Galaxy S21 draws 57m viewers during Unpacked event

The debut of the Galaxy S21 series, the first smartphones to be released globally in 2021, drew the largest number of viewers to its hourlong virtual Unpacked show in the wee hours of Friday morning here. According to Samsung Electronics, as many as 57 million viewers around the world tuned in to the show streamed via YouTube and the company’s homepage to check out the newest mobile devices to become available this year. The number of viewers marked the largest for an online unveiling

TechnologyJan. 15, 2021

Health and tech giants meet for ‘vaccination passports’

To combat the pandemic in 2021, private industries and nonprofit organizations are developing vaccine passports or identification cards that can serve as proof of inoculation to governments and businesses, including airlines. The ID card targets both domestic and international purposes of use, such as simply going out to theaters or stadiums, or traveling abroad to neighboring countries. On Thursday, Microsoft, Salesforce and Oracle, in collaboration with the US health care nonprofit Mayo Cli

IndustryJan. 15, 2021

Posco Chemical raises W1.3tr through stock issuance

Posco Chemical Co., an affiliate of South Korea's steel giant Posco Group, said Friday it has raised 1.3 trillion won ($1.1 billion) by new stock sales to fund its rechargeable battery material business. Posco Chemical said it sold 16.47 million shares at 77,300 won to the company's employee stock ownership association and existing shareholders between Wednesday and Thursday, with its subscription rate at 103 percent. The new shares will be listed on the Seoul bourse on Feb. 3, the firm said.

IndustryJan. 15, 2021

Samsung unveils new flagship phone with BTS, viral Korean act

Samsung Electronics Co. unveiled its new flagship Galaxy S21 series phones on Friday, featuring trendy K-pop acts such as megastar BTS and eccentric alternative group Leenalchi, as the South Korean tech giant eyes capturing young smartphone users around the world. The South Korean smartphone maker introduced the Galaxy S21 series, which comes in three models -- the 6.2-inch S21, the 6.7-inch S21+ and the 6.8-inch S21 Ultra -- at the livestreamed online Galaxy Unpacked 2021 event that drew in a

IndustryJan. 15, 2021

Economic uncertainty continues amid flare-up in COVID-19: finance ministry

The South Korean economy faces persistent uncertainty as a resurgence in new coronavirus cases and stricter virus curbs are hampering domestic demand, the finance ministry said Friday. Domestic demand and the job market remained sluggish, affected by the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic and tougher social distancing rules, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance. "Though the country's exports are improving, the real economy faces continued uncertainty, with domestic demand shr

EconomyJan. 15, 2021

[Graphic News] Exports of kimchi hit all-time high through October amid pandemic

　South Korea’s exports of kimchi reached an all-time high in the first 10 months of 2020, data showed, on the back of growing global demand for healthier foods amid the new coronavirus pandemic. 　Outbound shipments of kimchi over the January-October period of last year came to $119 million, rising 36.4 percent from a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the Korea International Trade Association. 　The export volume also set a fresh high of 32,000 tons during the cited perio

BusinessJan. 15, 2021

BOK keeps key rate at record low as pandemic persists

South Korea's central bank on Friday held its policy rate unchanged at a record low of 0.5 percent, as the fallout from a third wave of the new coronavirus hurt the scope of maintaining an economic recovery. As widely expected, the monetary policy board of the Bank of Korea (BOK) voted to leave the base rate steady in this year's first rate-setting meeting. In November last year, the BOK froze the key rate as economic uncertainty heightened amid a flare-up in new coronavirus cases. To bolster

EconomyJan. 15, 2021

Seoul stocks open higher on US stimulus proposal

South Korean stocks opened higher Friday, as investor sentiment was boosted by a massive stimulus proposal by US President-elect Joe Biden that fueled hopes of speedy global recovery from the pandemic. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 11.13 points, or 0.35 percent, to 3,161.06 points in the first 20 minutes of trading. Samsung Electronics shed 0.78 percent, and No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix advanced 1.92 percent. Leading chemical firm LG Chem retreated 0.3 percent, but recharge

MarketJan. 15, 2021

S. Korea puts priority on increasing home supply to ease housing crunch

South Korea will put priority on increasing housing supply by lowering construction regulations in the densely populated urban area and supporting redevelopment projects to stabilize the housing market, the finance minister said Friday. Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said housing stability is one of the government's most pressing tasks, vowing to make use of all available policy measures to rein in the heated market. "The government will put priority on supplying new housing units this year

EconomyJan. 15, 2021

4 companies to recall over 14,000 vehicles

Honda Motor Co., Audi Volkswagen Korea and two other companies will voluntarily recall over 14,000 vehicles to fix faulty components, the transport ministry said Friday. This is the latest in a series of recalls by carmakers operating in South Korea and vehicle importers due to problems with vehicle components. The four companies, including Scania Korea Group and Ford Sales Service Korea, are recalling a combined 14,217 units due to faulty components in five models, the Ministry of Land, Infra

MobilityJan. 15, 2021

[Newsmaker] Galaxy S21 comes with striking design change, most powerful processor

Samsung Galaxy S21, unveiled Thursday at midnight, boasts a new, striking design and is equipped with the most powerful processor yet. Plus, it comes with a lowered price tag. Samsung streamed the Galaxy S21 Unpacked show through various online channels to introduce its flagship smartphones for 2021 -- Galaxy S21, Galaxy S21+ and Galaxy S21 Ultra -- one month earlier than previous years. The Ultra model supports the S Pen stylus for the first time. Samsung also introduced Galaxy Buds Pro

TechnologyJan. 15, 2021

Mirae Asset chairman stresses innovation

Park Hyun-joo, chairman and founder of South Korea’s Mirae Asset Group, on Thursday urged analysts to explore innovative companies, stressing shifting investment strategies focusing on the growth potential of companies rather than assessment of the manufacturing value chain. At an online investment strategy meeting, Park referred to unexpected innovations that could have a significant impact on the market, saying that the markets are transitioning from a focus on the value chain to innova

MarketJan. 14, 2021

Nexon's holding company invests $16m in Elon Musk's SpaceX

NXC, the holding company of South Korea’s largest game developer Nexon, has invested $16 million in SpaceX, the aerospace company run by electric carmaker Tesla CEO Elon Musk, the company said Thursday. “NXC invested $16 million in SpaceX’s fundraising round in August, in which the spaceflight company issued convertible preferred stocks,” said an NXC official, declining to comment on details of the deal. SpaceX is said to have issued preferred stocks at the time to ra

MarketJan. 14, 2021

Will commercial breaks give second chance to terrestrial broadcasters?

Terrestrial broadcasters will be allowed to air commercial breaks starting June, the first time since laws regulating the TV industry have been in place 48 years ago. 　 The Korea Communications Commission announced its “Broadcasting Market Promotion Policy Measures” on Wednesday. The Enforcement Decree of the Broadcasting Act states that commercial breaks will be allowed for all broadcasters regardless of their service providers. Current laws prohibit local terrestrial broadcasters

TechnologyJan. 14, 2021

Rise of retail investors pushes stocks, mitigates 'Korea discount': experts

The South Korean stock benchmark surpassing the 3,000-point mark last week highlighted the rise of retail investors, which mitigated a series of negative factors that had left the local stock market undervalued, market experts and leaders of financial companies said Thursday. They were referring to the massive capital injected by individual investors who have pushed up the market index, saying it has helped mitigate the so-called “Korea discount,” which refers to the undervaluing of

MarketJan. 14, 2021

Made-in-Korea COVID-19 treatments ready to hit market

One company after another, South Korea’s homegrown biopharmaceuticals are nearing emergency use approval for their proposed COVID-19 treatments. A day after Celltrion reported positive top-line data from its antibody drug regdanvimab, or CT-P59, another local drugmaker, Chong Kun Dang, presented promising results on Thursday from its own drug, nafamostat, from a clinical phase 2 trial. Tested on over 100 people in Russia, 36 of them high-risk patients, nafamostat showed 61.1 percent cl

IndustryJan. 14, 2021

Only 3% of companies currently use AI: report

Only 3.6 percent of companies have adopted artificial intelligence technology, a report from the Korea Development Institute showed Thursday. To see how AI is being used or perceived in different sectors, the KDI conducted a survey of 1,000 companies with at least 20 employees, including conglomerates and small and midsized businesses. Conglomerates made up 91.7 percent of all AI-using companies, according to the report. By industry, 55 percent of AI-using companies were in the service secto

TechnologyJan. 14, 2021

[Newsmaker] With Galaxy S21, Samsung gets aggressive to offset pandemic effect

Samsung Electronics, set to launch its first batch of mobile phones this year, is expected to take an aggressive pricing strategy to boost sales. The Galaxy S21 series will be unveiled Thursday at midnight, South Korean time, amid expectations that the new phones will be available at a wider range of prices than their predecessors. According to industry sources, Samsung will release three Galaxy S21 models -- the Galaxy S21, Galaxy S21+ and Galaxy S21 Ultra -- with prices ranging from 999,

TechnologyJan. 14, 2021

Korean Air files report for Asiana takeover

The nation’s flagship air carrier Korean Air on Thursday filed documents to the Fair Trade Commission and antitrust authorities in eight other countries for a review of its planned takeover of the debt-laden Asiana Airlines. “We’ve had a business combination application submitted by Korean Air regarding the purchase of Asiana Airlines’ shares,” the FTC said in a statement. The airline also took the same steps in eight other countries including the United States,

MobilityJan. 14, 2021

Personal data from chatbot Luda shared on Github

Scatter Lab, developer of artificial intelligence chatbot Lee Luda, has come under fire for uploading private messages on an open-source platform to train its AI model, local media said Thursday. Scatter Lab has reportedly uploaded around 100 datasets of KakaoTalk messages on GitHub dating from September last year, when the company started sharing its artificial neural network model for the chatbot, the reports said. The datasets contained personal information of users of the Science of Love

TechnologyJan. 14, 2021