Economy

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  SK Group acquires 16.3% stake in VinCommerce to expand presence in Vietnam SEOUL -- South Korea's third-largest conglomerate SK Group acquired a 16.3 percent stake in VinCommerce, a top retail company in Vietnam, for $410 million, in a deal that underlined a group-wide strategy to expand its presence in the Southeast Asian nation. VinCommerce controls 50 percent of Vietnam's retail market and operates about 2,300 convenience stores and supermarkets. Masan Group, a diversified private-sector group with a focus on food and be 2021-04-06
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  Researchers set new record in conversion efficiency of perovskite solar cells SEOUL -- A team of researchers based in South Korea and Switzerland set a new record of 25.6 percent in the power conversion efficiency of perovskite solar cells by introducing an anion engineering concept that uses pseudo-halide anion formate to suppress anion-vacancy defects and augment crystallinity. A perovskite solar cell includes a perovskite structured compound as the light-harvesting active layer. The high absorption coefficient of perovskite solar cells e 2021-04-06
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  Olive Young launches personalized health supplements suggestion service for young customers SEOUL -- CJ Olive Young, the drug and beauty store franchise of South Korea's CJ Group, has launched a mobile app to provide recommendations for health supplements. A COVID-19 pandemic has boosted awareness of health supplements, especially among young consumers who regard health management as an investment for their future. According to the Korea Health Supplements Association, an association of dietary product makers, South Korea's health supple 2021-04-05
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  Hyosung wins six-year deal to supply high-strength carbon fiber for hydrogen fuel tanks SEOUL -- Hyosung Advanced Materials, affiliated with South Korea's Hyosung Group, has secured a six-year contract worth 157.2 billion won ($139 million) from Hanwha Solutions to supply high-strength carbon fiber used to reinforce hydrogen fuel tanks. In December 2020, Hanwha Solutions, a unit of South Korea's Hanwha Group, took over Cimarron Composites, an American company that has developed Neptune, a carbon fiber reinforced polymer tank capable of transpo 2021-04-05
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  Amorepacific ties up with Hansol to develop cellulose-based cosmetics raw materials SEOUL -- Amorepacific, a top beauty and cosmetics group in South Korea, tied up with a domestic paper maker to develop sustainable cosmetics raw materials using cellulose processing technology and push for the production of eco-friendly paper packaging products. If cellulose technology is used, it can replace existing chemical ingredients as well as improve the quality of cosmetics. Cellulose, is an important structural component of the primary cell wall of 2021-04-05
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  LG Electronics makes inevitable choice to close troubled smartphone business SEOUL -- LG Electronics closed its troubled smartphone business which has been in the red since the second quarter of 2015, citing a persistent business slump and intensifying competition. The company defended its decision as inevitable to diversify its business portfolio through "choice and focus" and improve its financial structure by bearing a short-term decline in overall sales. In a regulatory filing on April 5, LG Electronics said it would " 2021-04-05
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  Aekyung's department store wing opens smart factory shop for tailor-made cosmetics SEOUL -- AK Plaza, the department store wing of South Korea's cosmetics giant Aekyung, has opened a project shop that produces tailor-made cosmetics products to match the skin of customers, using a smart factory-like automated production booth. With some 110,000 sets of skin data, the shop can create personalized beauty products in two minutes. AK Plaza said in a statement on April 5 that a pop-up store using technology developed by LILYCOVER, a domestic 2021-04-05
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  CJ Cheil Jedang ties up with SKC to produce new biodegradable material for food packaging SEOUL -- CJ Cheil Jedang, a key subsidiary of South Korea's food and entertainment conglomerate CJ Group, tied up with SKC, a polyester film and chemical material manufacturer, to produce a new biodegradable plastic material that is flexible and durable. The material has been applied to the packaging of some food products. Many degradable plastic products have failed to attract attention because of their weak durability, while some bioplastics ar 2021-04-02
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  Naver beefs up ecommerce platform to increase communication between sellers and customers SEOUL -- Naver, a top web portal service operator and IT company in South Korea, has beefed up its mobile live commerce platform by adopting ultra-low latency technology that will help sellers and customers interact better. The technology will reduce latency in the transmission and reception of live content video from about 10 seconds to two seconds. Live commerce which is basically TV home shopping content converted into online and mobile platforms has garnered p 2021-04-02
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  SK E&C partners with domestic company to develop competitive solar energy platform SEOUL --SK E&C, a builder affiliated with South Korea's third-largest conglomerate, SK Group, will develop a competitive solar energy platform in cooperation with a domestic energy IT company that provides solar power solutions. SK E&C said it signed a memorandum of understanding with Solar Connect on April 1 for cooperation in renewable energy and RE100, a global initiative that brings together the world's most influential enterprises committed t 2021-04-02
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  Shinsegae acquires popular women's online fashion platform W Concept SEOUL -- South Korea's retail conglomerate, Shinsegae Group, has acquired W Concept, a popular online fashion platform that targets young female customers with independent designer brands. W Concept has expanded its product competitiveness through a careful examination of brand awareness and quality. SSG.com, the online shopping mall of Shinsegae, said on April 1 that it signed a contract to acquire 100 percent of W Concept from IMM Private Equity and ISE 2021-04-01
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  SK Group completes acquisition of French CDMO Yposkesi SEOUL -- In a bid to enhance the competitive power of its biotech and pharmaceutical business in the global market, South Korea's third-largest conglomerate SK Group has completed the acquisition of a controlling stake in Yposkesi, a French cell and gene therapy company. SK Holdings said it has acquired management rights and a 70-percent stake in Yposkesi, a contract development & manufacturing organization (CDMO) in Europe for gene therapy viral v 2021-03-31
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  Crude carrier built with noise reduction technology wins regulation certification from DNV SEOUL -- A 115,000-ton crude carrier built by South Korea's Hyundai shipbuilding group with underwater radiated noise reduction technology has received regulation certification from DNV, an accredited registrar and classification society based in Norway. The group said that its subsidiary, Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries, has delivered the crude carrier to an unidentified client. Regulation certification related to unde 2021-03-31
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  Kolon expands application of quarantine robots in medical and construction areas SEOUL -- The modular construction unit of Kolon Global, a civil engineering and architectural firm in South Korea, tied up with a domestic robot innovation company to expand the application of quarantine robots in medical and construction areas. Kolon has assembled South Korea's largest modular negative-pressure ward cluster. Kolon Global said its subsidiary, Kolon E&C, signed a memorandum of understanding with Hills Engineering, a robot innovatio 2021-03-31
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  POSCO leads creation of graphene ecosystem to meet growing demand SEOUL -- South Korea's top steel group POSCO will lead the creation of a graphene ecosystem in the southeastern industry port of Pohang in cooperation with research groups and Graphene Square, a high-tech startup, to meet the growing demand in the fields of semiconductors, electronics, electric batteries and composites. POSCO said it has signed a business agreement with Pohang City, the Research Institute of Industrial Science & Technology (RIST), Pohang 2021-03-31
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  Doosan Heavy wins deal to supply seismic instrumentation for Chinese nuke power plant SEOUL -- Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction, a key player in South Korea's nuclear power industry, has secured a deal from a Chinese company to supply seismic instrumentation that can automatically stop the operation of a nuclear power plant if an earthquake is detected. Doosan Heavy's equipment will be supplied to a nuclear power plant in Liaoning Province by 2024. Doosan Heavy said it has signed a contract w 2021-03-31
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  SK Lubricants to test eco-friendly product using delivery trucks SEOUL -- SK Lubricants, the lube-making wing of South Korea's SK Group, has forged a win-win partnership with Hanjin, a major logistics service operator, to test a new eco-friendly engine lubricant product to see if it can reduce carbon emissions and pollutants. SK Lubricants said in a statement on March 30 that the company would work with Hanjin to provide an eco-friendly engine oil product for delivery trucks. Hanjin will provide data collected from trucks 2021-03-30
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  Hanwha General Chemical partners with power supplier to demonstrate mixed hydrogen combustion SEOUL -- Hanwha General Chemical joined hands with a domestic power supplier affiliated with South Korea's state electric utility KEPCO to develop and demonstrate mixed hydrogen combustion technologies that burn natural gas together with hydrogen to generate electricity. Korea Western Power agreed to provide an 80-megawatt gas turbine in Pyeongtaek, about 60 kilometers (37 miles) south of Seoul. Hanwha General Chemical will use the turbine 2021-03-30
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  SK E&S announces $1.4 billion investment for gas production in northern Australia SEOUL -- SK E&S, an energy company affiliated with South Korea's third-largest conglomerate, SK Group, will invest $1.4 billion to develop gas fields in northern Australia and bring in 1.3 million tons of liquefied natural gas per year for 20 years from 2025. It is part of a broad group-wide project to promote hydrogen as a new growth engine. SK E&S announced a final investment decision on March 30, based on exploration drills that proved the Baro 2021-03-30
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  Hanwha Q Cells files new patent suits in Europe against Chinese rivals SEOUL -- Hanwha Q Cells, a major photovoltaic manufacturer in South Korea, has launched patent suits against Chinese rivals in Germany and France to protect its technology that improves efficiency by forming a passive layer on the back of solar cells to reflect the light back into cells. In Germany, Hanwha Q Cells filed a lawsuit against China's solar panel manufacturer for patent infringement. The South Korean company has filed a series of patent 2021-03-30