Samsung decides to extend Olympic sponsorship until 2028

Samsung Electronics announced Tuesday the tech titan will extend its official sponsorship for the Olympics until 2028, including the 2024 Paris and 2028 Los Angeles events, dispelling rumors about its possible withdrawal after the company’s involvement in a former president’s bribery scandal. Samsung said it signed the deal with the International Olympic Committee at Hotel Shilla in central Seoul, attended by its heir Lee Jae-yong and IOC President Thomas Bach, for a sponsorship amount publicly

Dec. 4, 2018

SK Holdings C&C partners with ConsenSys for blockchain hub

SK Holdings C&C, the information technology solutions unit of South Korea’s SK Group, said Tuesday that it has partnered with ConsenSys, a leading US-based Ethereum blockchain technology company, to develop an “enterprise blockchain development hub” for use by Korean businesses.The two companies signed a memorandum of understanding, agreeing to work on building an enterprise blockchain business model utilizing “smart contracts” among designated entities, SK Holdings C&C said. (123RF)Under the ag

Dec. 4, 2018

Korean satellite successfully reaches earth's orbit

A small South Korean satellite designed to carry out space observation successfully reached its designated orbit after blasting off from an Air Force base in the United States, Seoul's science ministry said Tuesday.The Next Sat-1, which lifted off from the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California at around 10:34 a.m. Monday (local time) aboard the Falcon 9, made contact with ground stations, the Ministry of Science and ICT said.The 107-kilogram satellite, developed by the Korea Advanced Institute

Dec. 4, 2018

Samsung to brace for slow growth in 2019 in personnel reshuffle

South Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics is poised to conduct its year-end personnel reshuffle, which is widely expected to reflect anticipated slow growth for the chip and smartphone markets in 2019, industry sources said Monday.Reports and sources gave mixed views, with some predicting the reshuffle would be “conservative,” and others forecasting it would be aimed at “reducing the top brass.” Samsung is highly anticipated to promote only a minimum number of senior officials to executives in

Dec. 3, 2018

Facebook brings ‘ad breaks’ video monetization feature to Korea

Facebook said Monday that “ad breaks,” ads that appear partway through videos uploaded on the social networking site, are now available as a monetization method for video creators in South Korea.The US social networking giant initially introduced the feature in August in five countries -- the US, the UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand -- and has since been expanding it to new territories. As of Monday, ad breaks are available in three Asian markets: Korea, Indonesia and Vietnam. Creators obt

Dec. 3, 2018

Kakao interlinks with JapanTaxi to offer taxi-hailing service in Japan

Beginning later this week, South Korean travelers in Japan will be able to use the Kakao T taxi-hailing app to fetch taxis locally. The app is set to be interlinked with JapanTaxi, the biggest taxi-hailing company in Japan.Starting Thursday, the option will become available on the Kakao T app, enabling users to hail taxis in Japan without additional registration procedures, said Kakao Mobility, the mobility business unit of Korea’s mobile-messaging giant Kakao.The service is not free -- a “call

Dec. 3, 2018

Kakao Bank unveils passbook for mobile community

Internet-only Kakao Bank said Monday it has unveiled a passbook for members of mobile communities and group communication. An administrator of a mobile community can open a passbook that can be used to collect membership fees, the bank said.  (Yonhap)As many as 100 members, who are aged 14 or older, can join one passbook, the bank said. For security reasons, the passbook's account is available for a virtual account to members of a mobile community, the bank said. Lee Byeong-soo, a senior Kakao B

Dec. 3, 2018

Korea officially launches 5G service via Samsung phone

To mark the official launch of the fifth-generation of mobile network, South Korean mobile carriers held various celebrations on Saturday, and vowed to aggressively expand their 5G infrastructure across the country in preparation for launch on smartphones in March, according to the telcos on Sunday. SK Telecom CEO Park Jung-ho made a video call from the mobile operator’s network control center in Bundang, Gyeonggi Province to a staff manager in the company’s Myeong-dong office in central Seoul,

Dec. 2, 2018

Gaming smartphone Razer Phone 2 arrives in Korea

Singaporean gaming device developer Razer introduced the Razer Phone 2, a gaming smartphone, in South Korea on Friday, with aims to entice mobile gamers in one of the world’s biggest markets for video gaming and esports.　The Razer Phone 2 will officially begin sales next Tuesday, exclusively via local distributor All Life Technology and CJ Hello, a minor mobile carrier and cable TV operator in Korea.  The Razer Phone 2 (Razer)The new gaming smartphone is officially priced at 990,000 won ($884),

Nov. 30, 2018

Samsung SDI to expand battery production in US

Samsung SDI, the battery-making unit of South Korea’s Samsung Group, will be expanding its battery pack plant for electric vehicles in the Unites States, the company said Thursday. Samsung SDI will be investing over $62 million to extend its existing plant in Auburn Hills in Michigan nearby Detroit. (Yonhap)The company had acquired the electric battery pack plant that had been owned by Magna Steyr, an automobile manufacturer based in Graz and Austria.Industry insiders predict that the expansion

Nov. 29, 2018

[Photo News] NCSoft unveils ‘Lineage Remastered’

`LINEAGE REMASTERED` UNVEILED -- NCSoft CEO Kim Taek-jin introduces “Lineage Remastered,” an upgraded version of the company’s flagship online PC game “Lineage,” at a launch event in Seoul on Thursday. The new “Lineage,” fitted with improved graphics, an auto play mode, new character classes and battle modes, was launched in celebration of the game’s 20-year anniversary. (Yonhap)

Nov. 29, 2018

Korean telcos to introduce world’s first commercial 5G network on Saturday

South Korea’s three major telecommunication providers, SK Telecom, KT and LG Uplus, will officially deploy the world’s first commercial fifth-generation services here Saturday by sending out the first 5G signals in Korea together.Despite a recent fire at the Ahyeon branch of KT in Seoul, which led to a major network blackout and the cancellation of 5G demo sessions and promotional showcase events this week, the three Korean telcos will commit to their original 5G deployment schedule, they said.F

Nov. 29, 2018

[Video] Startups, VCs gather in Seoul to celebrate The Investor’s Choice

Hundreds of CEOs, investors and officials from startups and world-be entrepreneurs took part in the inaugural The Investor’s Choice, a startup conference, at Hotel Shilla in Seoul on Wednesday.The event, consisting of a panel discussion and an award ceremony, was co-organized by investment media outlet The Investor and Korea’s No. 1 English newspaper The Korea Herald in a bid to recognize the contributions of Korean startups in the local market.Kicking off the conference was a keynote address de

Nov. 28, 2018

Korea successfully tests space rocket engine

GOHEUNG, South Jeolla Province -- South Korea successfully tested its locally developed rocket engine on Wednesday, officials said, taking a step closer to the development of the country's first space launch vehicle.The test of the 75-ton thrust engine was conducted using a single-stage rocket that was launched from the Naro Space Center in Goheung, South Jeolla Province, at 4:00 p.m. (Yonhap)The rocket engine, designed and developed by the Korea Aerospace Research Institute, will be used on the

Nov. 28, 2018

LG Electronics opens new robot, self-driving centers

LG Electronics Inc. said Wednesday it opened two new organizations under the direct control of its chief executive officer that will focus on bolstering its robot and self-driving solution businesses.The two were created as part of a regular reshuffle which promoted 56 executives. LG Electronics said it decided to bring some changes to the structure as well to reflect its business strategy.LG Group`s Twin Tower headquarters in Yeouido, Seoul (Yonhap)The South Korean tech giant said it opened the

Nov. 28, 2018

KT's mobile phone subscribers down after fire disrupts services

The number of mobile phone subscribers at KT Corp., the nation's second-largest mobile carrier, sharply fell for three days in a row after a fire at one of the company's facilities in western Seoul led to major Internet and phone disruptions, market data showed Wednesday. The fire broke out at a building in western Seoul on Saturday, paralyzing the fixed-line, mobile and Internet networks for individuals and businesses using KT in Seoul's western wards of Mapo, Seodaemun and Eunpyeong, as well a

Nov. 28, 2018

Space rocket engine burn time test meets target goal

GOHEUNG, South Jeolla Province -- The engine burn time of South Korea's locally developed space rocket met its target goal, the government said Wednesday.The test of the 75-ton engine was conducted using a single-stage rocket that was launched from the Naro Space Center in Goheung, South Jeolla Province, at 4:00 p.m.The Ministry of Science and ICT said the test-launch vehicle engine maintained combustion for 151 seconds with the rocket flying for 10 minutes after reaching a suborbital altitude o

Nov. 28, 2018

Philips’ portable ultrasound machine for smart devices arrives in Korea

Dutch health care giant Philips on Tuesday announced the launch of Lumify, a portable, app-based ultrasound solution compatible with Android mobile devices, in South Korea.According to the company, Lumify delivers data acquired via portable ultrasound transducers to connected Android devices through a mobile app, allowing health care providers to deliver ultrasound scans anywhere, anytime. In short, they would not need to access a cart-based ultrasound system.　 Lumify (Philips Korea)Philips had

Nov. 27, 2018

Korea to launch small satellite this week

South Korea is scheduled to launch its small satellite from an Air Force base in the United States later this week, Seoul's science ministry said Tuesday. (Yonhap)The Ministry of Science and the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology said the Falcon 9 is scheduled to lift off at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California at 3:32 a.m. (local time) on Thursday with the aim of putting the satellite, the Next Sat-1, into orbit.The 107-kilogram satellite, developed by KAIST from 2012-2017, w

Nov. 27, 2018

KT struggles to contain fallout amid growing concerns over lack of safety measures

South Korean telecom giant KT on Monday struggled to contain further fallout from the network blackout caused by a fire over the weekend, as it faces growing questions over its lack of safety measures. Amid rising concerns over the incident that showed the IT powerhouse’s vulnerability to network paralysis, Minister of Science, ICT and Future Planning Yoo Young-min apologized for causing the public concern, saying that the government also feels responsible.“The case revealed that not only teleco

Nov. 26, 2018