Cloud of uncertainty over Samsung as chief Lee faces possible jail time

The country’s largest conglomerate Samsung has been left unsure of what its future holds as its de facto chief faces possible jail time for corruption. Whether or not Lee Jae-yong will be put behind bars again in the finale of a three-year court saga, leaving a void at the top of the world’s No. 1 chipmaker, will be decided by a Seoul court in January. Samsung Electronics on Wednesday appeared calm, at least on the surface, after local prosecutors demanded nine years in prison fo

Dec. 30, 2020

South Korea’s 5G network slightly improves, LTE downgraded

South Korea‘s 5G quality and coverage have slightly improved in the second half of the year, said the Ministry of Science and ICT on Wednesday. The overall quality of Long-Term Evolution networks here, however, have degraded, it said in a report. SK Telecom’s 5G network showed the fastest average download speed at 795.57 megabits per second. KT followed at 667.48 Mbps, with LG U+ at 608.49 Mbps. SKT is the country‘s largest mobile carrier in terms of subscribers, followed by

Dec. 30, 2020

S. Korea's 5G network speeds up in H2: report

South Korea's 5G download speed and overall quality improved in the second half of the year from the first half as the country races to deploy nationwide coverage of the latest generation network, a report showed Wednesday. The average download speed on the high-speed network from the country's three major mobile carriers -- SK Telecom Co., KT Corp. and LG Uplus Corp. -- stood at 690.47 megabits per second (Mbps) in the second half of the year, up 33.91 Mbps from the first half, according to da

Dec. 30, 2020

Korea delays launch of homegrown space launch vehicle

The South Korean government announced Tuesday it has decided to postpone the launch of its first home-built space launch vehicle Nuri by eight months due to complications in the assembly process. The Ministry of Science and ICT said the launch of the three-stage rocket with a mock payload will take place in October next year, during an online press conference held Tuesday. The launch with an actual satellite will also be postponed to May 2022 accordingly. The ICT Ministry explained the delay

Dec. 29, 2020

Huawei equipment passes international security test

Huawei announced Tuesday the company’s 5G and LTE equipment have passed global wireless standards body 3GPP’s testing, highlighting the security of its network. Performed by European certification organization DERKA, Huawei’s 5G RAN gNodeB and LTE eNodeB passed 3GPP’s security assurance specifications testing, known as SCAS, the Chinese company said. The tests included network product general security, air interface security, and basic vulnerability testing, such as da

Dec. 29, 2020

LG unveils most advanced LCD TV, QNED Mini LED

LG Electronics on Tuesday unveiled the highest-end category of its LCD TV lineup, the LG QNED Mini LED. LG’s announcement came earlier than its archrival Samsung Electronics’ plan to reveal new TV technologies and models for 2021 on Jan. 6, when the virtual edition of the Consumer Electronics Show kicks off. The LG QNED Mini LED TV features LG’s proprietary technology that combines quantum dot and mini LED technologies. For the 86-inch backlight, the company has used arou

Dec. 29, 2020

Researchers introduce new tools for 3D research of cancer genome

A South Korean research team has built the world’s largest dataset and new browsing tools for the study of large-scale genomic rearrangements that could potentially cause cancer, the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology said Monday. Researchers led by KAIST professor Jung In-kyung and Korean Bioinformation Center professor Lee Byung-wook have collected and processed around 230 billion raw reads including 220 Hi-C samples. Based on the data, the team has completed constructi

Dec. 28, 2020

S-Oil makes 5th investment in new material startup

S-Oil is continuing to make investments in promising startups in the fields of batteries, new materials, smart factories and carbon emissions, said the oil refining company as it announced Monday its fifth investment. The company inked an investment deal with Beomjun E&C earlier this month, a firm with a modified sulfur technology for high-performance asphalt, as part of its preemptive efforts to collaborate with such firms that could create synergy with the petrochemical and oil refining

Dec. 28, 2020

Naver's V Live streaming platform logs 100m global downloads

South Korea's top internet portal operator, Naver Corp., said Monday its live streaming platform, V Live, has surpassed an accumulated 100 million downloads globally. Launched in August 2015, V Live allows K-pop celebrities to broadcast live videos on the internet and chat live with fans from around the globe. Naver said the service has 85 percent of visitors from overseas and is available online, as well as on Google's Android and Apple's iOS platforms.Naver said the number of live concert sh

Dec. 28, 2020

Galaxy S21 Ultra likely to support fastest Wi-Fi so far

The Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra is expected to support the fastest Wi-Fi speeds among all mobile gadgets in the Korean market, according to news reports Sunday. The highest-end model of the upcoming Galaxy S21 series next month is likely to become the first mobile device to support Wi-Fi 6E, an extended standard technology using the 6-gigahertz band. Compared to the current Wi-Fi 6, the new standard technology enables twice faster transmission of data at the highest speed of 2.4 gigabits per

Dec. 27, 2020

LG set for record home appliance profits

LG Electronics is forecast to reap a record profit from its home appliance business this year, due to high sales of premium items at home and abroad, according to industry sources on Sunday. As of the third quarter of 2020, LG posted an accumulated operating profit of 2.5 trillion won ($2.27 billion). Some 2 trillion won of that amount was from the company’s home appliance and air solutions business, which sold premium products like the Tromm Styler clothing care system and the DIOS dish

Dec. 27, 2020

LG Electronics to launch joint venture with Magna

LG Electronics will set up a joint venture with the world’s third-largest auto part maker Magna International in a bid to raise the competitiveness of its vehicle component business, the company said Wednesday. Tentatively named “LG Magna e-Powertrain Co,” the envisioned entity will launch in July 2021. It will be headquartered in Incheon, west of Seoul, and will have around 1,000 employees. 　 According to the plan approved by LG’s board of directors, the joint venture

Dec. 23, 2020

Samsung set to introduce more customizable appliances

Samsung Electronics is set to further expand its customizable home appliance lineup, putting greater emphasis on the personal tastes of consumers through its product design and development. On Wednesday, the tech giant said it has added Cube Air, Samsung’s conventional air purifier model, to the Bespoke category, and unveiled a total of eight combinations of panel colors and patterns for the customizable air purifier. “The Bespoke Cube Air provides a sense of unity when it’

Dec. 23, 2020

Presidential committee lays out first ethical standards for AI

South Korea drew up its first-ever ethical standards for artificial intelligence, with a focus on humanity-centered technology. On Wednesday, the government’s presidential committee on the “fourth industrial revolution approved the AI ethical standards, which were proposed by the Ministry of Science and ICT and the Korea Information Society Development Institute. Under the main theme “AI for humanity,” the ethical standards recommend following three pillars when using

Dec. 23, 2020

G+FLAS Life Sciences selected as a preliminary unicorn company

Biotech company G+FLAS Life Sciences, Inc. has been selected as a preliminary unicorn company eligible for special guarantee support by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups. The special guarantee for preliminary unicorns can be applied for by companies with proven innovation, growth potential, and market evaluation, or companies with a corporate value of 100 billion won or more and with high grades in technology evaluation. G+FLAS was one of the 15 finalists selected through a national recommenda

Dec. 22, 2020

Galaxy S21 renders draw attention with new camera module, color scheme

With less than a month left to the Samsung Galaxy S21 debut, leaks of renders of the first new phones of 2021 are raising expectations about remarkable changes brought to the Samsung devices. The leaks offered glimpses into some noticeable changes in the Galaxy S21 lineup, such as smaller camera cutouts and greater use of flat displays. While it has been widely known that the Galaxy S21 Ultra, the highest-end model among the lineup, would support the stylus S Pen as an option, the entry mo

Dec. 22, 2020

S. Korea to spend over W500b on biotech next year

South Korea said Tuesday it will invest 520 billion won ($468.7 million) in biotechnology next year as part of efforts to develop treatment and vaccines for COVID-19. The Ministry of Science and ICT said the figure represents a 24.9 percent hike from 2020. The ministry said it will spend 31.7 billion won on COVID-19 treatment and vaccine development next year and 10.2 billion won to acquire technology to respond to new infectious diseases. For research into new core biotech industries, the mi

Dec. 22, 2020

SK Telecom to develop pandemic-fighting AI with Samsung and Kakao

SK Telecom Co., South Korea's largest mobile carrier, said Tuesday it has partnered with Samsung Electronics Co. and Kakao Corp., the country's top mobile messenger operator, to develop an artificial intelligence (AI) platform to help combat the COVID-19 pandemic. The telecom operator said the three companies formed a joint research and development group to develop and unveil the AI, which will offer preventative advice against COVID-19 infections, by early next year. According to SK Telecom,

Dec. 22, 2020

S. Korea's 5G download speed fastest globally: report

South Korea has the fastest 5G download speed in the world, reaching over 350 megabits per second (Mbps), a report showed Monday. The country's 5G download speed stood at an average 351.2 Mbps, followed by Saudi Arabia at 272.8 Mbps and Taiwan at 247.7 Mbps, industry tracker Opensignal said in a report, citing data collected between Sept. 1 and Nov. 29 in 15 global markets with 5G networks. The result marks an improvement for South Korea from a previous report by Opensignal in October, which h

Dec. 21, 2020

[Herald Interview] From fintech to pandemic-friendly biz solutions: Startup scene set to shift in post-pandemic Korea

The COVID-19 outbreak shook up the startup scene around the globe. While many suffered, some well-placed companies, like US-based videoconferencing firm Zoom, saw explosive growth because they offered pandemic-friendly solutions. Hwang Jong-duck, who helps foreign startups enter the South Korean market, sees plenty of opportunities for Zoom-like success in Korea as disruptive solutions gain ground in everyday life and spread to a wider range of business sectors. “Firms are now launchi

Dec. 20, 2020