Samsung releases new automotive image sensor

Samsung Electronics Co. on Tuesday released a new automotive image sensor as the tech giant eyes to expand its presence beyond the mobile sector. The ISOCELL Auto 4AC will be used for rear-view cameras and surround-view monitors of a vehicle and offer high-definition resolution images. Samsung's latest image sensor comes in an optical format of 1/3.7-inch with 1.2 million 3.0-micrometer pixels. Samsung said it applied CornerPixel technology for the first time, which will help reduce blind ar

July 13, 2021

KT to unveil mmWave 5G services at baseball stadium

KT Corp., a South Korean telecom giant, said Tuesday it will make millimeter wave (mmWave) 5G services available at a baseball stadium in a move to step up efforts to commercialize the technology. Although local mobile carriers offer 5G networks on the mid-band spectrum, they have yet to commercialize services on the high-band spectrum, also known as mmWave, which unlocks the fastest speeds on 5G. KT said it will showcase a range of 5G services that use the technology at KT Wiz Park in Suwon,

July 13, 2021

LG Electronics unveils indoor-outdoor delivery robot

LG Electronics Inc. on Tuesday unveiled a new delivery robot that can serve both indoor and outdoor environments as the South Korean tech giant tries to expand its competitiveness in the robotics sector. LG introduced its indoor-outdoor delivery robot at the 18th International Conference on Ubiquitous Robots in Gangneung, some 240 kilometers east of Seoul. The four-wheel robot boasts enhanced mobility as it can self-adapt to terrain changes. The company plans to test run the latest robot at

July 13, 2021

[News Focus] Korea to curb malicious reviews on food delivery apps

South Korea plans to introduce a set of policy measures aimed at protecting restaurant owners against malicious food app reviewers, amid a rapid increase of online food orders due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the country’s top telecom regulator said. The Korea Communications Commission said Sunday it would push for new guidelines to prevent malicious reviews on food delivery apps and step up monitoring of major platform operators involved. “Now that people carry out many activities

July 12, 2021

Auto chip shortage expected through 2022, reliance on TSMC to surge: report

A global shortage of automotive chips is expected to last through next year, while efforts to localize production are not advancing fast enough, a local auto industry think tank said Monday. The Seoul-based Korea Automotive Technology Institute, in a report, predicted the situation will slowly get better for automakers, starting in the second half of this year. But, the supply will remain constrained by 2022. A global lack of chips has forced many automakers to suspend car production, includ

July 12, 2021

SK hynix rolls out first Gen.4 10-nm mobile DRAMs with EUV

  SK hynix, the world’s second-largest memory chip provider, said Monday it has started mass-production of the fourth-generation 8-gigabit low power double data rate 4 chips for mobile devices based on the 10-nanometer process using the extreme ultraviolet technology. The announcement puts SK hynix ahead of its bigger rival Samsung Electronics in the race to develop next-generation DRAM chips. And SK hynix has now become the world’s first firm to commercialize “1anm D

July 12, 2021

LG Innotek cuts emissions by 11 percent in 2020

LG Group’s materials and components maker LG Innotek managed to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 11 percent last year, from the previous year, the company said in a report released Monday. According to the firm’s 2020-21 Sustainability Report, it reduced emissions by an estimated 45,000 tons, which is equivalent to what 3.9 million trees would have absorbed over a year. In addition to that, the company was able to cut water usage by 7 percent from 2019, by expanding investment in

July 12, 2021

Kakao to introduce paid memberships for taxi drivers with good ratings

Kakao Mobility, the firm behind South Korea’s leading taxi-hailing service, Kakao T, announced Sunday that the company would allow drivers with good ratings from passengers to enjoy a better chance of getting booked. New contract terms will apply to taxi drivers who newly subscribe to Pro Membership, a paid membership program designed to help them pick up more passengers. Under the new terms, Kakao Mobility may deny membership to drivers with low ratings or boot existing subscribers if

July 11, 2021

GeneOne Life Science to start phase 2a clinical study of DNA vaccine

South Korean drug firm GeneOne Life Science announced Thursday that the company will begin a phase 2a clinical trial of the company‘s self-developed DNA-based COVID-19 vaccine candidate GLS-5310. The phase 1 clinical trial, conducted at Korea University Guro Hospital with 45 participants, has produced positive results and was reviewed and confirmed by a data safety monitoring board, the firm said. A DSMB is a group of independent experts who monitor patient safety and treatment efficac

July 8, 2021

Class action lawsuit starts against SK Telecom over 5G service quality

A class action lawsuit against SK Telecom, filed by a group of 5G mobile service users in South Korea, formally started Thursday, amid conflicting claims about the quality of the mobile service. In the lawsuit, 237 people who signed up for SK Telecom’s 5G service presented their case at the Seoul Central District Court through local law firm Serim. In February, the law firm recruited Korean 5G users who experienced problems with the service and wanted to join the class action suit. On

July 8, 2021

[News Focus] Competition heats up for a share of noise-canceling earbud market

Samsung, LG, Apple and Sony usually engage in fierce competition in electronics and IT gadgets. In recent years, they’ve also shown their willingness to tap into a small device with big potential: wireless earbuds with active noise cancellation. Headphones and earphones with ANC functionality used to serve a small group of tech-savvy users and those working in environments where noise levels were too high. But this specialty label for ANC gear changed drastically in 2019, when Apple hit i

July 7, 2021

Huons acquires marketing rights for Sputnik Light in S. Korea

Local bio company Huons Global has secured marketing rights for Russian COVID-19 vaccine Sputnik Light in South Korea, the company announced Wednesday. Huons Global will be in charge of the authorization procedure for the Russian vaccine. Huons could also apply for emergency use authorization from Korea’s Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, the company added. A consortium led by Huons Global will begin producing Sputnik V and Sputnik Light, starting in the second half this year. Sputni

July 7, 2021

LG Electronics Q2 operating profit reaches W1.1tr, up 65.5%

LG Electronics said Wednesday its operating profit in the second quarter is estimated at 1.11 trillion won ($979.4 million), up 65.5 percent on-year. In a regulatory filing, the firm said its sales during the April-June period is likely to have reached 17.11 trillion won, an increase by 48.4 percent from a year earlier. The company’s quarterly operating profit would top 1 trillion for a second consecutive quarter, the earnings guidance showed. In the first quarter, the electronics gia

July 7, 2021

Hyundai Pharm seeks approval for abortion pill

Hyundai Pharmaceutical announced Tuesday that it had filed an application for authorization to market an abortion pill in South Korea. Mifegymiso consists of one tablet of mifepristone and four tablets of misoprostol. Mifepristone, formerly RU-486, is known by the brand name Mifegyne in Korea. In March this year, Hyundai Pharm signed an exclusive agreement with Linepharma International to sell Mifegyne in the Korean market. If approved, Mifegymiso would become the first legal abortion pill

July 6, 2021

[News Focus] Critics call time on ‘shutdown law’

Disputes are raging across online communities and political circles in South Korea over the controversial “shutdown law” that purportedly protects children from excessive gaming. Last week, an online petition was filed to the presidential office of Cheong Wa Dae, claiming that the “Cinderella law” is denying access to the child-friendly game Minecraft. Popular YouTubers who play the global hit game for younger audiences, also criticized the regulation, saying they are

July 6, 2021

S. Korea faces increasing ransomware attacks this year

South Korea's ICT ministry said Tuesday the country reported 78 ransomware attacks in the first half of the year in the latest sign of growing cyberattacks. Ransomware is a type of malware that holds a target's data hostage or locks up its systems until a ransom is paid. It is not immediately clear whether the targeted companies paid ransoms to hackers in return for restoring access to their data. The latest figure represents a rising trend, compared with 22 in 2018, 39 in 2019 and 127 cases

July 6, 2021

Joseon-era govt. office, palace rituals to be reborn through AR, VR technology

The Seoul metropolitan government said Tuesday it is developing augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) platforms to enable the public to virtually experience a government office and historical palace rituals from the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910). The city government will develop the platforms in partnership with the Cultural Heritage Administration, Woomi Construction Corp. and Cheil Worldwide Inc. under an agreement signed Tuesday, and unveil them to the public next year. The project w

July 6, 2021

S. Korea, Israel to speed up joint R&D projects

South Korea and Israel said Monday they plan to speed up joint research and development projects to cope with the changing business environment amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The announcement came after the two countries announced earlier this year that they will increase contributions to the Korea-Israel Industrial R&D Foundation. The foundation kicked off in 2001 to promote bilateral technology exchanges. In May, South Korea and Israel vowed to each disburse $4 million annually for the foun

July 5, 2021

[News Focus] Apple’s free update of lossless format to reshape digital music in Korea

Last month,Apple rolled out two big updates -- a lossless audio format and Dolby Atmos support -- for its flagship digital music service. As Apple Music subscribers get the two upgrades at no extra charge, attention is now placed on Korean digital music providers that offer similar content in separate pay plans. With the updates, Apple switched over 20 million tracks to a lossless format named ALAC, or Apple lossless audio compression. Apple said it plans to make its entire catalogue of over 7

July 5, 2021

SKT offers a glimpse of what mmWave 5G network would be like

South Korea’s top wireless carrier SK Telecom said Monday that the company has started a test run of its 5G network running on the 28-gigahertz bandwidth at Coex, in Samseong-dong, Seoul. For the test run of super-fast wireless connection, the company has set up an exhibition at a 36,000-square-meter area at Coex, offering a glimpse into SKT’s future technology businesses, such as the metaverse. During the event, which runs through Sunday, anyone who visits can use the “mi

July 5, 2021