NSC discusses S. Korea's peace plan for Munich security forum

South Korea's top security officials agreed Thursday to use the upcoming security forum in Germany to drum up international support for the Korea peace process, Cheong Wa Dae said. In the weekly standing committee meeting of the National Security Council, they discussed a strategy related to participation in the three-day conference to open in Munich on Friday. South Korea will be represented by Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha. She is expected to hold talks with US Secretary of State Mike Pompe

Feb. 13, 2020

[Monitor] Kakao logs record-high revenue, margin

Korea’s local internet behemoth Kakao scored 3.898 trillion won ($3.3 billion) in sales and 20.66 billion won in operating profit in 2019, both of which mark the highest yearly performance by the firm established in 2010. The sales increased by 28 percent from 2018 and operating profit by 183 percent. The company attributed the earnings to new business models taking shape. They include KakaoTalk Biz Board (TalkBoard), a business-to-business service based on KakaoTalk allowing users to

Feb. 13, 2020

KNF sets up booth at Singapore Airshow 2020

Aluminum supplier Korea Non-Ferrous Metals said Thursday it is participating in the Singapore Airshow 2020 to promote its high-tech metal processing and service of materials. The show held through Sunday at Changi Exhibition Centre is considered the biggest airshow in Asia, providing a venue for aerospace companies to expand their networks and market entries. “The Singapore Airshow is a good way to promote KNF to global markets. The KNF team will continue to plan our future together un

Feb. 13, 2020

Samsung is ready to ‘fold more’: president

SAN FRANCISCO -- For Samsung Electronics, which already offers two foldable smartphone models, it is no longer a challenge to make a phone that folds even more. The South Korean tech titan, rather, is mulling how the folding experience brings value to consumers, said Roh Tae-moon, president and head of Samsung’s mobile division, during a press conference in San Francisco on Tuesday. “Technologically, we are capable of designing phones that fold even more times, but what’s

Feb. 12, 2020

Despite coronavirus concerns, tech aficionados gather at Samsung Unpacked

SAN FRANCISCO -- Around 3,000 industry officials and tech aficionados including some famous Twitterians gathered at the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco on Tuesday for the unveiling of the Galaxy Z Flip and Galaxy S20 lineup, despite persisting fears over the novel coronavirus outbreak. Some attendees at the Galaxy Unpacked 2020 event were spotted with masks on throughout the hourlong show, being aware of the continuously spreading virus across the world, particularly in the Asian region,

Feb. 12, 2020

[Newsmaker] Hands-on: What you can do with Galaxy Z Flip when folded

SAN FRANCISCO -- There are more things that can be done on a tiny 1.1-inch display on the cover of Samsung Electronics’ palm-sized foldable Galaxy Z Flip than many would have thought, which maximizes both fun and convenient elements of the brand new mobile form factor. The Korea Herald got a chance to check out the new flip-type foldable gadget at the Galaxy Unpacked 2020 held in San Francisco on Tuesday. The tech giant highlighted that its foldable device can now be folded into a sma

Feb. 12, 2020

Unpacked: Samsung brings 5G, AI, foldable to 2020 Galaxy lineup

SAN FRANCISCO -- Samsung Electronics has reset the tone for the upcoming decade in the mobile world with catchphrases “5G, AI and foldable” by unveiling an enhanced Galaxy S smartphone lineup and a new foldable form factor in San Francisco on Tuesday. At the Samsung Galaxy Unpacked 2020 event held at the Palace Fine Arts in the city, the South Korean tech titan introduced the global audience comprising 3,000 industry officials and tech aficionados to its vision for the upcoming dec

Feb. 12, 2020

Look into new techs, features in Galaxy S20, Galaxy Z Flip

SAN FRANCISCO -- By unveiling the Galaxy S20 series and Galaxy Z Flip foldable smartphone, Samsung has introduced some fresh technologies and features that could possibly be benchmarked by competitors. The flagship Galaxy S20 series boasts the enhanced camera system among others. The Galaxy S20 introduces an entirely new camera system -- powered by AI and with the biggest image sensor yet -- to bring out the best in every image and every moment.  With larger image sensors available

Feb. 12, 2020

Samsung aims to ship 2.5m Galaxy Z Flip devices this year: reports

Samsung Electronics aims to ship a total of 2.5 million units of its second foldable Galaxy Z Flip phones this year, according to news reports Monday. Some industry sources said the South Korean tech giant is preparing to roll out an initial batch of 500,000 units of the upcoming Galaxy Z Flip that is anticipated to be unveiled at its “Unpacked” event on Tuesday in San Francisco. Its first hands-on image was leaked by some tech aficionados ahead of the unveiling. In total, Samsun

Feb. 10, 2020

[Graphic News] Some 85,000 terminal patients opt to die with dignity over 2 years

　More than 85,000 terminally ill South Koreans have chosen to forgo life-prolonging treatment since the legalization of the right to die with dignity two years ago, government data showed. 　The law took effect on Feb. 4, 2018, allowing terminal patients to sign up to forgo a “meaningless extension of life” by stopping or postponing four life-sustaining treatments. 　According to the data from the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the number of patients who opted to die with dignit

Feb. 9, 2020

[News Focus] How Samsung is sandwiched between Apple and Huawei in smartphone market

Who was the true winner in the global smartphone market last year? The answer is Apple in terms of profit share, and Huawei Technologies in terms of growth. South Korea’s Samsung Electronics, on the other hand, seems to be sandwiched between its American and Chinese rivals as it could neither reap a larger profit than Apple nor grow more than Huawei. Data released by market researchers Strategy Analytics, Canalys and Counterpoint support the conclusion, showing Apple and Huawei perform

Feb. 9, 2020

What doctors know, don’t know about new coronavirus

South Korea’s top infectious disease doctors say the outbreak of the novel coronavirus may just be the beginning, and that medical resources should be distributed with the possibility the epidemic may drag on for months. In a meeting with a group of reporters on Thursday evening, 10 specialists from the Korean Society of Infectious Diseases shared their understanding of the new virus with a group of reporters. Those present included the society’s president, Sungkyunkwan Medical Sc

Feb. 7, 2020

Firms protest ministry’s battery defect blame for ESS fires

A joint panel of electric engineering experts at public and private institutions under the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy concluded on Thursday that four out of five energy storage systems of Korean battery makers caught fire last year due to defects in the battery cells. The five ESS sites that caught fire last year involved the battery systems built by LG Chem and Samsung SDI across the country. Both companies refuted the ministry panel’s findings immediately. The panel conc

Feb. 6, 2020

LG to supply P-OLED-based digital cockpit system for Cadillac

LG Electronics announced Thursday it will supply digital cockpit systems made with flexible organic light-emitting diode displays for General Motor’s premium brand Cadillac. Known as Plastic-OLED, LG Display’s proprietary flexible OLED display will be the main material for the 38-inch dashboard and infotainment system integration that offers 4K content for the 2021 Cadillac Escalade model, according to the company. The P-OLED-based digital cockpit system, consisting of audio-vid

Feb. 6, 2020

MiCo BioMed develops kit to detect coronavirus within an hour

South Korea’s health care solutions developer MiCo BioMed claimed Wednesday it has developed a rapid molecular diagnostic system to detect the novel coronavirus with high sensitivity within an hour. The Konex-listed company founded in 2009 said the system can immediately confirm the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) to be used at airport and port quarantine sites beyond health care centers. The company developed 30 different kinds of high-risk pathogen diagnostic kits with the Korean Cente

Feb. 5, 2020

Samsung launches powerful memory chip for AI, supercomputing systems

Samsung Electronics Co. said Tuesday it has launched a new memory chip suited to high-performance computing (HPC) systems and artificial intelligence-powered data analytics. Samsung said the Flashbolt is the industry‘s first third-generation High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) 2E memory chip and will deliver twice the capacity of its previous-generation Aquabolt. “The new 16-gigabyte HBM2E is uniquely suited to maximize high-performance computing systems and help system manufacturers to

Feb. 4, 2020

[News Focus] Breaking down rumors about Samsung Galaxy S20, Galaxy Z Flip

Rumors about specifications of upcoming mobile devices by Samsung Electronics usually turn out to be true at the firm’s annual unveiling event in February. The same may be true for the debut of the Samsung Galaxy S20 and the special foldable device Galaxy Z Flip, slated to be unveiled Feb. 11 in San Francisco, as rumors have been rampant among tech aficionados for weeks. Samsung will unveil four devices at its Galaxy Unpacked event held on the turf of US archrival Apple. Three of th

Feb. 4, 2020

Google improves weather predictions with AI technology

Google Inc. could greatly improve weather predictions by using machine learning, a type of artificial intelligence technology, a scientist from the company claimed Tuesday. Accurately predicting weather can be particularly challenging for localized events that evolve on hourly timescales, such as thunderstorms. Google, however, said it is currently conducting research into the development of a machine learning model that addresses this challenge by making predictions that are applied to the

Feb. 4, 2020

Samsung to temporarily close flagship store in China amid coronavirus fears

Samsung Electronics will temporarily shut down its flagship store in China amid growing fears of the spread of the novel coronavirus, company officials here said Monday. Samsung will close its flagship store in downtown Shanghai until Sunday, they said. The 800-square-meter store, the largest Samsung store in China, opened last October and sells various products, from smartphones to tablets. "We decided to temporarily close the store for safety," a company official said. "

Feb. 3, 2020

Global memory chip production unaffected by coronavirus: report

Global memory chip production appears to be unaffected by the outbreak of the novel coronavirus in China, a market researcher said Monday, as no chip manufacturing facilities in the virus-hit country have so far closed or suspended operations.  TrendForce said overall production of memory chips, such as DRAM and NAND flash, is likely to remain unaffected by the deadly virus in the short term as global chipmakers' plants, including those run by South Korea's Samsung Electronics and SK h

Feb. 3, 2020