Table of contents for February 2025 in alchedek

In 2024, South Korea’s exports maintained a surplus for 18 consecutive months and recorded export growth for 14 consecutive months since October 2023. As of the first half of 2024, South Korea showed the highest export growth rate among the top 10 exporting countries in the world at 9.1%, demonstrating that the growth engine did not stop despite the uncertainty in the global external environment. The so-called K-brand, including key items such as semiconductors and automobiles, as well as plants, nuclear power, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals, agriculture and Food and cultural content, is strengthening its competitiveness and seeking new possibilities under a bright outlook. In this January issue, we aim to introduce the current status of our country’s export expansion and those leading the way in pioneering emerging markets. Additionally, we…

The Center of Biotechnology Preserving the Nobility of Life, KRIBB Having undergone innovative development through the Agricultural Revolution, the Industrial Revolution, and the Information Revolution, humanity is now looking forward to the fourth wave, called the Bio Revolution. At the center of this new era of bio-revolution is biotechnology, which pioneers a better tomorrow through relentless exploration and challenges concerning life. KRIBB, a representative government-funded bio-research institution in Republic of Korea, was established as the Genetic Engineering Center in 1985. It moved to a new building in Daedeok Research Complex in 1990 and became an independent legal entity as the Biotechnology Research Institute under the Basic Science Research Institute in 1995. In 2001, it was renamed to its current name, the Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology. Currently, KRIBB…

With the successful establishment of overseas intellectual property centers(overseas IP Centers) in 10 locations across 8 major countries starting in 2024, the infrastructure for protecting overseas intellectual property has been significantly strengthened. The Industrial Property Dispute Mediation Committee has expanded its workforce and facilities for stable operation in 2024 and has extended court-linked mediation to the Daejeon District Court following the Seoul Central District Court and Suwon District Court, laying the foundation to become a specialized institution for industrial property dispute mediation. Although two years have passed since I took office as the President of KOIPA, I am aware that there is still much work to be done. I will continue to build a solid foundation for KOIPA’s sustainable growth with the ‘V.I.P Management(Vision-Innovation-People)’ spirit that I have emphasized in…

In line with the recent advancement of industries, the demand for high-performance polymer materials is increasing, based on basic chemical industries such as petrochemicals, fine chemicals, and plastics. This includes capital-intensive generalpurpose chemical materials and further extends to advanced chemical materials that are technology and knowledge-intensive. Particularly, with the trend of miniaturization, lightweighting, and high performance in automotive and electrical/electronic components, the development of advanced materials with characteristics such as heat resistance, chemical resistance, and high strength is underway. Additionally, the use of these materials is expanding in various industrial applications such as automobiles, aircraft, wind turbine blades, and civil engineering, which is expected to increase production and sales across the entire value chain of industries. Moreover, advanced nanotechnology is supporting technological innovations to overcome the limitations of existing material…

Supporting Various Content Genres and Strengthening R&D to Promote K-Content Worldwide Under the mission of ‘Realizing a Cultural Powerhouse through the Promotion of the Content Industry and Contributing to National Happiness’, KOCCA is supporting the growth of K-Content and contributing to the realization of Republic of Korea as a cultural powerhouse. This support encompasses genre-specific production assistance, planning, creation, production, distribution, overseas expansion, corporate nurturing, talent development, culture, sports, and tourism, R&D, policy finance support, and policy research. By 2030, KOCCA aims to achieve ▲2 trillion KRW in sales and export support performance, 140 billion KRW in investment and financing ▲60 billion KRW in R&D commercialization support performance, 50,000 jobs created(cumulative) ▲highest ratings in customer satisfaction and safety level evaluations. To achieve these goals, KOCCA is working closely and systematically…

‘NO Melatonin’, the natural sleep drink ‘Sleeping Bottle’ that helps with comfortable sleep MUSKA’s ‘Sleeping Bottle’ has become the first sleep drink in the country to surpass cumulative sales of 1.5 million bottles. Sleeping Bottle can be found in famous department stores, duty-free shops, franchise pharmacies nationwide, as well as online malls. It is also receiving a hot response overseas through famous distribution channels such as Amazon and Walmart, and local home shopping sales. With a capacity of 100mL, it can be carried on board an airplane, making it a perfect solution for those who have trouble sleeping due to long flights. Currently, convenience store entries are also being coordinated. The sleep rhythm improvement drink Sleeping Bottle is classified as a ‘food’. It is a general beverage that can be…

POSCO FUTURE M’s dedication to ensuring a stable supply of basic materials, from building a domestic production system to securing a full value chain POSCO FUTURE M is the oldest company within the POSCO Group, starting in January 1963 as Samhwa Chemical Co., Ltd., a producer of basic refractories. It grew into a specialized materials company with an integrated system from manufacturing to construction of refractories by merging with Pohang Chukro, a POSCO subsidiary responsible for industrial furnace maintenance and construction, established in 1971, in 1994. After the operation of Pohang and Gwangyang Steelworks, it entered the quicklime business, a secondary raw material for steelmaking. POSCO FUTURE M currently has the largest quicklime production capacity in Korea and is engaged in the chemical business utilizing coke oven gas(COG) generated during…

As of 2023, the market size of Republic of Korea’s cultural content, including games, webtoons, films, and music, is approximately $79.1 billion, ranking 7th in the world. It is predicted to grow at an average annual rate of 4.26% until 2026. The government, as part of its mid-to-long-term roadmap, aims to achieve $25 billion in content exports by 2027 and to become one of the world’s top four content powerhouses. To this end, it is supporting the growth of domestic content companies and job creation, providing content policy financing totaling 5 trillion won by 2027, establishing a copyright protection system befitting its global status, and assisting companies in expanding overseas. These efforts are part of policy development aimed at innovating the high-value-added media content industry. In particular, the content market…

The government is striving to establish a comprehensive disaster safety system to prevent social disasters, natural disasters, and safety accidents. Recently, efforts are being made to create a more scientific and rapid disaster safety system by building a data sharing platform for integrated management of disaster data, providing disaster preparedness and customized disaster safety information based on big data analysis, establishing a disaster cause investigation system based on public-private collaboration, comprehensive maintenance of areas vulnerable to wind and flood damage, and establishing an ICT-based daily safety monitoring system. Meanwhile, discussions on laws and systems to create a safe workplace are steadily progressing along with the expansion of workplaces subject to the Serious Accident Punishment Act to strengthen the responsibilities and duties of safety management and supervision at industrial sites. Along…

Focusing on Expanding the National Safety System and Establishing Preemptive Disaster Safety Infrastructure The Ministry of the Interior and Safety’s budget for 2025 has been set at 72.839 trillion KRW. The major project budgets for 2025, adjusted through the National Assembly’s deliberation, are 1.43 trillion KRW for the local economy, 1.6681 trillion KRW for disaster safety, 821.3 billion KRW for digital government, and 716.9 billion KRW for social integration, with the largest allocation going to disaster safety. In the local economy sector, support will be provided for the establishment of related infrastructure to respond to local extinction, activation of the living population system, an increase in vacant house maintenance, and the creation of new youth villages. In the disaster safety sector, continuous efforts will be made to establish preemptive disaster…

Leading the Protection of Companies’s Intellectual Property Rights, Enhancing Overseas Competitiveness, and Improving National Intellectual Property Competitiveness The Korea Intellectual Property Protection Agency(KOIPA), a specialized public institution for the protection of intellectual property, was established under Article 55-2 of the ‘Invention Promotion Act’ to promote dynamic innovative growth and a fair economic order in our country. Under the mission of ‘contributing to the enhancement of national intellectual property competitiveness and the development of the national economy’, it has put forward three strategies: ▲creating a foundation for the activation of domestic intellectual property rights protection ▲strengthening support for overseas intellectual property rights protection ▲promoting management innovation based on public value. It provides various services for the protection of domestic and international patents, trademarks, designs, and trade secrets of our companies and…

“The IONIQ 5 N DK Edition was directly evaluated and developed by the living legend of motorsport” Hyundai Motor Company unveiled the ‘IONIQ 5 N DK Edition’ for the first time at Japan’s largest auto tuning exhibition, the ‘2025 Tokyo Auto Salon’, held at the Makuhari Messe Convention Center in Tokyo, Japan, on January 10, 2025(local time). The ‘IONIQ 5 N DK Edition’ is a special model that presents the development direction of Hyundai’s high-performance electric vehicle tuning parts. It is equipped with N Performance Parts that enhance driving performance on the high-performance dedicated electric vehicle, IONIQ 5 N. To deliver the passion and expertise of motorsport drivers to customers, Hyundai collaborated with the famous Japanese racer ‘Keiichi Tsuchiya’ from the initial development stage of the ‘IONIQ 5 N DK…

ALPES, leveraging its overwhelming technological prowess developed over 14 years of research, has implemented a dry functional powder coating process and is moving towards commercialization, continuing its rapid growth. This technology, which applies semiconductor process technology, is an ‘One Source Multi-Use (OSMU)’ technology applicable to various industrial fields. It can be used in secondary batteries, semiconductors packaging(heat dissipation materials, CMP slurry, abrasive, solder balls, etc.), cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, and more, thus having a wide range of applications. Despite the skeptical views from academia and industry, ALPES, driven by the challenging spirit of CEO Tae Joo Park, is now preparing to leap into a global materials company. ALPES’s ‘Powder Atomic Layer Deposition(ALD)’ technology, an innovative foundational technology that can change the paradigm of core-shell structured powder synthesis, is opening new horizons in…

Hello. Please introduce yourself and give a New Year’s greeting to our readers. Hello. First of all, I would like to greet the readers of Monthly People for the New Year. I am Researcher Na Yong-un, who is promoting research related to battery fires at the National Fire Research Institute. What kind of work and research are you conducting at the National Fire Research Institute? I am conducting research related to electric vehicle and ESS(Energy Storage System) fires at the Response Technology Research Division of the National Fire Research Institute. In particular, I mainly conduct research on batteries used in electric vehicles and ESS, analyze fire causes, and develop response techniques for rapid and effective response to electric vehicle and ESS fires. We would like to hear about the contents…