X-widget's AIIN to provide information all about virtual assets

Blockchain company X-widget said Thursday it is developing a virtual asset information-providing solution called Artificial Intelligence Index (AIIN) by combining artificial intelligence and big data technologies. The service is set to launch in early 2023. The new service will use X-widget’s independent blockchain platform to provide virtual asset-related indexes, a prediction on virtual asset prices, a collective virtual asset management service, and an investment community network servi

Oct. 27, 2022

Taking Samsung’s top post, Lee Jae-yong vows to seek out transcending technology

Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong has been promoted to chairman of the world's largest chipmaker and smartphone maker, ending a high-profile succession process that took more than three decades to complete, with a vow to invest in transcending technology that could reboot the tech giant's growth engine. Lee, 54, was crowned Samsung Electronics' new executive chairman with the board of directors' approval Thursday morning, 10 years after he held the vice chairman

Oct. 27, 2022

Boryung acquires Korean rights to Eli Lilly’s lung cancer drug

South Korean drug maker Boryung has acquired the selling rights of Alimta, a non-small cell lung cancer treatment developed by US pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly, for the local market. According to Boryung on Tuesday, the acquisition agreement also included the copyright and licensing rights of Alimta in the country. First introduced in Korea in 2006, Alimta was the first drug to significantly reduce the anti-cancer drug’s adverse effects and toxicity while improving the survival rate of

Oct. 26, 2022

Tech giants tighten belts amid uncertainties, bleak outlook

South Korean electronics giants are bracing for uncertainties across the board, with some leading exporters mapping out belt-tightening plans to address the situation that some have described as grave as the 2008 global financial crisis. Memory chip supplier SK hynix is one of the companies hit hardest by slowing consumer demand and the US-China tech arms race. The memory chip downcycle follows a pileup of order backlogs, and uncertainties are growing in its Chinese operations due to semiconduct

Oct. 26, 2022

Seoul holds 1st World Bio Summit

The South Korean government on Tuesday kicked off the first World Bio Summit, a joint event with the World Health Organization to gather leaders of the vaccine and biotechnology industry to discuss innovations and ways to strengthen global health security. President Yoon Suk-yeol highlighted the importance of solidary and cooperation that go beyond the borders to prepare for humanity’s common adversity of new infectious diseases and pandemics. “Global society should work together

Oct. 25, 2022

SK hynix samples fastest next-gen standard memory module

South Korean memory chip supplier SK hynix said Tuesday it has shipped the world's fastest DRAM module under the double data rate 5 standard, considered a next-generation memory technology. SK hynix shipped memory module samples that boast up to a 6,400-megabit-per-second data transfer speed and 32-gigabyte memory density earlier this month, according to the company, without specifying the date. It added the integration of the clock driver in the new samples has improved the signal integrit

Oct. 25, 2022

Samsung still tight-lipped on Lee Jae-yong's succession

A memorial service honoring the late Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Kun-hee was held Tuesday, without a major announcement made by the electronics giant in regards to a succession plan for his son to ascend to the top leadership. Speculation has been building recently that Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong might be promoted to the chairman post, using the memorial service for momentum. Lee has held the "vice chairman" position for the past decade. Lee's eventual ass

Oct. 25, 2022

Kakao founder considers sweeping compensation for service blackout

Kim Beom-su, founder of South Korean online platform behemoth Kakao, said Monday that he will consider providing across-the-board compensation for users who suffered damages due to the company’s unprecedented service malfunction caused by a fire at an SK C&C data center on Oct. 15. "We are currently accepting damage reports from the users, so it is difficult to specifically tell the type and size of our compensation. We are reviewing all measures to help (users) recover,”

Oct. 24, 2022

KAIST develops brain-machine interface that controls robotic hands just by thought

Researchers at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology said Monday they succeeded in developing a brain-machine interface system which interprets brain signals to allow patients to control robot hand movements only by thought. By studying the electrocorticograms of epilepsy patients when they imagine hand movements, research teams led by KAIST’s brain and cognitive engineering professor Jeong Jae-seung and Seoul National University’s Medical School professor Chung Chun

Oct. 24, 2022

Korean chipmakers suffer decline in market cap, profitability

  South Korean chipmaking giants have suffered a decline in their market capitalization and profitability due to heated competition from Chinese rivals and a heavy tax burden, data showed Monday. Of the world's top 100 chipmakers in the world by average market cap from January to September period, only three local players -- Samsung Electronics, SK hynix and SK Square -- were listed, according to the Federation of Korean Industries, a lobby group based in Seoul, citing data from S&P Cap

Oct. 24, 2022

[Newsmaker] Depression, panic disorder fester in Korea as social stigma persists

Two-hundred and fifty-six. That's the number of people between age 10 and 20 that took their lives due to mental health problems last year. Of a total 13,205 deaths by suicide in 2021, some 5,258 had histories of mental health treatment, according to police data provided by Rep. Oh Young-hwan of the main opposition Democratic Party. The same data shows that the number of suicides aged 10-29 age groups jumped each year from 2019, with the figure for the latter marking 888 as of 2021. The figures

Oct. 24, 2022

Digital crisis management body planned in wake of Kakao outage

The South Korean government will set up a digital crisis management headquarters to launch an all-year-round system that inspects and supervises the country’s digital infrastructure and services, the Ministry of Science and ICT said Friday. The government’s plan came in the wake of Kakao’s server outage caused by a fire at SK C&C’s data center building, which led to a breakdown of the country’s most popular messaging app KakaoTalk for over 10 hours on Oct. 15. M

Oct. 23, 2022

SK chairman calls on CEOs to turn misfortune into gain

  SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won called on chiefs of the group’s affiliates to navigate business uncertainties by setting up case-by-case scenarios in order to turn misfortunes into gains, South Korea's second-largest business conglomerate said Sunday. The implementation of a data-driven action plan and internalization of sustainability factors, under the mantra of "SK Management System 2.0" unveiled in June, will allow the energy-to-biotechnology group to take a leap forwar

Oct. 23, 2022

Turning 25, International Vaccine Institute launches new expert advisory group

The International Vaccine Institute, which marked 25 years since its founding on Thursday, launched an advisory group of outside experts to complement its scientific advisory group and help advise on diplomatic matters. The IVI said the Global Advisory Group of Experts, will be chaired by Dr. Deborah Birx, who was formerly the US special representative for global health diplomacy and the White House COVID-19 response coordinator. “The IVI is an international organization, a part of the

Oct. 21, 2022

KakaoTalk raises W2.6tr in ad revenue over 1 1/2 years

KakaoTalk, South Korea’s immensely popular messaging app, has raised nearly 2.6 trillion won ($1.8 billion) in advertising revenue over the past 1 1/2 years, antitrust data showed Friday. According to data submitted by the Fair Trade Commission to Rep. Kang Min-guk of the People Power Party, KakaoTalk’s revenue from its ad platform Talk Biz amounted to 2.558 trillion won until the second quarter this year from January 2021. Talk Biz has two revenue sources -- KakaoTalk Biz Board

Oct. 21, 2022

EcoPro-Samsung SDI JV builds world's largest cathode active material plant

South Korean electric vehicle battery material firm EcoPro EM announced Friday that the world's largest cathode material production line has completed construction in Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province. All of the critical material produced in the facility, named CAM7, will be supplied to Samsung SDI, the world's sixth-largest battery supplier, with some 5 percent of the global market share. The facility is ready to go online beginning the first quarter of 2023. The newest facility of E

Oct. 21, 2022

FuriosaAI to begin producing first silicon chip in November

South Korean artificial intelligence-powered chip design house FuriosaAI plans to mass-produce its first-generation product beginning later this year, its Chief Executive Officer June Paik said Thursday. The semiconductor product, dubbed Warboy, will be mass-produced in tech giant Samsung Electronics' chip plant, using Samsung's 14-nanometer node with fin field-effect transistor technology. “Following a series of internal tests and assessments, (Warboy) is ready to begin limited

Oct. 20, 2022

Robot dogs, snakes to patrol industrial sites for safety

Robots that resemble animals such as dogs or snakes patrolling industrial facilities will soon be a familiar sight as manufacturers look for high-tech solutions to prevent human casualties or injuries which could hold them legally responsible. Hyundai Steel Co. is testing a four-legged walking robot to help prevent damage to humans in case of accidents or disasters. The robot, called Spot, can check whether oxygen gas valves are open or shut and inspect areas that pose safety risks. Therefore, i

Oct. 20, 2022

Scientists develop world’s 1st ‘elephant’s trunk-like gripper’

A team of researchers have developed the world’s first gripper that can work like an elephant’s trunk, the Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials said Thursday. Inspired by how an elephant picks up smaller objects by folding the end of the trunk and grabs bigger objects by inhaling air, the newly-developed gripper can pick up things by either gripping or adsorbing them. The researchers put together a flexible structure consisting of a wire that can transform its shape and a flexi

Oct. 20, 2022

SK C&C denies ignoring fire alerts at Kakao data center

SK C&C, the operator of the fire-hit Kakao Corp.’s data center, on Thursday denied a report that it had ignored two fire alerts made hours before the servers went down last week due to a fire in batteries. The company said its battery management system worked properly until the fire broke out at the SK facility in Pangyo, Gyeonggi Province, on Saturday, revealing the actual graph showing a stable movement both in electricity and voltage. A BMS monitors the temperatures across the batte

Oct. 20, 2022