Science Ministry suggests tax cuts to support content biz

The Ministry of Science on Friday suggested a slew of ideas such as tax reductions for over-the-top, or streaming, content producers to expand the South Korean content business and boost its global competitiveness. The government said the support will foster high-quality, exclusive content production on domestic platforms as well as emerging media businesses involving the metaverse and content creators. "We will turn the nation's content industry into an engine for the country's g

Nov. 18, 2022

Microsoft CEO discusses cooperation with SK, NCSoft chiefs

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella on Tuesday met with chiefs of SK Group, South Korea’s second-largest conglomerate, and NCSoft, the country’s game giant, to discuss future cooperation. According to industry sources familiar with the matter, Nadella sat down with SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, SK Square CEO Park Jung-ho and NCSoft CEO Kim Taek-jin in Seoul. The Microsoft chief’s meeting with SK leaders was a sign of the continued partnership between the two sides. In 2019, Park, who

Nov. 15, 2022

Smilegate founder’s divorce could affect ownership

Kwon Hyuck-bin, founder of South Korea’s gaming giant Smilegate and the nation's fifth richest person in terms of asset value, is going through an expensive divorce, according to legal sources Tuesday. Kwon’s wife was recently ruled in favor of her claim banning her husband from selling company shares until the divorce is finalized. Kwon controls 100 percent shares of Smilegate that is best known for its popular shooting game “Crossfire.” If the court orders Kwon t

Nov. 15, 2022

ASML to strengthen foothold in Korea: CEO

ASML, the world-leading Dutch equipment supplier for semiconductor manufacturers, will expand its foothold in South Korea with the planned construction of new facilities and add more capacity with the global chip industry’s growth forecast, the company’s CEO Peter Wennink said Tuesday. Acknowledging that the global chip industry may struggle in the short term due to worldwide inflation and geopolitical issues, Wennink underlined that more semiconductors are going to be needed to mee

Nov. 15, 2022

Korean researchers develop portable virus killer

South Korean researchers have developed a portable virus killer that uses ultraviolet rays to take out COVID-19 in a second, the Korea Railroad Research Institute said Monday. According to the KRRI, the newly developed anti-virus equipment weighs 1.8 kilograms, making it easy for workers to carry it around public transportation such as subways and trains. As the UV ray-using virus killer does not have a risk of fire or leave residue, the KRRI said it can be used for disinfection work in places w

Nov. 14, 2022

KT invests $2m in US voice biomarker tech startup Sonde Health

KT Corp. said Thursday it is making a strategic investment worth $2 million in Sonde Health, a US voice biomarker tech startup that analyzes people’s voice to recognize depression, anxiety and respiratory problems. The Boston-based firm, equipped with the world’s largest amount of data on voice health, has already secured partnerships with global tech companies like Qualcomm and GN Group. Vocal biomarkers are gaining renewed attention recently, with voice-related services from smartp

Nov. 10, 2022

Twitter Korea likely to lose legal battle against dismissed employees

Twitter Korea Ltd., the US social media giant’s Korean office, is highly likely to lose a potential legal battle against its abruptly laid-off employees under the local labor law if they decide to file a class action lawsuit against their employer, according to labor experts here. “Regardless of whether (Twitter Korea) had urgent managerial reasons behind the layoffs, there seems to have been no efforts to overcome them. The employer should have talked to a representative of laborers

Nov. 10, 2022

Samsung not interested in slidable phones: analyst

Foldable phones may have prompted the demand for devices with an expandable screen, but Samsung Electronics seems not interested in slidable phones due to lukewarm marketability, an analyst said Wednesday. “The market for foldable phones overlaps with that for slidable phones. It will be difficult for slidable phones to create its own market,” said Yi Choong-hoon, CEO and top analyst of Seoul-based display market tracker UBI Research at a conference. “Samsung seems uninterested

Nov. 9, 2022

[Photo News] Night of blood

A total lunar eclipse, also called "blood moon," was observed in South Korea on Tuesday evening. According to the Gwacheon National Science Museum, the lunar eclipse also blocked Uranus, a rare occasion that could be seen from the country only once between year 1600 and 2300.

Nov. 9, 2022

Kakao Bank reaches 20m customers; Kakao Pay shares rise

KakaoBank Corp. said on Wednesday that the number of its customers has risen above 20 million in the five years since its launch in 2017, while Kakao Pay shares rose for a fourth day on news that it has partnered with China’s Alipay+. Kakao Bank, the internet-only bank under mobile platform service provider Kakao Corp., doesn’t charge any fees for wiring money or withdrawing cash via ATMs. It also waived early repayment charges for all borrowers who repaid their loans early, and help

Nov. 9, 2022

G-Star 2022 expected to draw over 250,000 visitors

South Korea’s largest gaming convention G-Star is coming back at full strength for the first time in three years as the country’s major game developers are gearing up to showcase their new titles at the event next week. Taking place at the Busan Exhibition and Convention Center, commonly known as BEXCO, from Nov. 17 to 20, this year’s event is expected to draw over 250,000 game-lovers -- the largest attendance in the 17-year history of the gaming convention -- to the southern p

Nov. 8, 2022

Korean lunar orbiter Danuri plays BTS' 'Dynamite' from space

The Ministry of Science and ICT said Monday that South Korea's uncrewed space vehicle Danuri transmitted BTS’ "Dynamite" music video to Earth, successfully relaying data from space to Earth. According to the Ministry of Science, Danuri, also known as the Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter, underwent disruption tolerant network tests on Aug. 25 and Oct. 28. DTN tests are designed to test if data is transmitted wholly under extreme conditions and over very large distances. During

Nov. 8, 2022

LG Display develops world’s first stretchable high-resolution display

LG Display said Tuesday that it has developed the world’s first high-resolution stretchable display that can be elongated by 20 percent, a technological breakthrough with numerous potential industrial uses. According to the company, the full-color 12-inch display can be extended to a size of 14 inches. Despite the heightened flexibility, the display supports 100 pixels per inch, a similar resolution to other monitors on the market. Stretchable displays are also called “free-form disp

Nov. 8, 2022

SK Telecom CEO vows all-out transformation to become AI leader

South Korea’s largest telecommunications carrier SK Telecom will undergo a head-to-toe transformation to become a leading artificial intelligence company, the CEO said Monday. “We will leap into SKT’s version of a distinguished AI company that combines AI with connective technologies based on our main business of telecommunications,” said SK Telecom CEO Ryu Young-sang in a town hall meeting with employees to mark the one-year anniversary of his inauguration. In order to u

Nov. 7, 2022

ASML CEO to visit Seoul next week

Dutch chip equipment giant ASML Holding’s CEO Peter Wennink will visit South Korea next week to attend the groundbreaking ceremony of the company’s new Korean headquarters, located in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, that aims to bolster responsiveness to local client demands. Korea is home to Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, the world’s top two memory chipmakers, which take up more than 30 percent of ASML’s total sales. For the new facilities, the Dutch firm will spend a to

Nov. 7, 2022

Unity poised to help creating innovative games

Unity Technologies, developer of world-leading 3D graphics engines, discussed ways to improve the optimization and convenience for creators using its game-making tools at its annual Unite conference, the company’s Korea branch said Monday. The in-person Unite 2022 conference took place in Austin, Brighton in England, Copenhagen in Denmark, Montreal and San Francisco on Tuesday as it was also virtually open for all developers across the world. Headquartered in the US, Unity operates the wor

Nov. 7, 2022

Naver CEO voices confidence in data backup

Naver CEO Choi Soo-yeon on Monday underscored the IT giant’s data stability, pointing out that the company’s services are being provided soundly. “Established in 2013, data center Gak (Chuncheon) plays a linchpin role in offering (Naver’s) various services stably. With the high level of data backup and mirroring measures, we were able to normalize our services within a few hours in the wake of the recent fire at (SK C&C’s) data center,” said Choi in a conf

Nov. 7, 2022

US expansion matter of when, not if: Samsung Biologics

  Samsung Biologics, the world's leading contract development and manufacturing organization by production capacity, is reviewing overseas expansion options with a determined will to set up a production foothold in the US in the future. "The US expansion is happening eventually. It's not about 'if.' It's about 'when,'" James Park, Samsung Biologics’ chief business officer, told a group of reporters last week at the Convention on Pharmaceutical Ingredients in Frankfurt, Germ

Nov. 7, 2022

[Graphic News] Deadly crowd crush spurs people's interest in CPR

　The recent deadly crowd crush in Seoul sparked widespread interest among South Koreans in cardiopulmonary resuscitation that can help save lives during cardiac emergencies. 　Videos from Saturday's accident during Halloween festivities in Itaewon, which left 156 dead, showed not only rescue workers but also ordinary civilians desperately giving CPR to victims on the streets. 　Posts by people who performed CPR went viral on the internet, bringing home to people the importance of the emergency

Nov. 4, 2022

[Herald Interview] ‘One arm gets influenza, other arm gets COVID’

The novel coronavirus is likely to evolve into a flu-like respiratory virus by the end of 2023, or in 2024, once the COVID-19 pandemic reaches its endemic phase, eventually requiring people to get vaccinated year after year, a senior leader at Moderna said. “During the endemic period, the (COVID-19) vaccine will become available just like the influenza vaccine. You will be able to go online to a health center, do your pre-booking and pay for the vaccine exactly as you would for a flu vacci

Nov. 3, 2022