Economy

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  Game publisher Smilegate establishes datasets for hateful online comments SEOUL -- Smilegate, a South Korean game publisher, has created a dataset that contains hateful online comments and speeches. The dataset can be used to prevent cyberbullying and online discrimination. Cyberbullying has long been a major problem in South Korea's internet world. Popular female celebrities Sulli and Goo Hara have committed suicide after being attacked by cyberbullies including radical feminists in 2019. At least one percent of students have suffered from onlin 2022-01-20
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  Researchers introduce heterostructure based metal oxide charge transfer complex for displays SEOUL -- Metal oxide thin films are considered an attractive material for various functional applications because of their favorable energy band structure, excellent processability, and high stability. Metal oxides are intensively used for multilayered optoelectronic devices such as organic light-emitting diodes and quantum-dot light-emitting diodes for ensuring efficient charge transport and charge injection into the emission layer. Many approaches have been explored to improve d 2022-01-19
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  Progress made in S. Korean project to produce liquefied hydrogen fuel tank for ships SEOUL -- A South Korean project to produce a commercially viable liquefied hydrogen fuel tank for ships appeared to have made quick progress after a prototype won preliminary approval from a domestic maritime classification society, based on design innovation and new cryogenic materials. Developers aim to transfer related technologies to shipbuilders by 2025. Hydrogen is extremely flammable when it is mixed with very small amounts of air. The liquefaction of hydrogen requires coolin 2022-01-19
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  7-Eleven partners with Mooving to install battery charging stations at convenience stores SEOUL -- Targeting South Korea's rapidly growing delivery market, eco-friendly mobility platform operator Mooving will provide electric motorcycle battery charging stations to the South Korean operator of global convenience store franchise 7-Eleven. The system will be test operated at two stores in Seoul, allowing electric motorcycle riders to charge or swap batteries. About 30,000 food delivery workers ride gasoline engine motorcycles in Seoul. Motorcycles and trucks used for 2022-01-19
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  S-Oil to bring Saudi Arabia's blue hydrogen and ammonia into S. Korea SEOUL -- S-Oil, a petroleum and refinery company controlled by Aramco, will bring in Saudi Arabia's blue hydrogen and ammonia. The company would seek to use hydrogen in the production of heavy oil decomposition and desulfurization. Blue hydrogen is produced by applying carbon capture and storage to reduce carbon emissions. S-Oil and Aramco signed a memorandum of understanding in Riyadh to strengthen cooperation in alternative energy and new petrochemical technologies. " 2022-01-19
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  Aramco partners with Doosan Heavy to build joint venture cast and forge plant SEOUL -- Saudi Aramco teamed up with Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction, a key player in South Korea's power industry, to build a major joint venture plant capable of producing 60,000 tons of casting and forging products annually for petrochemical plants, shipbuilding and offshore plants. The plant reflects the oil-rich country's drive to change its industrial structure. The joint venture named "TWAIG Casting & Forging" will be located at Saudi Arabi 2022-01-19
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  SK Telecom releases new AI voice assistant model combined with lighting function SEOUL -- South Korea's top mobile carrier SK Telecom released a new artificial intelligence assistant speaker that combined a lighting function. Users can order the device in Korean or English to change the color of light depending on the atmosphere. SK Telecom (SKT) said the new device called "NUGU candle SE" was rolled out through the "11st" online e-commerce platform. Because Amazon's AI agent Alexa is installed, the new device will understand both Ko 2022-01-18
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  LG Chem to build supercritical pyrolysis plant to recycle plastic waste SEOUL -- To recycle plastic waste by breaking them down into useful raw materials using a "supercritical" water pyrolysis technique, LG Chem, the chemical unit of South Korea's LG Group, will build a plastic recycling plant with an annual capacity of 20,000 tons in 2024. The plant will be able to recycle up 80 percent of waste sources. Pyrolysis is a time-taking process using extreme heat and pressure to break down long-chain hydrocarbon plastic waste into shorter-ch 2022-01-18
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  KT partners with Yandex SDG to customize Russian-made six-wheeled autonomous robot SEOUL -- Using a six-wheeled autonomous robot developed by Yandex SDG, an autonomous vehicle development wing of Russia's top web portal service company Yandex, South Korea's telecom company KT will develop and release the South Korean version of delivery robots designed to deliver products to customers' homes. KT said in a statement on January 18 that the company signed an agreement with Yandex SDG to release the autonomous delivery robot in 2022. "Yandex SDG' 2022-01-18
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  Orsted partners with S. Korean public power company to build offshore wind power complex SEOUL -- Orsted, a Danish power company involved in major offshore wind power projects in the world, partnered with Korean Southern Power, a public power company, to build an offshore wind power complex off the coast of South Korea's western port city of Incheon. A business agreement was signed between Korean Southern Power (KOSPO) and Osted on January 17 to develop an 800-megawatt offshore wind farm capable of supplying power to some 650,000 households. They will select a s 2022-01-17
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  Samsung launches one-stop food subscription platform for smart all-in-one oven SEOUL -- Samsung Electronics has opened a one-stop shopping platform for ready-to-cook menus exclusively prepared for the company's smart all-in-one oven. Users can purchase home meal replacement products and meal kits produced by 15 food companies. Bespoke Qooker is a multi-functional oven that can be used as a microwave oven, a grill, an air fryer and a toaster. When the cooker reads a barcode of a dedicated home meal replacement (HMR) product, it will select the right cookin 2022-01-17
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  KT Alpha to establish metaverse-based digital transaction platform SEOUL -- KT Alpha, a commerce wing of South Korea's major telecom company KT, will establish a metaverse-based digital asset trading platform to secure competitiveness in the future business sector. The company will cooperate with a real estate investment trust company and a cryptocurrency exchange. The metaverse is a virtual world that can be accessed using smartphones, PCs, or virtual reality headsets. Each user is represented by a personalized digital character called " 2022-01-14
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  Hotel reservation platform operator Good Choice to launch space rental service SEOUL -- South Korea's accommodation reservation service operator Good Choice will launch a space rental service that allows customers to rent spaces such as party rooms, filming studios, training rooms and shared kitchens. Space rental services have gained popularity as demands for indoor leisure activities increased in South Korea amid a coronavirus pandemic. According to space rental platform SpaceCloud, the number of its reservations increased from about 2.1 million in 20 2022-01-14
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  SK Networks makes strategic investment in U.S. startup MycoWorks SEOUL -- SK Networks, a trading and retail arm of South Korea's third-largest conglomerate SK Group, made a strategic investment in MycoWorks, an American startup with a proprietary biotechnology platform that transforms mycelium, the underground root structure of mushrooms, into materials for leather. SK Networks said it has invested $20 million in MycoWorks by participating in the American company's Series C Round to raise $126 million. It was the largest among strategic i 2022-01-14
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  SK Plasma expands business portfolio into rare and incurable disease treatment SEOUL -- SK Plasma, a South Korean producer of plasma-derived blood products, will expand its business into rare and incurable disease therapies, starting with a strategic investment in a genetically transformed cell developed by Curocell, a domestic biotech company, which is in a state of clinical trials. The amount of investment was not disclosed. SK Plasma and Curocell would jointly promote the commercialization of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cell therapies at home and abro 2022-01-14
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  POSCO pushes for new steel plant project thru cooperation with Adani SEOUL -- In cooperation with India's leading energy and logistics conglomerate, Adani, POSCO will push for the construction of a new steel mill in the world's second-most populous country where resistance from local communities prompted the South Korean group to scrap an earlier steel plant project POSCO said it signed a memorandum of understanding online with Adani Group to launch a joint project for the construction of an eco-friendly integrated steel plant. The 2022-01-13
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  Hanwha Solutions localizes production of EBA copolymer for high-voltage power cables SEOUL -- Through five years of research to acquire independent technologies in a market dominated by big foreign firms, Hanwha Solutions, a renewable energy service provider affiliated with South Korea's Hanwha Group, is ready for the commercial production of ethylene-butyl acrylate copolymers, which are an effective insulation material for high-voltage direct-current power cables. Acrylic copolymers are transparent thermoplastic copolymers of ethylene and acrylate with excep 2022-01-13
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  Confectionary maker Orion establishes web-based carbon emission management system SEOUL -- South Korea's confectionary maker Orion has started the operation of an integrated web-based carbon emission management system for the first time in the domestic food industry. The system will be used to manage data including the amount of greenhouse gases emitted at food factories at home and abroad. South Korea, which has a renewable energy dependency rate of 4.8 percent in 2020, is trying to achieve net-zero carbon dioxide emissions by 2050. During the last few ye 2022-01-13
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  POSCO localizes technology for production of rare gas neon SEOUL -- South Korea's steel group POSCO localized the production of neon gas for domestic semiconductor companies. The demand for neon and other rare gases essential for semiconductor production has increased, but South Korea's semiconductor industry has been heavily dependent on imported products from the United States and other countries. Neon is a raw material for excimer laser gas which is used in semiconductor photolithography, a process of engraving electronic circuit 2022-01-12
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  MCNS works with furniture company to turn waste polyurethane to polyol raw material SEOUL -- MCNS, a polyurethane joint venture between South Korean and Japanese chemical companies, will work with a South Korean furniture company to commercialize an eco-friendly technology that turns waste polyurethane to polyols, which is a kind of liquid-phase synthesis that makes use of multivalent alcohols at high temperatures up to its boiling level. MCNS, founded by SKC and Mitsui Chemical by spinning off their respective polyurethane businesses, will commercialize its re-pol 2022-01-12