Economy

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  Income disparity widens amid COVID-19 pandemic SEOUL -- Households at the top 10 percent of the income bracket were found to earn 22 times more than what the poorest 10 percent made last year, according to Statistics Korea. The finding indicated that the COVID-19 pandemic has widened the income disparity amid declining household income, especially among the poor, and growing financial difficulties among the self-employed. This also raised concerns that the middle class has been shrinking at an alarming rate. The statistical o 2023-01-03
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  Sales of overseas tour package reservations soared by more than 2,000% in 2022: data SEOUL -- Thanks to eased regulations on overseas travel amid a prolonged coronavirus pandemic, sales of overseas tour packages have soared by more than 2,000 percent in 2022, according to data released by South Korea's largest online tour package and flight ticket reservation platforms. South Korea, struck by the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in February 2020, has strictly regulated people from coming into the country to prevent the spread of the highly infectious virus. 2023-01-03
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  Chemical material maker Kumyang to build secondary battery plant in southern port city SEOUL -- Kumyang, a chemical material maker based in the southern port city of Busan, will build a secondary battery plant with a total annual production capability of 300 million battery cells in the eastern area of the company's hometown. The company said batteries will be used for smart mobility businesses without disclosing the specific purpose. Battery cells will be mainly supplied to domestic companies but they will be exported to other countries if global demands are high. 2023-01-03
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  ​Convenience store franchise GS25 to demonstrate currency exchange kiosks for foreign tourists SEOUL -- To create a convenient money exchange environment for foreign tourists, the operator of South Korea's convenience store franchise GS25 will install digital money exchange kiosks in 10 stores located in tourist hot spots in Seoul. A total of 15 foreign currencies including the U.S. dollar and euro can be exchanged into Korean won through the automated machine created by currency management system developer Ooddy. Most tourists exchange their currency at banks, private c 2023-01-02
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  SK earthon partners with British carbon capture & storage company to seek new businesses SEOUL -- SK earthon, the eco-friendly energy business wing of South Korea's SK Group, has partnered with Azuli, a British carbon capture and storage company, in an effort to seek new global business opportunities and create new carbon reduction technology-related markets. The carbon capture and storage (CCS) technique uses special equipment to collect carbon dioxide created after burning fossil fuels or biomass before it enters the atmosphere. Using CCS, up to about 70 percent 2023-01-02
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  [CES 2023] Korea Seven works with VR content developer Caliverse to showcase metaverse convenience store at CES SEOUL -- At the Consumer Electronics Show, a global tech event to be held on January 5 in Las Vegas, the South Korean operator of global convenience store franchise 7-Eleven will disclose a real-world-like metaverse store where users can experience various food items using avatars. In the virtual world created by VR content developer Caliverse, digital humans will show different responses and facial expressions depending on the taste of snacks and drinks. The metaverse is a virtual 2023-01-02
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  Pulmuone releases plant-based canned ham using vegetable material extracted from soybeans SEOUL -- Pulmuone, a food company based in Seoul, released an alternative meat-based canned ham using textured vegetable protein extracted from soybeans. Unlike regular canned ham products that contain sodium nitrite to prevent animal ingredients from being oxidized, the new plant-based meat did not use the chemical compound. South Korea's vegan meat market has been rapidly growing to meet demands from some 2 million vegans. According to data released by the Korea Agro-Fisheri 2022-12-28
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  SK Energy forms alliance to commercialize one-stop hydrogen fuel-powered EV charging station SEOUL -- South Korea's oil company SK Energy has partnered with three other companies to develop and commercialize an electric vehicle charging station that is powered by hydrogen fuel. The so-called urban-type hydrogen fuel power plants are designed to generate electricity using hydrogen and provide power to EV charging stations and nearby power grids. SK Energy is one of the largest oil companies in South Korea, but the petroleum product distributor had been diversifying its 2022-12-28
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  LG Electronics builds ESS infrastructure in smart home appliance plant to store off-peak electricity SEOUL -- LG Electronics has built an energy storage system (ESS) at a smart factory to store cheap off-peak electricity late in the evening to use power during peak hours to cut down electricity costs. During the night, the electricity cost is relatively lower than it is in the daytime. LG Electronics hopes to save 77.4 billion won ($61 million) for the next fifteen years through the ESS. An energy storage system (ESS) is an integrated system of secondary battery 2022-12-27
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  CU convenience store develops on-site value-added tax refund system for foreign tourists SEOUL -- South Korea's top convenience store franchise CU has developed an on-site tax refund system for foreign tourists. Using the system, tourists can receive tax refunds for purchases of more than 30,000 won ($23.6) and less than 500,000 won without having to carry their receipts to an international airport. Just about every product or service that is provided in South Korea includes a value-added tax (VAT) of 10 percent. Foreign tourists who paid more than 30,000 won at a 2022-12-27
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  ​CKD Bio opens microbiome research center at university hospital to develop treatments for dementia SEOUL -- To develop various treatments using microorganisms living in human bodies, CKD Bio, a pharmaceutical company in South Korea, has opened a microbiome research center at a university hospital in Seoul. The company will create a consortium to work on drugs for dementia, liver disease and inflammatory bowel disease. The microbiome is a cluster of all types of microscopic organisms that co-exist with humans such as bacteria, fungi, protozoa and viruses. Many of them live insid 2022-12-23
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  ​Convenience store chain CU to build metaverse-based ecommerce platform SEOUL -- BGF Retail, the operator of South Korea's top convenience store chain CU, will establish a metaverse-based ecommerce platform to enable users to receive actual products after purchasing items using avatars in the virtual space. Some 30 stores will be created on Jeff World, a metaverse platform where users can engage in shopping and many other leisure activities. "Consumers can receive items purchased through Jeff World through delivery or by visiting nearby offlin 2022-12-23
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  Farm Hannong's biodegradable fertilizer approved by state as new technology SEOUL -- Farm Hannong's photodecomposition fertilizer that slowly releases its composition during the breakdown was approved by the state as new technology. Farm Hannong is an agricultural technology subsidiary of LG Chem, South Korea's top chemical company. Slow-acting or slow-releasing fertilizers are coated with polymers to deliberately increase the time at which fertilizers are released into paddocks. However, the polymer coating makes fertilizers' lifespan more tha 2022-12-22
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  KT hopes to secure corporate and government clients through metaverse-based conference platform SEOUL -- South Korea's major telecom company KT aims to attract various state organizations and private companies using its metaverse platform which provides artificial intelligence-based virtual assistants and translation services. The platform called "KT Meta Lounge" also enables users to create customized virtual spaces suited for different meeting purposes such as social, casual, and company meetings. KT Meta Lounge is a virtual platform that consists of three bui 2022-12-21
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  ​Hyundai Mobis works with Israeli startup to develop remote control tower system for autonomous driving SEOUL -- To help mobility service operators control autonomous vehicles in cases of emergency, South Korean car parts maker Hyundai Mobis partnered with Ottopia, a software company in Israel, to develop a control tower solution that can remotely move unmanned mobility platforms or modify their routes through screens. Self-driving vehicles or autonomous robots operate based on data collected through sensors and cameras. Autonomous vehicles operate stably under ordinary circumstance 2022-12-21
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  LG Electronics 'monster' NFT digital virtual shoes to be showcased at CES 2023 SEOUL -- At the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), a global tech event to be held in January in Las Vegas, LG Electronics will unveil "monster" digital virtual shoes made with non-fungible token (NFT) technology, along with a shoe care and storage exhibition where luxury sneakers and limited editions can be stored with optimal humidity and temperature. Customers can collect 5,500 unique designs of NFT shoes while managing and appreciating actual and NFT shoes together throug 2022-12-21
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  State certification for colostrum-based cosmetics material developed by Shinsegae International and Farmskin SEOUL -- A new technology developed by the fashion unit of South Korea's retail group Shinsegae and its domestic partner, Farmskin, to produce a raw material for whitening cosmetics with milk cow colostrum hydrolysate has secured state certification for commercial production. It will be applied to high-functional skin care lines for commercial production in 2023. The technology is the result of a two-year joint study by Shinsegae International (SI) and Farm Skin (Farmskin) whic 2022-12-21
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  LG Chem makes investment in battery recycling company targeting N. American market SEOUL -- LG Chem, a chemical unit of LG Group, would secure its foothold in the North American lithium-ion battery recycling market that stood at $77.8 million in 2021 through a strategic investment in Jae Young Tech, a domestic battery recycling company. A joint venture will be established by the end of 2023. Because the lifespan of batteries that are used in electric vehicles (EVs) is about 10 years, an enormous amount of battery waste can be produced. According to data release 2022-12-21
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  SK E&S wins state approval to use LNG cold energy for blue hydrogen plant SEOUL -- SK E&S, an energy company affiliated with SK Group, joined hands with a domestic public electricity supplier to build a plant that can produce and liquefy some 250,000 tons of blue hydrogen per year by using the so-called "cold energy" that was used to cool and compress natural gas into liquid form for storage and transportation. SK E&S and Korea Midland Power (KOMIPO) would invest about five trillion won ($3.9 billion) to build the world's largest bl 2022-12-20
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  ToolGen partners with gene therapy company to develop special treatment for progeria SEOUL -- ToolGen, a South Korean company which develops genome editing technology, partnered with ANL Bio, a domestic bio company specializing in gene therapy, to develop treatments for progeria, an extremely rare genetic disorder that causes rapid aging among young children. ToolGen's genetic scissors used to cut out specific genetic information in cells, will be combined with ANL's adeno-associated virus, a non-enveloped virus that can be engineered to deliver drugs to target 2022-12-20