CJ Olive Young adopts biodegradable plastic material for instant delivery product packaging

SEOUL -- CJ Olive Young, the drug and beauty store franchise of South Korea's food and entertainment conglomerate CJ Group, has adopted biodegradable plastic material called "polyhydroxyalkanoates" for packaging products sold through the company's instant delivery service platform. Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) are produced by bacteria during the fermentation process of sugar or lipids, including fats, oils, and waxes, for the storage of carbon and energy. PHAs a

January 24, 2024

LIG Nex1 to showcase unmanned coastguard patrol boat at robotics exhibition in UAE

SEOUL -- LIG Nex1, a defense contractor in South Korea, will display an unmanned coastguard patrol boat "Haegum-3" at a global exhibition in Abu Dhabi designed to showcase drones, robots, and other unmanned solutions. The patrol boat is equipped with advanced surveillance equipment, a remote shooting control system, and a guided rocket launcher. Haegum-3 unmanned boat features high seaworthiness, artificial intelligence-based autonomous operation technology, and enhanced

January 23, 2024

Hyundai Glovis to nurture recycled EV battery business into main growth engine

SEOUL -- In a strategic move to foster the recycled electric vehicle (EV) battery business as the primary driver of growth, Hyundai Glovis, the logistics solution arm of South Korea's Hyundai auto group, has entered into a share subscription agreement with a domestic battery recycling company. A Share Subscription Agreement (SSA) is a legal document that delineates the terms and conditions under which a party agrees to subscribe for and purchase newly issued shares in a compan

January 23, 2024

Boy band TWS sells 200,000 copies of album 'Sparking Blue' on debut day

SEOUL -- TWS, the brother band of boy group Seventeen, has sold more than 200,000 copies of its album "Sparking Blue" on its debut day. The debut album has also topped iTunes song charts in Thailand and India. According to album sales data released by South Korea's Hanteo Chart, 206,240 copies of Sparking Blue were sold on January 22. The new album entered the iTunes song charts in 11 countries including Britain, Japan, the Netherlands, and Italy as of January 22.

January 23, 2024

35% of S. Koreans have experienced more convenient lifestyle through subscripted services: survey

SEOUL -- Survey data revealed that approximately 35 percent of South Koreans have embraced subscripted services to enhance their daily convenience. The most popular among these services was home appliance rental and hygiene management, utilized by 18 percent of the population. A subscripted service, also known as a subscription service, is a retail solution that consistently delivers products or promised services monthly without requiring users to regularly renew orders or supply

January 23, 2024

National hospital in Busan adopts three-armed surgical robot

SEOUL -- A national university hospital has adopted a three-armed robot that assists medical operations by inserting a surgical instrument into a patient's body. During the surgery, human doctors sit at a control desk and guide the robot while observing the process through a three-dimensional video. According to a statement released by Pusan National University Hospital (PNUH), the hospital is using the three-armed robot "Da Vinci SP" for operations. After creating a

January 23, 2024

Deepbrain AI releases AI memorial solution to recreate deceased parents into AI humans

SEOUL -- South Korea's artificial intelligence solution company DeepBrain AI has released an AI memorial solution "Rememory 2" to bring together sorrow-stricken children and their deceased parents. AI parents, recreated based on their photo and a 10-second-long voice recording, can communicate with family members in real-time. Rememory 2 is the upgraded version of "Rememory," an AI memorial service launched in June 2022. Rememory creates AI humans through t

January 22, 2024

Exports of kimchi reaches $155.6 mln in 2023, up 10.5% year-on-year

SEOUL -- Exports of kimchi, traditional Korean pickled vegetables, soared 10.5 percent year-on-year to $155.6 million in 2023, state data showed. The increased popularity of kimchi is accelerated thanks to the high global recognition of the salad-like spicy mixed vegetable pickles as healthy food. Kimchi is a spicy and sour, picked vegetable side dish, usually made by fermenting cabbage or radish with red chili powder, garlic, ginger, and other spices. During the last decade, kimc

January 22, 2024

S. Korea tries to increase birth rate by providing total subsidies worth $22,000

SEOUL -- The national committee, tasked with addressing the challenges of a low birth rate and an aging society, aims to encourage more couples to have children by offering government subsidies totaling 29.6 million won ($22,223) until the newborn child reaches seven years old. Recent data from South Korea's National Assembly Budget Office (NABO) reveals a projected 49.6 percent decrease in the population of young people aged 0 to 14 by 2040, dropping to approximately 3.18 mil

January 22, 2024

LG Chem partners with Italian state energy company to establish hydrotreated vegetable oil joint venture

SEOUL -- LG Chem, the chemical unit of LG Group, partnered with Enilive, a state-run energy company in Italy, to set up a joint venture targeting the hydrotreated vegetable oil market. The biofuel with an extremely low freezing point can be used as aviation and automobile fuel. Hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) is made through either hydrocracking or hydrogenation of vegetable oil. Hydrocracking dismantles large molecules into smaller ones, while hydrogeneration is the process of a

January 19, 2024