Sale likely to shake up local e-commerce landscape

Over 150,000 get first jabs in less than a week since campaign launch

The Korea International Cooperation Agency has broken ground on the first hospital specializing in critical care in Iraq slated for completion in 2023, the overseas state agency said Thursday.  The four-story Iraq-Korea Critical Care Specialty Hospital will be built on a 7,000-square-meter site in the country’s capital, Baghdad, with the KOICA injecting a total of $39.5 million for the project.  Once completed, the hospital will be equipped with eight operating rooms, 100 sick

Baekhyun of EXO is preparing a new solo album that is slated to be released at the end of March, according to a local news report Thursday. SM Entertainment confirmed that it will be unveiled on March 30 following the report.  It has been 10 months since he put out second solo EP “Delight” but he has kept himself busy rolling out digital single “Amusement Park” in December 2020 and first Japanese solo EP “Baekhyun” in January. His solo debut EP &ldqu

South Korean conglomerate SK Group will set up a company to run a real estate investment trust, or REIT, this month, according to reports Thursday. A REIT owns or finances real estate property to generate income, and allows investors to partially own valuable real estate and receive dividends. SK Holdings, the holding company of SK Group, is expected to obtain approval to establish the REIT later this month. After setting up a new subsidiary as early as this month, it will likely launch a RE

South Korea went up one spot to place fourth in terms of the number of international patent filings, according to the Korean Intellectual Property Office on Thursday. The country’s applications for international patent rights to the World Intellectual Property Office increased 5.2 percent from 19,073 in 2019 to 20,060 in 2020, the patent body said. Korea, who placed fifth from 2010 to 2019, follows China, the United States and Japan. The growth in patent filings was made largely in

South Korea plans to inject 2.17 trillion won ($1.9 billion) over the next 10 years to support development of new drugs, the government announced Thursday. Some 1.47 trillion of that money will come from state coffers, while private players will invest the remaining 701 billion won, the Ministry of Science and ICT said. The goal is to debut new medicines that could generate annual sales of 1 trillion won, it added. This budget would be spent on supporting the overall development process of

President Moon Jae-in replaced his senior secretary for civil affairs and justice Thursday, eventually accepting a resignation offer by Shin Hyun-soo, according to Cheong Wa Dae. Kim Jin-kook, an official at the Board of Audit and Inspection (BAI), has been named to replace him, Chung Man-ho, senior secretary for public communication, said in a press statement. Shin tendered his resignation last month in apparent protest over a recent personnel shake-up at the prosecution that was led by new J

Hong Kong-based private equity firm Affinity Equity Partners has been selected as the preferred bidder for the acquisition of South Korea’s online recruiting portal Jobkorea. According to sources Thursday, Affinity and Korean private equity house H&Q Korea will ink an agreement over the transaction of a 100 percent stake in the company roughly valued at nearly 900 billion won ($800 million). Affinity beat out private equity peers MBK Partners, CVC Capital Partners and TPG Capital As

South Korean biopharma firm Green Cross LabCell has established a pet health care unit, the company announced Thursday. 　 The new entity, Green Vet, plans to introduce health care solutions and products that address various issues regarding the overall life quality of companion animals in addition to the essential medical support, said Green Cross LabCell CEO Park Dae-woo. The technology and know-how of Green Cross LabCell, which specializes in cell curing agents and transportation of consig

The Ministry of National Defense offered condolences Thursday over the death of the country’s first transgender soldier, who was challenging the Army’s decision to discharge her over sex reassignment surgery. Byun Hee-soo, 23, was found dead at her home in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province, the previous day. A local mental health clinic Byun frequented notified paramedics who found her with no will left behind. Byun, who tried to take her life before, had been unreachable since S

Jeong Eun-bo, South Korea’s chief negotiator for defense cost-sharing talks, raised expectations that a deal with the US will come soon, as he departed for Washington on Thursday for a new round of negotiations. 　 Jeong and his US counterpart, Donna Welton are set for talks in the US capital Friday to negotiate the cost-sharing deal, known as the Special Measures Agreement, the pact that governs the upkeep of the roughly 28,500-strong US Forces Korea. The two last held talks via video li

South Korea should adopt fractional share investing in order to enhance financial inclusiveness and diversify asset portfolios of real estate-reliant small investors, the head of a local fintech firm suggested on Thursday. By allowing investors to buy less than a full share, investors with a tight budget can have more chances to invest in blue-chip stocks that used to be out of their reach, Kakaopay CEO Ryu Young-joon said during a seminar held by Rep. Lee Kwang-jae of the Democratic Party of

Consulting firm McKinsey & Company on Wednesday said they have hired Park Joong-ho, former head manager of Oliver Wyman’s Korea office, as a new partner here. Park worked at Oliver Wyman, a consulting firm specialized in financial services companies, for 15 years and led the company for more than three years until December 2020.  At Oliver Wyman, he provided consulting services to financial institutions and governmental organizations in areas such as digital transformation, glo

South Korean stocks snapped its two-day winning streak Thursday as investor sentiment weakened over concerns of increasing US Treasury yields. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) declined 39.5 points, or 1.28 percent, to close at 3,043.49 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 1.3 billion shares worth some 16.8 trillion won ($14.9 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 505 to 358. Foreigners sold a net 928 billion won, w