JEJU, Feb. 12 (Korea Bizwire) – With its sights set on becoming an “electric car paradise”, the island province of Jeju announced February 9 it will develop a high-precision map for self-driving cars and encourage auto manufacturers to use the island’s facilities as a testing ground. These initiatives will be undertaken jointly with the JDC [...]
SEOUL, Feb. 12 (Korea Bizwire) – Nine bus stops in Seoul’s Seocho District have specially designed heated benches that figure to be highly popular throughout the remainder of winter. Incorporating “nanocarbon surface heating”, these benches – called ondol chairs – keep bottoms warm by maintaining temperatures from 40 to 42 degrees Celsius. Thanks to its 203cm [...]
SEJONG, Feb. 12 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s per capita national debt hit 13 million won (US$11,900), more than double that of 2008 when the country was reeling from the aftermath of the global financial crisis, official data showed Sunday. The National Assembly Budget Office (NABO) said that as of Saturday, the national debt stood [...]
SEOUL, Feb. 12 (Korea Bizwire) — Bitcoin made up 32.7 percent of all cryptocurrency trading in South Korea in December, the lowest ratio among global exchanges, a local think tank said Sunday. In a report released Sunday on the Korean cryptocurrency trade and its characteristics, the Korea Insurance Research Institute (KIRI) said the ratio of [...]
SEOUL, Feb. 9 (Korea Bizwire) – Going forward, pharmaceutical firms, hospitals, medical professionals and all other actors that deal with narcotics and psychotropic drugs will be required to maintain a detailed electronic log regarding their use. The government announced February 9 a legal revision detailing this stipulation will begin to be enforced starting in May. [...]
SEOUL, Feb. 9 (Korea Bizwire) – Medals won at the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics by South Korean athletes could provide intangible benefits valued from 176 billion won to 263 billion won, according to a study by the Hyundai Research Institute. Assuming for the sake of simplicity that the intangible benefits of all three types of [...]
SEOUL, Feb. 9 (Korea Bizwire) – Fresh off steering Vietnam’s men’s soccer squad to a tightly contested finals loss against champion Uzebkistan in the 2018 AFC U-23 Championship, South Korean head coach Park Hang-seo was greeted with considerable fanfare in his return home on February 8. A soccer lifer who served as an assistant under [...]
SEOUL, Feb. 9 (Korea Bizwire) — Hyundai Mipo Dockyard announced on February 8 that it has developed a ballast-free design for ships that will go a long way towards preserving diverse marine ecosystems. Ballast or ballast water refers to water pumped into tanks located in the ship’s hull to keep the vessel in balance. Ballast [...]
SEOUL, Feb. 9 (Korea Bizwire) — Books by authors whose reputation extends beyond South Korea are proving to be popular amongst foreign media covering the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics. Books by Han Kang, who was awarded the Man Booker International Prize in 2016 for novel The Vegetarian, are the most popular, followed by fellow South [...]
SEOUL, Feb. 9 (Korea Bizwire) – Among the Winter Olympic categories watched on YouTube, no country watches speed skating competitions more than South Koreans, the streaming service has revealed. In fact, South Koreans watched 10 times more speed skating via YouTube than any other country, befitting a nation that is considered a speed skating powerhouse, [...]