South Korea‘s economy may contract by more than 2 percent in the second quarter of this year as the country reels from the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, the country’s top economic policymaker said Wednesday. 　 　In a interview with Yonhap News TV, Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said while the country‘s real gross domestic product (GDP) posted minus 1.3 percent growth in the first quarter of 2020, compared with three months earlier, that number could fall into the lower neg

The Best Film prize at the 56th Grand Bell Awards -- South Korea’s major film festival, also known as Daejong Film Awards -- held at Grand Walker Hill Seoul on Wednesday went to Oscar-star “Parasite.” “It is a great honor to receive the Best Film award at the Daejong Film Awards at these difficult times,” said Kwak Sin-ae who heads the film’s production company, Barunson E&A, reading the acceptance speech on behalf of director Bong who is on long leave

　 South Korea said Wednesday it will provide US$18.5 million in humanitarian aid to Yemen to help combat food shortages and the coronavirus pandemic. The foreign ministry said South Korea announced its plans, in a virtual high-level pledging event organized on Tuesday by Saudi Arabia and the United Nations, to provide assistance to Yemen where more than 24 million people, or some 80 percent of the population, are in need of assistance. 　 　The aid will be used to help Yemen fight the new coron

Audi Volkswagen Korea said Wednesday it has launched four new models each of its premium midsized sedans Audi A4 and Audi A5. The new Audi A4 is the fifth-generation face-lifted model and comes in different versions -- A4 40 TFSI, A4 40 TFSI Premium, A4 35 TDI Premium and A4 40 TDI Quattro Premium -- depending on the engine type. The gasoline engine model, TFSI model, exerts up to 190 horsepower and torque of 32.6 kilogram meters.  The two TDI diesel engine models, TDI Premium and TDI Q

South Korea’s main bourse Kospi on Wednesday rose 2.87 percent to 2,147 points, the highest in more than three months, with foreign and institutional investors scooping up local shares anticipating an economic recovery. It was the first time that the index moved above the 2,100-point mark since Feb. 25, when it closed at 2,105.49. Kospi also saw a 47 percent increase since it hit rock bottom at 1,430 during a trading day in March under market pressure over COVID-19. A record high of 16.8

Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon said Wednesday the capital city will implement policies in four sectors, ranging from buildings to public transport, to reach net-zero emissions by 2050 while promoting the green industry and generating jobs. Stressing that the COVID-19 pandemic offers the last chance to go carbon-free, Park said tackling the climate crisis is the direction humanity must take for the future. “The way of running a city should transition to a carbon-free system, and we should p

France-based international private investment house Ardian said Wednesday it seeks to accelerate its push for more secondary investments in Asia, as the company has reached a historic-high $19 billion commitments to its new secondary fund from global investors. Secondary investment refers to a purchase of existing private assets and is considered a source of liquidity for institutional investors. The latest fundraising is expected to underpin Ardian’s position as a lead secondary investo

Science and technology firm Merck announced Wednesday the launch of Performance Materials, a newly integrated body comprising of recently acquired US-based chemicals and materials firms and its existing semiconductor solutions unit. Merck had acquired Intermolecular, a California-based company for advanced materials innovation in September last year. The following month, Merck completed the acquisition of Versum Materials, an Arizona-based company and a major materials supplier to the semicondu

South Korea’s Drug Ministry said Wednesday it was negotiating with US-based Gilead Sciences for emergency imports of remdesivir, a drug candidate that has shown clinical efficacy in treating COVID-19. Remdesivir is Gilead Science’s proposed drug candidate for Ebola, which has been circuited to test its effect on the latest coronavirus pandemic. In a pan-global clinical trial encompassing 73 institutes across 10 nations targeting over 1,000 COVID-19 patients, patients who were give

Korea’s first insulin pen biosimilar project becomes beneficiary of state subsidy of 3 billion won

South Korea’s pharmaceutical industry and health authorities are struggling with insufficient blood plasma derived from coronavirus survivors to develop a therapy, officials said Wednesday. The shortage comes as the Korea National Institute of Health and GC Pharma are working to roll out a plasma therapy in the second half of this year. A total of 12 people who have recovered from the novel coronavirus have promised to offer their plasmas, as of Wednesday, according to the Korea Centers

The rapid growth of e-commerce giant Coupang has been clipped recently upon the recent outbreak of COVID-19 infections at its logistics centers in addition to sudden deaths of its workers in the past months. On Wednesday, a civic group filed a complaint against Coupang’s founder and CEO Kim Bom-suk, claiming that his firm failed to inform customers properly about the COVID-19 cases of its employees. The civic group, named “People’s livelihood solution committee (directly tr

SPC Group said Wednesday it will open a Shake Shack store in Daegu in July, its first in the city. According to the company, the new Daegu store will be located in Dongseongno Spark, a shopping mall with a theme park. It is the second outlet to be launched outside Seoul metropolitan area, after the store in Busan, which opened in July 2019. The lot is currently covered with a colorful hoarding art depicting the city’s skyline, for which the company cooperated with Xeva a graffiti arti

Pernod Ricard Korea said Wednesday it has renewed the bottle design of Ballantine’s to celebrate the 30th anniversary of its flagship scotch whisky, and presented a limited edition of a drink ritual kit. According to the liquor maker, the new packaging design has added modern tint to strengthen Ballantine’s 30-year iconic luxuriousness. The new bottle boasts a sleek exterior, and the golden label design stresses its best quality. All of Ballantine’s 17-year, 21-year and 30-y

Homeplus said Wednesday it has partnered with Badajari, a seafood company, to launch a raw fish delivery service on its mobile shopping app. The app, dubbed Homplus Fish market, is a service linked to Noryangjin Fish Market, aimed to expand the distribution network for the traditional market, the company said. The new service offers a same-day delivery of raw fish menus prepared from the Noryangjin Fish Market. An order made before 2 p.m. would be delivered to the customer by 6 to 8 p.m. on