[CES2024] S. Korea to open promotional booth at CES 2024

LAS VEGAS -- South Korea's trade and investment promotion agency will set up a large-sized booth at the Consumer Electronics Show, the world's largest annual consumer electronics exhibition held in Las Vegas, to help some 480 South Korean organizations and companies promote their products and services to global investors and clients. KOTRA, or the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency, is a South Korean government agency responsible for promoting international trade and

January 8, 2024

Convenience store chain GS25 to operate 1,000 stores in Viet Nam by 2027

SEOUL -- The operator of South Korea's convenience store franchise GS25 aims to increase the number of its stores in Viet Nam to 1,000 by 2027 from the current 518. Along with Vietnamese snacks, the iconic South Korean convenience store chain is selling various South Korean food including Korean-style fried chicken and Tteokbokki, finger-sized rice cakes simmered in fiery-red spicy chili sauce. GS Retail, the operator of GS25, made a foray into the Vietnamese convenience sto

January 8, 2024

[CES2024] Chinese tech firms return to CES despite US-Sino trade dispute

LAS VEGAS -- Chinese tech firms will swarm the Consumer Electronics Show, the world's biggest annual electronics exhibition held in Las Vegas. Despite the enduring trade dispute between Beijing and Washington, the robust participation by Chinese firms sends a clear signal that in the private sector, firms strive to distance themselves from governments embroiled in the trade war. In January 2023, when most countries had not yet opened their borders to prevent COVID-19 and Chine

January 8, 2024

NewJeans wins grand prize at S. Korea's Golden Disc Awards

SEOUL -- Girl band NewJeans won the grand prize for the digital songs at South Korea's annual music awards. The five-member band lifted the top award trophy at the Golden Disc Awards with Ditto, the group's global hit song released in December 2022. The dance-pop song with a nostalgic vibe garnered more than 520 million streams on Spotify, the world's top music streaming service. NewJeans, which debuted in July 2022, was formed under the command of Min Hee-jin, a geni

January 8, 2024

S. Korean video game 'DAVE THE DIVER' achieves milestone sales of 3 mln copies

SEOUL -- "DAVE THE DIVER," a casual, single-player adventure role-playing game developed by South Korean game developer MINTROCKET, has achieved milestone sales of three million copies. This is the first time for a South Korean game developer to garner global attention with a single-player video game. The adventure game, released in October 2022, depicts a story about Dave, a hard-working diver. Players can control Dave to catch fish, manage a restaurant, and farm vegeta

January 5, 2024

US drugmaker Rhythm Pharmaceuticals to acquire LG Chem's anti-obesity drug technology

SEOUL -- Rhythm Pharmaceuticals, a Boston-based biopharmaceutical company, has agreed to acquire technology for LB54640, an anti-obesity drug candidate developed by South Korea's major chemical company LG Chem. A second-stage clinical study is under way in the United States. Rare obesity mainly occurs due to an abnormal function of the melanocortin-4 receptor (MC4R), a gene that sends a satiety signal. The disease typically manifests in childhood, and patients with the cond

January 5, 2024

LG partners with golf service platform to deploy 1,200 service robots to golf clubs in Southeast Asian countries

SEOUL -- LG Electronics will deploy some 12,000 of its third-generation service robots to golf clubs in Southeast Asian countries for the next two years through a cooperation partnership with a Seoul-based golf service platform operator. South Korea's service robot market which stood at 857.7 billion won ($653.3 million) in 2022 is growing at an annual average growth rate of about 30 percent, according to the Korea Association of Robot Industry. It is common to see service rob

January 5, 2024

UN predicts S. Korea's economic growth rate to be 2.4% in 2024

SEOUL -- A report released by the United Nations showed that South Korea’s economic growth is projected to grow at 2.4 percent in 2024. The figure is higher than the growth forecast for the country's gross domestic product for 2023 which stood at 1.4 percent. According to the UN report titled "World Economic Situation and Prospects 2024," South Korea's economic growth would increase to 2.4 percent this year thanks to the recovery in private investment in 20

January 5, 2024

N. Korea fires some 200 artillery shots into West Sea

SEOUL -- North Korea has fired some 200 artillery shots into the West Sea, also known as the Yellow Sea. The shells landed just north of the Northern Limit Line, a maritime demarcation line in the West Sea that separates North Korea and South Korea. The Northern Limit Line (NLL) was drawn initially by the United Nations Command (UNC) in 1953 during the armistice negotiations that brought a ceasefire to the Korean War (1950~1953). However, Pyongyang has continuously challenged the

January 5, 2024

S. Korean elderly care service company to commercialize AI-based dementia diagnosis app in 2024  

SEOUL -- "Brain Up," an artificial intelligence-based dementia diagnosis application developed by South Korea's elderly care service company Leben Grida, will be commercialized in the second half of 2024. The smart solution engages in verbal conversations with elderly people and monitors cognitive functions by analyzing their speech. Dementia is a progressive disorder that leads to the degeneration and death of brain cells. Patients often suffer from memory decline.

January 5, 2024