No. of births, deaths, marriages, divorces

The National Assembly of South Korea has selected the chiefs of Google and Netflix’s Korean operations as witnesses at the upcoming audits scheduled for October to ask questions about their business practices. According to the country’s legislative body Thursday, Nancy Mable Walker, who represents Google Korea, will be asked to testify at the Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee’s first audit on Oct. 7. The committee’s decision to summon Walker co

Netmarble said Thursday it has launched BTS Universe Story in 173 countries, a storytelling game featuring 3D-scanned avatars of RM, Jin, Suga, J-Hope, Jimin, V, and Jungkook. According to the South Korean game maker, in BTS Universe Story, users can create and participate in interactive, choose-your-own-adventure-style stories where their choices throughout the game lead to different outcomes. “BTS Universe Story is the second game Netmarble has made in collaboration with the boy ba

Afreeca TV said Thursday it will provide fishing boats named “Ati” to streamers who wish to create fishing content. According to the Korean streaming services company, streamers will be able to rent Ati motorboats at a reservoir in Jincheon, North Chungcheong Province, and the Ati fishing boat at Kukdong harbor in Yeosu, South Jeolla Province, from Afreeca TV for free when creating fishing content.  “The Ati motorboat can carry up to three passengers, while the 9.7-

Posco, a South Korean steelmaker, said Thursday it received dividends of about 50 billion won ($42.6 million) from Roy Hill Holdings, which operates an iron ore mine in Australia. According to Posco, the Roy Hill Holdings board of directors agreed to start profit-sharing for the first time, seeing the improved financial solvency and profit. Hancock Prospecting owns 70 percent of Roy Hill Holdings, and the remainder of the shares is held through a consortium, in which Posco is included along w

Chairman and CEO of Ssangyong Engineering & Construction Co. Kim Seok-joon is visiting Dubai in the midst of a pandemic to supervise the details of the company’s $1 billion Royal Atlantis Hotel project, the company said Thursday. Kim, who left for the United Arab Emirates city earlier this week, will visit the construction site of the hotel whose work is set to be complete by June next year. He will also meet with the project owners during his trip. “Videoconferencing has had

Hyundai Motor, Hyundai Heavy Industries ask employees to refrain from visiting hometowns

Merck has donated 25,000 euros ($29,000) to an Ansan, Gyeonggi Province, multicultural children care center, the Merck Korea said Thursday. The fund will be used, among other things, for a Korean-language tutor, a computer room and a multimedia facility, according to nonprofit organization Loving Neighbors. This was the first official activity undertaken by Kim Woo-kyu, the new managing director of Merck Korea, since taking post. Kim emphasized the importance

Samsung Biologics will contract develop Kanaph Therapeutics’ retinal disease treatment, the company announced Thursday. Kanaph’s KNP-301 is a C3bg Inhibitor-VEGF binder novel drug candidate that treats dry and wet macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy and diabetic macular edema. Samsung Biologics will undertake all steps of the drug development, spanning cell line development, development process optimization and preclinical and clinical sample manufacturing. “For a b

Dolby Laboratories Inc., a US-based audio and imaging technology giant, said Thursday it has signed a deal to supply its advanced cinema solutions to local multiplex operator Megabox for the next five years. Under the deal, Dolby Labs will provide its auditorium package to Megabox, starting with its movie theaters in Gyeonggi Province. The value of the contract was not revealed. The auditorium package consists of Dolby Labs' speakers, integrated media servers, cinema processors, and multicha

LG Electronics Inc. on Thursday added three new models to its budget smartphone lineup as the South Korean tech firm targets to expand its mobile sales. The K62, the K52 and the K42 have been added to LG's K series family and will be launched next month starting in Europe. LG did not reveal prices of the new smartphones. All three models have a 6.6-inch punch-hole display with a 20:9 aspect ratio, and a quad-rear camera setup. They all pack a 4,000-mAh battery. The K42 sports a 13-megapixe

Samsung Electronics Co. on Thursday launched two new charging accessories for mobile devices in South Korea. Samsung's new Wireless Charger Trio can charge up to three mobile devices, such as smartphones, wireless earbuds and smartwatches, at the same time. The pad has six charging coils, offering better charging surface coverage. The multi-device charging station comes in two colors, white and black, and has a price tag of 99,000 won ($85). Samsung also released a power bank that boasts 2

Caris Co. has won the New Excellent Technology certificate for its guardrail manufacturing technology that utilizes waste plastics. At the 2020 NET certificate award ceremony, CEO Yu Cheol received the NET certificate for the company’s five-layer ribbed structure guardrail manufacturing technology that uses a triple compression method incorporating waste plastics. NET-certified products are selected by the Korean Agency for Technology and Standards under the Ministry of Trade, Industry

After the COVID-19 outbreak, South Korea saw its number of travel businesses decline by around 1,000 compared to last year. According to data from the Korea Tourism Association, there were 21,671 travel related firms operating in the country as of June. The figure fell 612 or 2.7 percent from the end of last year. The number of Korean travel companies began rising since 2015, surpassing 20,000 in 2017. The figure hit its peak of 22,609 in September last year, the data showed. (khnews@he

Elon Musk laid out five innovations for his new batteries at Tesla’s Battery Day event Wednesday, but experts and industry officials remain skeptical as the CEO failed to map out the specifics of the technologies. As part of the announcement, Musk said he would remove cobalt and maximize nickel inside the cathodes of the company’s new batteries. Cathodes are one of the four key components of lithium-ion batteries along with anodes, electrolytes and separators. A higher ratio of n