop from the previous y

Today   Industry

Tables turn as USITC's initial determination favors Medytox

Medytox shares made a dramatic turnaround on Tuesday, following the US International Trade Commission’s initial determination advising a 10-year sales ban of Daewoong Pharmaceutical‘s Jeuveau. Medytox, and its US partner Allergan, took Daewoong and its US parner Evolus to the USITC court in 2019 contesting that the latter‘s US-launched botulinum toxin Jeuveau was a product of industrial poaching. After the initial determination, Daewoong responded that the USITC is only an

Today   Industry

[Monitor] Koreans use smartphones more amid pandemic

Smartphone usage among South Koreans increased in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, data showed Monday. According to a survey of 1,017 adult men and women nationwide conducted by local civic group Korean Addiction Forum last month, 44.3 percent of the respondents said smartphone usage time has increased -- either slightly or greatly -- since the implementation of social distancing measures. Among the increase of content, social media and messaging accounted for the largest proportion wi

Today   Technology

Samsung preannounces Q2 earnings surprise amid COVID-19

Samsung Electronics on Tuesday announced its earnings guidance for the second quarter, which hinted an earnings surprise despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on major products. Samsung said the company would post 8.1 trillion won ($6.8 billion) in operating profit for the April to June period, which would be up about 22.7 percent from a year earlier and 25.6 percent from the previous quarter. But Q2 revenue stood at 52 trillion won, declining 7.36 percent on-year and 6.02 percent on-

Today   Industry

Samsung Q2 earnings beat estimate on chip biz, one-time gains

Samsung Electronics Co. on Tuesday delivered market forecast-beating second-quarter earnings as strong demand for server chips apparently offset a slump in smartphone sales amid the novel coronavirus pandemic. In its earnings guidance, the South Korean tech giant expected its operating profit at 8.1 trillion won ($6.7 billion) for the April-June period, up 22.7 percent from 6.6 trillion won a year ago. The second-quarter operating income is far higher than the market consensus of 6.8 trillion

Jul 6, 2020   Technology

S. Korean IT leaders call for regulation changes for fair competition with foreign tech giants

The leaders of South Korea’s leading IT firms have called on lawmakers to change regulations for fair competition with foreign tech companies at the National Assembly on Monday. Kakao CEO Yeo Min-so, Naver CEO Han Seong-sook, Woowa Brothers CEO Kim Beom-joon and other tech leaders joined the forum held by lawmakers. “Local and foreign companies are offering their services here, but the regulations and penalties that bind them are seemingly different,” Kakao CEO Yeo said. W

Jul 6, 2020   Industry

S. Korea holds ministerial level talks with Uzbekistan, strengthens economic ties

South Korea and Uzbekistan held ministerial talks in Seoul on Monday, where they agreed to accelerate discussions on business projects and push forward a bilateral free trade agreement. Korea’s Industry Minister Sung Yun-mo and Uzbekistan’s Deputy Prime Minister for Investments and Foreign Economic Affairs Sardor Umurzakov attended the meeting. It was the first ministerial meeting held face-to-face since the viral outbreak, according to officials explained. On the occasion, a fron

Jul 6, 2020   Technology

KAIST professor accused of leaking autonmous driving tech to China

A professor at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology is currently being investigated by the prosecution for allegedly handing over technology related to autonomous driving to China for financial gain, according to news reports and the ICT Ministry on Monday. The Daejeon Prosecutors‘ Office is currently investingating the professor, who reportedly received around 300 million won from a China-based college where he was dispatched for academic programs. The prosecutors ar

Jul 6, 2020   Industry

[Time to Play] StoneAge World, Netmarble’s profitable game

Hollywood loves sequels because they guarantee success. In this sense, when South Korean game publisher Netmarble said it would launch a mobile version of StoneAge, expectations were running high. StoneAge was a popular PC game that was serviced between 2003 and 2015 in Korea where users could collect and tame dinosaur pets. However, not all sequels succeed, as witnessed by X-Men: Dark Phoenix and Men in Black: International. Unfortunately, StoneAge World is one of them. More often than not

Jul 6, 2020   Industry

LG Chem vows zero net carbon emissions increase by 2050

LG Chem will neutralize its net carbon emissions increase to make it zero by 2050, according to its “Carbon-neutral Growth 2050” initiative unveiled Monday.　 Carbon-neutral growth refers to reducing net emissions by the amount caused by business growth, making the total sum zero. According to the South Korean chemical company, it will cut 30 million metric tons of carbon emissions by 2050 from the projected 40 million tons, offsetting carbon emissions to the current level of 10 m

Jul 6, 2020   Industry

Kepco holds online exhibition for coronavirus-hit SMEs

Korea Electric Power Corp. said Monday it has launched a non-face-to-face export exhibition to introduce electrical equipment and materials manufactured by small and medium-sized enterprises hit by the coronavirus outbreak. According to the state-run utility, the online exhibition “Electric Power Equipment” showcases 190 electrical equipment and materials made by 61 SMEs who are members of Kepco Trusted Partners or investors of Kepco’s Energy Valley project. The exhibition

Jul 6, 2020   Technology

Samsung heir highlights ‘spirit of challenge’ for in-house startups

Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong stressed the spirit of challenge toward the future at a meeting with employees in the startup program C Lab at the firm’s Suwon office in Gyeonggi Province on Monday. C-Lab is the South Korean tech firm’s in-house incubation program introduced in 2012 aimed at spreading creative organizational culture. Participating executives and employees will be given the opportunity to implement creative ideas they have come up with for one year.

Jul 6, 2020   Industry

Supplier of remdesivir’s API under sudden focus

When demand for facial masks surged, prescient investors immediately set their eyes on nonwoven fabric suppliers who manufacture the ingredients. Now, as remdesivir has been anointed as the only drug to be approved by the US Food and Drug Administration as an emergency COVID-19 treatment, investors are paying attention to what constitutes the riboneucleic acid drug. Remdesivir is a nucleoside analogue, or a nucleoside RNA polymerase inhibitor. If that sounds like alien talk, the FDA explains

Jul 6, 2020   Retail

OB unveils lineup for “2020 CASS Blue Playground” livestream concert

Oriental Brewery’s flagship beer brand Cass unveiled the lineup for “Cass Blue Playground Connect 2.0,” its annual music festival, on social media Monday. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the concert will be livestreamed on its official YouTube channel and Facebook, on July 18 from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m., the company said. The lineup includes Sehun & Chanyeol of K-pop boy group EXO (EXO-SC), who were recently selected as Cass summer campaign models, K-pop girl group Red Velvet