Economy

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  SKT partners with Singtel to popularize virtual content in Asia Pacific market using metaverse platform Ifland SEOUL -- SK Telecom, a top mobile carrier in South Korea, joined hands with Singapore's telecommunications conglomerate Singtel to create various metaverse content tailored to Singaporeans. Using a popular metaverse platform called "Ifland," the South Korean company will promote its virtual content in the Asia Pacific region. Singtel has about 770 million users in 21 countries are using including India, Indonesia, Thailand and Australia. Ifland has become one of the t 2022-11-29
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  Kia works with government to increase blue carbon in coastal lands SEOUL -- Kia, an affiliate of South Korea's Hyundai auto group, has been selected as a partner for a state project to restore coastal wetlands and increase the amount of blue carbon, which is an important part of ocean ecosystems. The project is in line with an international blue carbon Initiative to mitigate climate change through the conservation and restoration of coastal and marine ecosystems. Blue carbon is organic carbon captured and deposited by organisms such as seagra 2022-11-29
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  Hyundai Mobis demonstrates self-driving cooperative robots at factory in southern port city SEOUL -- Self-driving cooperative robots created by Hyundai Mobis, the parts-making wing of South Korea's Hyundai auto group, will be demonstrated at a factory in the southern port city of Ulsan to increase work efficiency. The robots can move freely in all directions using light detection and ranging (LiDAR) sensors and cameras. Hyundai Mobis said two types of robots -- mobile robots with multi-joint robotic arms and logistic robots -- will be demonstrated to help human worker 2022-11-28
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  Woowa starts door-to-door robot food delivery in iconic Gangnam shopping mall SEOUL -- The operator of Baedal Minjok, South Korea's top food delivery service operator, has started a door-to-door robot food delivery service at an iconic shopping mall complex in Gangnam, a Seoul district well known for rapper Psy's 2012 song "Gangnam Style." The service demonstrates a technical advance in self-driving food delivery robots that have been tested in limited environments. Woowa Brothers has developed Dilly, a lineup of serving and food delivery 2022-11-28
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  SK picglobal opens world's first DPG-only production facility SEOUL -- SK picglobal, a chemical joint venture in South Korea, opened a plant that can only produce about 30,000 tons of dipropylene glycol per year to meet a growing global need. Dipropylene glycol is a very useful reactive intermediate in various industries for its low toxicity and solvent properties that make it an ideal additive for perfumes and skin and hair care products. Dipropylene glycol is a co-product coming from the manufacture of mono propylene glycol. It is a water-so 2022-11-28
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  LG's agro-tech wing partners with rural county to accelerate adoption of smart farms SEOUL -- Farm Hannong, the smart agricultural technology wing of LG Chem, has partnered with a rural county famous for its vast and fertile flatlands ideal for farming, to accelerate the adoption of smart farms and digital farming technology. Smart farming in South Korea with a 30-trillion-won ($22.5 billion) crop-farming sector is at its infant stage, mainly because of the aging population of farmers at an average age of 67 years old. Old farmers prefer to grow crops using traditi 2022-11-25
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  Over 40% of S. Koreans willing to dump Netflix in case of ban on account-sharing: survey SEOUL -- Netflix, an American subscription streaming service and production company, has gained overwhelming popularity in South Korea with greater support from young users. However, many subscribers here are willing to dump it if the world's biggest over-the-top service bans users from sharing accounts with their family members and friends. South Korea has some 42.8 million over-the-top (OTT) paid subscription users as of September 2022. Netflix is the top player with some 12 m 2022-11-24
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  SK on partners with EV charger manufacturer to create battery diagnosis service SEOUL -- SK on, the battery-making wing of South Korea's SK Group, teamed up with a sister company to develop a battery diagnosis service that would allow customers to diagnose the remaining life of batteries and the level of charging without any separate procedures while charging electric vehicles. The management of EV batteries has become crucial to keep cars in top condition. If batteries are poorly managed, they could combust to cause a fire that is really hard to put out. S 2022-11-24
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  Samsung shipyard's autonomous sailing system proves superior performance in test run SEOUL -- A 9,200-ton ship installed with a remote autonomous system developed by Samsung Heavy Industries, a major shipbuilder in South Korea, has completed its clean and trouble-free test run on a coastal sea route covering about 950 kilometers (590 miles) for four days to prove the superior performance of avoiding collision with obstacles on a long voyage. In its test run that began on November 15 in waster off the southwestern port city of Mokpo, Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) sa 2022-11-24
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  Aekyung Chemical jumps into bioplastic industry through ties with state research body SEOUL -- Aekyung Chemical, a chemical company in South Korea, jumped into the bioplastic market in cooperation with a state research body, focusing capabilities on developing and upgrading bioplastic material technologies. The company is a newcomer in the country's bioplastic industry which has seen a rapidly growing demand due to tightening regulations. Under a memorandum of understanding signed on November 24, Aekyung Chemical said it would develop various reactant manufacturi 2022-11-24
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  Hanwha Q Cells joins EU project to test produce perovskite silicon tandem cells SEOUL -- Hanwha Q Cells, the solar cell-making wing of South Korea's Hanwha Group, joined a European Union project to test produce perovskite silicon tandem solar cells. The goal is to develop technologies for the mass production of high-efficiency tandem cells for four years by 2026 and develop equipment, processes, and materials that manufacture tandem cell-based modules. With an EU fund of 15 million euros ($15.6 million), the tandem cell test production line will be built 2022-11-24
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  KT partners with video conference platform company Zoom to release various B2B services SEOUL -- Capitalizing on a growing demand for non-face-to-face meeting solutions during a coronavirus pandemic, South Korea's largest telecom service operator KT has partnered with American video conference platform operator Zoom Video Communications to release various business-to-business services. When South Korea was struck by the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in February 2020, about 80 percent of companies decided to have their employees work remotely at home. Wor 2022-11-23
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  EOFlow develops prototype of world's first seven-day wearable insulin pump SEOUL -- Using its low-power and high-performance actuation technology, EOFlow, a provider of wearable drug delivery solutions, is ready to commercialize an innovative wearable insulin pump that continuously delivers insulin in blood glucose control for up to seven days for the first time in the world. Commercial production is possible in 2024. EOFlow's CEO Jesse J. Kim showed confidence in what he has achieved, saying that the new product codenamed "EOPatch3.0" would 2022-11-23
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  Startup agency to build one-stop logistics center at Incheon International Airport to help SMEs SEOUL -- South Korea's state-operated startup support agency will build a logistics center at Incheon International Airport, the country's main gateway, to help small and medium-sized enterprises and online market operators easily store cargo and export products. The center will offer an efficient one-stop service including cargo storage, transport, and customs. While large conglomerates have their own teams dedicated to the export of their products, small and medium-sized 2022-11-23
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  Daewoo shipyard completes performance run of test ship for autonomous operation SEOUL -- Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, a major shipbuilder, has completed the on-site performance run of its test smart ship for autonomous operation, securing sufficient operational data that would be applied to an actual ship in 2023. Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) has conducted various demonstration tests for autonomous operation in waters off Hwaseong, about 30 kilometers (18 miles) southwest of Seoul, with a test ship named " DAN-V&qu 2022-11-22
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  SK energy uses Doosan fuel cells to demonstrate on-site hybrid energy station SEOUL -- Using fuel cells that simultaneously produce hydrogen, electricity and heat, SK energy, a leading refiner in South Korea, will demonstrate an on-site hybrid energy station capable of generating green energy and using it directly for charging. Doosan Fuel Cell, the clean energy wing of South Korea's Doosan Group, will provide its "Tri-gen" fuel cell system that generates electricity, heat and hydrogen utilizing 440-kilowatt phosphoric acid fuel cells (PAFC). SK 2022-11-22
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  KHNP cooperates with Canada's Candu Energy to dismantle defunct nuclear power plants SEOUL -- South Korea's state-run operator nuclear power plant operator will cooperate with Candu Energy, a subsidiary of Montreal-based SNC-Lavalin, to secure technologies for dismantling defunct nuclear power plants. Accumulated technologies will be used for the early dismantlement of South Korea's first pressurized heavy water reactor which went into operation in 1982. Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP), the operator of 24 nuclear power plants in South Korea, has agre 2022-11-22
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  Kumho Petrochemical ties up with France's Technip Energies to introduce polystyrene waste pyrolysis technology SEOUL -- Kumho Petrochemical, a chemical company in South Korea, tied up with Technip Energies, a French engineering and technology company, to introduce polystyrene waste pyrolysis technology and build a factory for the commercial production of recycled polystyrene in 2026. Polystyrene is a synthetic polymer used for protective packaging, containers, lids, bottles, trays, tumblers, and disposable cutlery. Recycled polystyrene, known as recycled styrene monomer (RSM), can be reconve 2022-11-22
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  LG Chem to build largest cathode material plant in U.S. to meet demands for EV batteries SEOUL -- In a bid to meet growing global demands for cathodes, a key part of high-performance batteries used in electric vehicles, LG Chem, the chemical unit of South Korea's LG Group, will build a big cathode plant with an annual capacity of 120,000 tons in Tennessee with an injection of more than three billion dollars. It would be the biggest cathode plant in the United States. A cathode is an electrode used in batteries along with anodes to help the conduction of electrici 2022-11-22
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  Kia Motors to verify vehicle-to-vehicle charging technology for electric vehicles SEOUL -- Kia Motors, affiliated with South Korea's Hyundai auto group, joined forces with domestic electric vehicle (EV) charging service provider TBU to verify vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) charging technology that enables a driver charge an EV's battery by connecting to another EV using a cable. The technique can be used for the development of mobile EV charging services. The EV charging platform startup company was approved by South Korea's industry ministry to launch a 2022-11-21