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Ko Dong-hwan

Korea Times Business Reporter

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Companies

KM Pharmaceutical targets global oral care market with Pororo products

PYEONGTAEK, Gyeonggi Province — KM Pharmaceutical, a hygiene product developer has created a sensation in Korea’s oral care market with its Pororo-themed toothpastes and toothbrushes. The company, which is based in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, is now seeking to replicate that success overseas. KM Pharmaceutical already exports to 12 countries as an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) and original development manufacturer (ODM) specializing in oral care, hair care and beauty products, but the company believes its overseas business still has significant room to grow. The company has recently begun operating its second manufacturing plant in Pyeongtaek which is dedicated to hair care and beauty products. The expansion readied stronger exports for the company which aims to hit an annual sales goal of 100 billion won ($72 million). “The second factory is now at full capacity and the first one about 70 percent. But considering the volume of orders we are receiving, the first factory will probably have to run at full speed as well,” said Hwang Min-young, production director of KM P

Aug 24, 2026By Ko Dong-hwan
KM Pharmaceutical targets global oral care market with Pororo products
Companies

K-Market turns Korean ODA rice project into commercial venture in Vietnam

K-Market, the largest Korean-run supermarket chain company in Vietnam, signed a partnership with a local provincial government to purchase and distribute locally grown rice developed through official development assistance (ODA) from the Korean government. According to the company, it signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Quang Tri provincial government on Thursday, agreeing that the retailer will purchase and distribute the rice grown by local farmers in the province as its private brand product. Under the deal, the company will sell the rice, a Japonica rice variety, for three years through its 150 directly managed stores across Vietnam. This marks a model case of a Korean agricultural ODA project evolving from providing aid and local agricultural infrastructure to creating a bridge toward commercialization. The Japonica rice variety was first introduced to the farmers in Quang Tri province through an ODA effort by the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Funded by the Korean government, the project was launched to help dev

Aug 23, 2026By Ko Dong-hwan
K-Market turns Korean ODA rice project into commercial venture in Vietnam
Companies

Sangdong mine eyes role in securing tungsten for chip industry

The Sangdong mine in Yeongwol County, Gangwon Province, is emerging as a strategic asset in efforts to build a non-Chinese tungsten supply chain for the semiconductor industry. Operated by Almonty Korea Tungsten Corp. (AKTC), the mine is one of the world’s largest tungsten deposits and has advanced through development to become fully production-ready. The Sangdong mine is expected to supply tungsten concentrate and support the production of higher-value materials such as high-purity tungsten oxide. AKTC said the mine could strengthen Korea’s domestic critical-mineral security while providing an alternative source for global semiconductor and advanced-manufacturing industries that remain heavily dependent on China. The mine development project has gained importance as concerns over global tungsten hexafluoride (WF6) supplies intensify. WF6 is a specialty gas used in semiconductor metallization, including tungsten deposition processes required for 3D NAND, DRAM and high-bandwidth memory. Rising demand from AI servers and data centers is increasing demand, while the qualification of a

Aug 22, 2026By Ko Dong-hwan
Sangdong mine eyes role in securing tungsten for chip industry
Companies

Dongwha Pharm takes Whal Myung Su global with K.O.D.

Dongwha Pharm is taking its flagship digestive aid Whal Myung Su to the U.S. market, 129 years after the product was first developed in Korea. The pharmaceutical company said Thursday that it has launched a new Whal Myung Su 1897 product, branded as Korea Original Digestive (K.O.D.), for overseas consumers. It has also selected K-pop group CORTIS as its new global brand ambassador and plans to launch a global marketing campaign featuring the group. K.O.D. will be available at pharmacies and duty-free shops in Korea this month before hitting supermarkets, pharmacies and Olive Young stores in the United States from September. Dongwha Pharm will also operate a dedicated K.O.D. brand store on Amazon. Building on Whal Myung Su’s 129-year heritage dating back to 1897, K.O.D. is a food product with its taste and ingredients tailored to the preferences of overseas consumers. Dongwha Pharm is positioning K.O.D. around the message of a “new cultural code for enjoying K-food,” aiming to establish K.O.D. as part of a new after-meal ritual for consumers enjoying Korean cuisine. Dongwha Pharm pla

Aug 20, 2026By Ko Dong-hwan
Dongwha Pharm takes Whal Myung Su global with K.O.D.
Companies

Korean food exports face tough battle in Vietnam

Korean food products have drawn global attention, with certain product labels like Buldak sparking a rare consumer frenzy and online fandom movement transcending nations and borders. From instant noodles to snacks, baked goods, fruit and manufactured seafood, Korean food products have become strategic items for retailers outside Korea. K-Market in Vietnam, a network of 150 directly managed medium-sized supermarkets, specializes in K-foods and other Korean products. The largest Korean-run retailer in the country also operates a logistics center in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, facilitating product distribution to stores in the country’s largest economic hubs in the northern and southern regions. Having run K-Market for 20 years, Chairman Ko Sang-goo, however, worries about the company’s future. At the battlefront in the country’s retail industry, the business guru compares himself to a Korean soldier fighting global retailers in Vietnam. He now sees Japanese and Chinese brands scaling up in the country’s retail sectors and increasing their market shares. To him, Korean products ar

Aug 20, 2026By Ko Dong-hwan
Korean food exports face tough battle in Vietnam
Companies

Korea moves to block Polymarket over illegal gambling

The Korea Media and Communications Standards Commission has ordered domestic internet service providers to block access to Polymarket, an overseas prediction market platform, after determining that the service promotes gambling. The commission’s telecommunications review subcommittee made the decision at a meeting Tuesday, concluding that Polymarket contains information intended to facilitate gambling or establish a place for gambling under the Criminal Act. It also found that the platform provides information intended to facilitate activities similar to sports betting under the National Sports Promotion Act. The regulator said Polymarket’s winner-take-all structure encourages gambling behavior because users can face sharply divergent financial gains or losses depending on outcomes beyond their control. Polymarket allows users to trade contracts tied to events including politics, the economy, international relations, sports, elections and weather. The commission cited markets involving domestic issues, including a contract on Seoul’s rainfall in August, as evidence that the platfo

Aug 19, 2026By Ko Dong-hwan
Korea moves to block Polymarket over illegal gambling
Companies

Daewoo E&C to launch 1,438-unit apartment complex in Cheonan

Daewoo Engineering & Construction said it plans to begin sales in September for Dujeong Station Prugio Grand Peak, a 1,438-unit apartment complex in Seongjeong-dong, Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province. The project will comprise 10 buildings ranging from two basement levels to 35 stories aboveground. It will offer units with floor areas of 59 square meters in two types, as well as 74, 84, 101 and 114 square meters. The development is expected to benefit from its proximity to major industrial facilities, including Samsung Display’s Cheonan campus, the Baekseok agro-industrial complex and other general industrial complexes in the city. In July, Samsung Group announced plans to invest 140 trillion won ($100 billion) in the Chungcheong region to develop it into a hub for advanced materials and components. The plan was revealed at a national briefing on the Chungcheong region’s advanced-industry development vision chaired by President Lee Jae Myung in Asan, South Chungcheong Province. Cheonan is expected to benefit as a potential residential area supporting the broader Samsung industrial

Aug 19, 2026By Ko Dong-hwan
Daewoo E&C to launch 1,438-unit apartment complex in Cheonan
Tech & Science

Korea's agricultural outreach sees success in Asia, Africa

Korea’s Rural Development Administration (RDA) has achieved landmark successes in its overseas agricultural official development assistance projects, turning decades-long challenges into sustainable food security solutions. The most notable achievements include rice cultivation projects in Mongolia and several African countries, and Uzbekistan, where Korean agricultural technology is paving the way for machinery and livestock exports. Mongolia, which has been entirely reliant on imports to supply the 50,000 tons consumed annually, saw its first successful domestic rice harvest in 2025 thanks to the RDA’s Korea Program on International Agriculture. Using an early-maturing Korean rice called "jinbuolbyeo" with a 40-day seedling technique and early September harvest schedule adapted to Mongolia’s short growing season, test plots in Bulgan District, Khovd Province, yielded about 310 kilograms per 1,000 square meters . The breakthrough not only demonstrated that rice can be grown in Mongolia’s harsh climate but also opened opportunities for Korean irrigation systems, milling equipmen

Aug 18, 2026By Ko Dong-hwan
Korea's agricultural outreach sees success in Asia, Africa
Companies

HD Hyundai, SK join Bill Gates' TerraPower for SMR biz

Major conglomerates HD Hyundai and SK are spearheading efforts to incorporate Korean industry in TerraPower’s global small modular reactor (SMR) supply chain through talks with Bill Gates, TerraPower’s board chairman, who has been holding meetings with the groups' heads and top government officials in Korea. HD Hyundai said its Chairman Chung Ki-sun and Hyundai E&C CEO Lee Han-woo met Gates and TerraPower CEO Chris Levesque at a hotel in Seoul on Friday. This marks the first meeting among the top executives since HD Hyundai, TerraPower and Hyundai E&C signed a three-way memorandum of understanding for cooperation in the next-generation sodium-cooled fast reactor business back in May. During the meeting, they discussed cooperation strategies to commercialize land-based reactors, building on the progress made so far. HD Hyundai plans to accelerate investment in production facilities ahead of commercialization, with the goal of supplying two to three reactor vessels per year. "Based on a cooperative framework ranging across technology, manufacturing and engineering-procurement-construc

Aug 14, 2026By Ko Dong-hwan
HD Hyundai, SK join Bill Gates' TerraPower for SMR biz
Companies

GS Global spurs North American energy sector with new Houston office

Energy and infrastructure accelerator GS Global has opened a new branch in Houston, strengthening its local sales capabilities as it targets growing opportunities in North America’s energy and infrastructure markets. The company held an opening ceremony on Tuesday (local time) in Uptown, one of Houston’s major commercial districts. Attendees included Korean Consul General in Houston Lee Kyung-eun, representatives from key customers such as Jindal USA and major Korean and international companies including POSCO, Hyundai Steel, Korea National Oil Corporation and Hanwha Ocean. The establishment of the Houston branch reflects GS Global’s strategic decision to respond proactively to rising demand for project-based steel products driven by increased investment in energy, power generation and infrastructure across the United States. Demand for high-quality steel products has expanded particularly rapidly as construction of artificial intelligence data centers and investment in power infrastructure accelerate nationwide. GS Global has been operating its U.S. business primarily through its

Aug 14, 2026By Ko Dong-hwan
GS Global spurs North American energy sector with new Houston office
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