Posted : 2021-07-05 15:10 gettyimagesbank South Korea remains committed to developing homegrown COVID-19 vaccines, the country's science minister said Monday, although local pharmaceutical companies face difficulties in conducting advanced stages of clinical trials. Lim Hye-sook, the minister of science and ICT, said her ministry will continue to support companies in research and development to help them speed up the development of their COVID-19 vaccine candidates and treatments. The country will also open the Korea Virus Research Institute on Tuesday, which will spearhead local research in viral diseases to combat pandemics. South Korea has previously outlined plans to help companies developing COVID-19 vaccine candidates enter third stage trials in the second half of the year.