McDonald’s Korea logged a combined record high in sales of 1 trillion won ($801 million) from its directly managed stores and franchisees last year, the largest annual figure since its first store opened in the country in 1988, the global fast-food giant said Tuesday. The directly managed stores that take up about 70 percent of the total number of McDonald’s in the country posted 867.9 billion won in sales, up 9.7 percent on year, according to the company’s regulatory report.

Consumer April 26, 2022

Samyang Foods attracted 40,000 visitors to the promotional booth of its signature spicy noodle dish Buldak, over four days on the sidelines of BTS concerts in Las Vegas earlier this month, the company said Tuesday. Samyang Foods was the main sponsor of the K-pop superstars’ concerts in the US as it commemorated the 10th anniversary of Buldak.

Culture April 26, 2022

President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol on Monday pledged to provide the utmost support for Korean companies developing vaccines and treatment, highlighting that vaccine development is crucial for securing the nation’s economic security. “The essence of the country’s growth lies here,” Yoon said during his visit to SK Bioscience’s headquarters in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, adding that South Korea’s economy and security depend on developing drugs. The President-elec

Technology April 25, 2022

As the metaverse becomes more prevalent across all industries on the back of greater investments and technological advancements, The Korea Herald and the American Chamber of Commerce in Korea are co-hosting a forum to discuss what the next web revolution holds for the future. The joint forum, slated to be held on May 2 at Four Seasons Seoul, has invited a number of business leaders and experts in the metaverse sector to share their insights on the ascending metaverse and how it will play an in

Technology April 24, 2022

For the first time, YouTube has openly expressed concerns over the South Korean parliament’s push for global content providers to foot the bill for creating excessive network traffic. Gautam Anand, Vice President and Managing Director at Google’s YouTube Asia Pacific, wrote on Wednesday on the official YouTube Korea blog that if the revisions are enacted, it could “undermine YouTube’s opportunity to make continuous investments for Korean creators to be successful.&rdquo

Industry April 21, 2022

Local drug developer GI Innovation has submitted a preliminary application for listing on the country’s secondary tech-heavy bourse Kosdaq with its eyes set on going public in the second half of the year, the company said Thursday. GI Innovation’s initial public offering will be carried out under Kosdaq’s special listing track, known as the “unicorn special listing.” The Korea Exchange established the unicorn special listing process in April last year to simplify

Market April 21, 2022

South Korean researchers have developed the world’s first fiber-based white organic light-emitting diodes, or WOLEDs, paving the way for more functional wearable tech, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology said Wednesday. The research team came up with a single, dip-coated white emission layer suitable for a fiber structure to design the fiber-based WOLEDs. In doing so, the researchers figured out how to implement WOLEDs on a string of fiber through simulation and optimizatio

Technology April 20, 2022

The labor union of local game developer Webzen has decided to go on what will be the first strike in the country’s game industry if its planned walkout takes place on May 2 as scheduled. “It is hard to see this incident as just an issue where employees of a company are dissatisfied with the way they are treated,” said Webzen’s labor union in a press conference held in front of the game maker’s office in Bundang, Gyeonggi Province, Monday. “This strike is m

Social Affairs April 19, 2022

South Korean researchers have developed the country’s first robotic catheter system that can be inserted into human organs to perform interventional therapies, the Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials said Monday. A catheter is a thin tube-like medical device that can be inserted in the body to treat diseases or perform surgical procedures. Interventional therapies, which refer to treating surgery-requiring-diseases through non-surgical procedures, have been implemented in a wide r

Technology April 18, 2022

Amid the ongoing controversy over Google’s new in-app payment policy deemed Google Korea posted sales of 292 billion won ($237 million) from last year, up 32.8 percent on-year - but that did not include commission from the Play app store, estimated to be trillions of won. According to the regulatory filing submitted by the Korean arm of the global IT giant on Thursday, Google Korea’s operating profit recorded 29.4 billion won, up 88.4 percent on year, while its net income rose 152.

Technology April 15, 2022

The Institute of Basic Science has identified the scientific mechanism of post-traumatic stress disorder treatment for the first time in the world through animal experiments, the Ministry of Science and ICT said Thursday. According to the ministry, the researchers used the PTSD treatment NYX-783, which is currently under clinical trials by the US biopharmaceutical company Aptinyx, for animal experiments using mice and discovered the principle of its treatment effects. In doing so, the resear

Technology April 14, 2022

SEONGNAM, Gyeonggi Province -- South Korean IT behemoth Naver is aiming to double its annual sales to reach 15 trillion won ($12.2 billion) in the next five years and secure 1 billion users worldwide, company executives said Wednesday. “Naver has entered the ‘Global 3.0’ stage where we create multiple growths through the synergy of various business portfolios, technological leadership as well as domestic and overseas partnerships,” CEO Choi Soo-yeon said at a press conf

Industry April 13, 2022

South Korea and Israel have pledged to invest up to $5.3 million (6.6 billion won) to support the joint development of robotics technology under a new strategic collaboration project named the Lighthouse Program, officials said Tuesday. As a joint research and development project between Seoul and Jerusalem, the Lighthouse Program is a follow-up of the revisions made to the industrial technology agreement between the two countries last year. Both sides agreed to double the annual funding for th

Technology April 12, 2022

Contract manufacturing giant Samsung Biologics has raised 3.2 trillion won ($2.6 billion) through issuing new shares, allowing the company to secure capital needed for the buyout of Samsung Bioepis’ stake and construction of its fourth plant, officials said Monday. According to the firm’s regulatory filing, some 2 trillion won out of the 3.2 trillion won will be used for buying out Biogen’s stake in Samsung Bioepis and cover expenses of building its fourth manufacturing plant

Market April 11, 2022

More South Korean conglomerates relying heavily on manufacturing and retail networks for growth are turning to the bio and health care industries to secure future growth engines and expand areas of business. Retail and confectionary giant Lotte Group officially announced that bio and health care businesses will be its new growth engine at the shareholders’ meeting last month. Lee Dong-woo, CEO of Lotte Holdings, said the firm plans to directly invest in the bio and healthcare businesse

Industry April 10, 2022