Tada launches ride-hailing service for corporate customers

　South Korean mobility company VCNC said Monday that it was expanding its popular van-sharing business, Tada, by introducing a new ride-hailing service for corporate customers.  　According to the company, the new service, “Tada Business,” is to be available on a trial basis until it officially kicks off in October. Once they register through the Tada app, company executives and staff members can use the Tada service in the same way as other customers, the company said. 　To provi

BusinessAug. 12, 2019

Prosecution considers filing extra charges against ex-minister

The prosecution is considering whether to file additional charges against former Vice Justice Minister Kim Hak-eui, who is being tried on suspicions that he received sexual services and bribes, as they secured fresh circumstantial evidence he had taken additional bribes.  Kim, 63, who served as vice justice minister in 2013, is suspected of having received more than 100 million won ($82,220) from the chairman of a local savings bank, surnamed Kim, since the early 2000s, according to the tea

Social AffairsAug. 12, 2019

Lotte chief meets Israeli minister for startup investment

Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin met Israel’s Economy Minister Eli Cohen to discuss ways to strengthen partnership with tech companies and startups in the Middle Eastern country, the South Korean food and retail giant said Monday.During a meeting in Jerusalem on Sunday, the chairman told the minister that Lotte plans to invest in Israel’s innovative companies in the areas of agriculture, robots and artificial intelligence for the group’s future growth. Minister Cohen, in resp

IndustryAug. 12, 2019

Samsung BioLogics adopts N-1 Perfusion at Plant No. 3

Samsung BioLogics said Monday that a new cell-culturing technology called N-1 Perfusion -- adopted for its third plant in Songdo, Incheon, from July -- has proven to increase cell density up to 10 times and cut down on production time by 30 percent.“With this, we have opened up scaled-up commercialization for our clients,” said John Lim, vice president at Samsung BioLogics, who is in charge of Plant No. 3. The South Korean contract manufacturing organization will customize its c

IndustryAug. 12, 2019

Samsung, LG among top 10 patent holders in US in 2018

South Korean tech giants Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics were among the companies that were granted the greatest number of patents in the US last year, falling within the top 10 and rubbing shoulders with IBM, Microsoft and General Electric, a report by a US patent association showed Monday. Samsung ranked No. 2 with 5,836 registered patents in the US, surpassed only by US IT giant IBM, which filed 9,088, according to the Intellectual Property Owners Association.  The Korean IT

IndustryAug. 12, 2019

[News focus] Moon bogged down by multiple crises

Following is the first part in a two-part series on the crisis facing the Moon Jae-in administration -- Ed.Just over two years into his five-year term, President Moon Jae-in is facing the biggest crisis of his term yet, pressed on all fronts due to the weak economy, domestic politics, ties with North Korea and other diplomatic concerns. Japan, history and tradeTopping the long list of issues which Moon faces is the escalating tension with Japan. Since he took office, bilateral relations with Tok

PoliticsAug. 12, 2019

S. Korea to exclude Japan from trade whitelist in September

South Korea is set to drop Japan as a preferred trading partner in September in response to Tokyo’s recent decision to exclude Seoul from its whitelist, officials said Monday. “An export control system on strategic items should be run under ground rules of an international export control system,” said Industry Minister Sung Yun-mo during a press briefing Monday afternoon.“(However) the system should be run accordingly (if a trading partner) operates the system that runs c

IndustryAug. 12, 2019

SK hynix develops highest bandwidth DRAM for mass production in 2020

SK hynix, the world’s second-largest memory chip provider, said Monday it has developed DRAM with the industry’s highest bandwidth for use in machine learning, supercomputers and artificial intelligence. Unlike conventional DRAM products, high bandwidth memory chips are closely interconnected to processors like graphic processing units and logic chips, which allows faster data transfers. HBM is rising as an optimal memory solution for high-end GPUs, supercomputers, machine learning a

TechnologyAug. 12, 2019

Samsung partners with Xiaomi on new hi-def image sensor

Samsung Electronics said Monday it has developed the highest definition image sensor for mobile devices in collaboration with Chinese smartphone vendor Xiaomi. The South Korean tech giant revealed it will start production of the industry’s first mobile image sensor with over 100 million pixels, dubbed as ISOCELL Bright HMX. The sensor boasts 108 megapixels, which enable mobile devices to offer a resolution equivalent to that of a high-end DSLR camera, according to the company. Samsung has

TechnologyAug. 12, 2019

Over two-thirds of Party for Democracy and Peace lawmakers bolt

Ten lawmakers announced Monday their departure from the minor opposition Party of Democracy and Peace to form a new party of “change and hope” after failing to reach a consensus with the party’s leadership. The move could jeopardize the existence of the 1 1/2-year-old progressive party. Calling on Chairman Chung Dong-young and the party’s leadership to resign for success in next year’s general election, the lawmakers who left had demanded the party be led by an emer

PoliticsAug. 12, 2019

[Newsmaker] Chaos at court as murder suspect claims self-defense

Koh Yu-jeong, suspected of murdering her former husband, attended her first trial before a crowd of jeering spectators Monday. During the trial at Jeju District Court, which started at 10 a.m., Koh maintained that she had acted in self-defense against a rape attempt by her ex-husband, identified only by his surname Kang.Koh’s attorney said that Kang attempted “unwanted physical contact” with Koh during the divorced couple’s meeting with their son, “expecting the def

Social AffairsAug. 12, 2019

S. Korea to adopt price ceiling on privately built flats

South Korea will adopt a controversial scheme to cap presale prices of privately built apartments in extended efforts to stabilize real estate markets, the land ministry said Monday. The ministry said the government plans to revise related laws by early October to fully prepare for the adoption of the "presale price cap system" for apartments to be built by private builders amid signs of home prices turning higher, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.The upc

EconomyAug. 12, 2019

YouTuber fined W5m for ‘misleading advertising’ of diet products

A YouTuber with millions of followers was fined 5 million won ($4,100) Monday for false advertising of food products. Food content YouTuber Jung Man-su, who goes by the name Banzz online, was fined for falsely promoting the weight-loss effects of his products, according to Daejeon District Court. Eat4U, a health food company Jeong launched in March 2017, marketed its products as diet aids in a misleading ad, according to prosecutors.Judges said the ad, which ran for about three months on social

TelevisionAug. 12, 2019

S. Korea mulling further delay of Dokdo defense drills

South Korea is considering conducting maritime defense drills on and around its easternmost islets of Dokdo later this month, military sources said Monday, far behind its usual schedule amid ongoing diplomatic and trade disputes with Japan.The military "plans to stage the drills at an appropriate time," defense ministry spokesperson Choi Hyun-soo told a regular briefing Monday, adding the authorities are reviewing "the exact schedule and scale."The drills, involving the Navy,

DefenseAug. 12, 2019

Rain forecast until Tuesday morning under indirect influence of typhoon

Rain will continue to fall in South Korea's central regions, including Seoul and the surrounding Gyeonggi Province, until early Tuesday morning under the indirect influence of Typhoon Lekima, which hit China's eastern coast over the weekend, local weather forecasters said. According to the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) on Monday, Lekima, the ninth typhoon of the season, was moving over the sea about 190 kilometers northwest of Qingdao as of 9 a.m. and is expected to dissipate in the

Social AffairsAug. 12, 2019

S. Korea says NK apparently eyes nuclear talks with US after military drills end

North Korea appears to be seeking the resumption of working-level nuclear talks with the United States after ongoing joint military drills between Seoul and Washington end, South Korea's presidential office said Monday.A senior Cheong Wa Dae official was responding to a statement issued by a North Korean foreign ministry official Sunday that contains strong condemnation against South Korea and blasted Seoul for staging the allies' military exercises that kicked off last week.The message came aft

North KoreaAug. 12, 2019

Seoul to strip Tokyo's trusted trade status in tit-for-tat measure

South Korea on Monday decided to remove Japan from its trusted trading partners, upping the ante in the trade haggling sparked by the neighboring country's export restrictions against Seoul.  The trade ministry said it will revamp its export list into three groups of trading partners from the current two, placing Tokyo in the newly established bracket, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. Tokyo had been on Seoul's top-tier list of 29 countries subject to preferential exp

EconomyAug. 12, 2019

17 suffer carbon monoxide poisoning at barbecue restaurant

Seventeen people were poisoned by carbon monoxide while dining at a charcoal-grill barbecue restaurant in Seogwipo on Jeju Island.Jeju fire authorities said the diners were sent to hospital at around 8 p.m. Sunday after they showed signs of carbon monoxide poisoning.Emergency dispatchers moved them to state-run Seogwipo Medical Center and Jeju Naval Base which are equipped with hyperbaric chambers. Seogwipo city government and fire authorities suspect the toxic gas was generated from palm tree c

Social AffairsAug. 12, 2019

Trump ridicules S. Korea on defense cost-sharing

US President Donald Trump ridiculed South Korea at his reelection campaign fundraiser Friday, saying it was very easy to force Seoul to hike its share of costs for stationing American troops here.According to the New York Post, Trump referred to how as a boy he used to accompany his father to collect rent, saying: “It was easier to get a billion dollars from South Korea than to get $114.13 from a rent-controlled apartment in Brooklyn, and believe me, those 13 cents were very important.&rdq

DefenseAug. 12, 2019

Korean father, daughter found dead in Croatian river: ministry

The Foreign Affairs Ministry said Monday two South Koreans died at a national park in Croatia, confirming earlier media reports.According to the ministry, the two Korean tourists were found dead at around 3:40 p.m. Sunday about 50 meters from a wooden bridge which cuts across the Krka River in the Krka National Park.The man in his 50s and his daughter in her 20s were found by police after a French tourist filed a report.The Korean Embassy in Croatia informed the victims’ family after confi

Social AffairsAug. 12, 2019