Hackers attack portal users with phishing emails for passwords, personal info: source

Unidentified hackers have been attacking users of South Korea's two major portals in recent months to get their passwords and other personal information, an industry source said Wednesday.The hackers are using phishing emails that entice users to click on a link to bring them to a fraudulent website, EST Security Corp., a cyber security firm, said. (Yonhap)The hackers named "Daum Post" sent phishing emails to some users of Daum, South Korea's No. 2 portal, saying their Daum accounts will be clos

April 4, 2018

Korea’s mobile payments market grows in both offline, online

Over the past year or two, Park Ji-yoon, a 28-year-old office worker in Seoul, has gradually stopped carrying her wallet when going to most places, be it a convenience store, a restaurant or a bar.There is no need to do so, Park says, as she is an avid user of mobile payment services that allow her to make transactions using just her smartphone, both in the offline and online world.“At offline retailers, I just have to activate my mobile pay service on my smartphone and place the device next to

April 3, 2018

Korea’s LG CNS launches smart factory platform ‘Factova’

LG CNS, an information technology services provider under South Korea’s LG Group, has launched smart factory platform Factova equipped with artificial intelligence, Internet of Things and big data processing technology solutions, the company said Tuesday. Short for a combination of “factory” and “value,” Factova aims to optimize a factory’s overall operations -- including product planning, design, production and logistics -- by leveraging AI and big data analytics, LG CNS said.The firm built its

April 3, 2018

[News Focus] Nexon Korea to challenge FTC’s hefty penalty

South Korea’s top game developers including Nexon, and possibly Netmarble Games, are considering challenging the basis of the Fair Trade Commission’s recent decision to impose 1 billion won ($945,200) in penalties and fines for deceiving customers in promoting their randomized in-game items.The move comes after the Korean FTC penalized three local gamemakers for their deceptive randomized in-game item promotion practices on Sunday.Nexon Korea was slapped with a 939 million won penalty and a 5.5

April 2, 2018

LG likely to adopt advanced LCD for upcoming G7 smartphones

LG Electronics’ upcoming G7 smartphone is expected to adopt an advanced liquid crystal diode display panel, which is interpreted by industry officials as a move to launch more affordable premium phones with organic light-emitting diode display phones, according to news reports and leaks on Monday. Dubbed by media and tech experts here as “G7,” LG’s new flagship model is predicted to be unveiled at the end of this month in Seoul, and released next month.Ahead of its debut, some detailed informati

April 2, 2018

LG Uplus provides technical details for 5G devices

South Korea’s mobile carrier LG Uplus said Monday it has sent out technical details needed for development of mobile devices running on the upcoming fifth-generation network to the country’s major handset makers Samsung and LG Electronics. The telecom firm highlighted that it was the first among the three local mobile operators to send the technology specifications and standards that will help produce optimal devices for the 5G network, a significant move towards early commercialization of the n

April 2, 2018

[Graphic News] Men's smoking rate in S. Korea down in 2017

　According to a survey from the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the proportion of men who smoke came to 39.3 percent in 2017, down 1.3 percentage points from a year earlier. The survey was conducted with 228,381 adults here.　The smoking rate has steadily fallen from 47.8 percent in 2008 to 40.3 percent in 2015, with exceptions in 2009 and 2016, the survey showed.　The smoking rate temporarily moved up to 40.6 percent in 2016 following a huge drop a year earlier due to an increas

April 1, 2018

[News Focus] Facebook scandal spreads as Korean media regulator plans probe

South Korea’s state-run media regulator has begun a formal investigation into Facebook’s user data collection practices, joining the wave of worldwide probes into the firm's worst data breach crisis to date, while also adding other social network platforms to its inspection list.The Korea Communications Commission confirmed Friday that it will embark on an investigation into the private data collection policies of Korea’s major social networks including Facebook, Instagram, KakaoTalk and Naver’s

April 1, 2018

[Photo News] Samsung opens Galaxy S9 experience zones worldwide

GALAXY S9 IN RUSSIA -- Samsung Electronics features its latest Galaxy S9 smartphone series at the “Galaxy Studio” experience zone inside a shopping mall in Moscow, Russia, on Sunday. The space will remain open until mid-April. In addition to Russia, Samsung has opened Galaxy S9 experience zones in other cities around the world including Guangzhou, New York and London throughout this month and early May. (Yonhap)

April 1, 2018

3 online game makers fined for misleading info

Three online game makers were fined for providing misleading information of their games and ordered to take correction measures, the country's corporate watchdog said Sunday.Nexon Korea Co. and two other game makers were fined a combined 1 billion won ($939,500) for allegedly prodding their customers to purchase game items with false or misleading information, according to the Fair Trade Commission. Mabinogi, one of Nexon`s games (Nexon)The FTC also ordered them to take corrective actions agains

April 1, 2018

[Weekender] ‘The way we were’

As a college student in the late ‘90s, Park Hyun-mi remembers waiting nervously for her date to show up at a coffeehouse in Seoul’s university district of Sinchon. She had not much information about the guy: his name, alma mater and photograph.　After the awkwardness of the first date, they’d exchange their beeper or home phone numbers, she recalled. If interested, he would have to directly phone Hyun-mi’s house, at the risk of another family member picking up the call. “May I talk to Hyun-mi?” h

March 30, 2018

Samsung wins US patent for what could be its first foldable smartphone

As the global market anxiously awaits the release of the first commercial foldable smartphone, Samsung Electronics is seen mulling designs for its first such device, it appears from the latest patent issued to it by the US Patent and Trademark Office.According to the database of the USPTO on Friday, Samsung won a patent for a new design of a portable electronic device that has a foldable part attached to the main body of the device with a hinge.The patent was applied for in August 2015.According

March 30, 2018

Samsung accelerates preparations for drone business with US patents

Smartphone giant Samsung Electronics is increasing its research and development efforts on drones by applying for multiple patents in the United States, according to the industry on Friday. Samsung was issued a patent from the US Patent and Trademark Office on Tuesday on a new design of a drone the company is assumed to be developing. A design of a possible drone by Samsung Electronics (USPTO)The patent, which was filed in January 2017, shows an ornamental design for a drone that resembles a hel

March 30, 2018

Obese people more susceptible to contracting diabetes: survey

Obese people are more susceptible to contracting diabetes than those who are not, a survey showed Friday.Obese people have a 156 percent greater chance of contracting diabetes than those who are not obese, according to the survey of51,405 people carried out by a research team led by Professor Kwon Hyock-sang of Saint Mary's Hospital in Seoul. The review was carried out between 2002 and 2009.During the seven-year period, 2,748 people, or 5.3 percent of those surveyed, contracted diabetes, althoug

March 30, 2018

Korean law firm representing 63,767 iPhone users sues Apple

A South Korean law firm representing more than 60,000 consumers filed a lawsuit against US tech giant Apple Inc. and its local branch for intentionally slowing down older iPhones.Hannuri Law said it filed the suit at the Seoul Central District Court on behalf of 63,767 iPhone users. It marked the largest number of participants for a single lawsuit.Local consumers have been demanding compensation from Apple after the company acknowledged last year that its operating software updates intentionally

March 30, 2018

Samsung Electronics wins patents for drones in US

Samsung Electronics Co. registered two patents related to drones with the United States Patent and Trademark Office this month, industry sources said Friday, a sign that the South Korean tech giant may move into the segment in the near future.According to sources, Samsung won patents related to the design of drones on March 13 and 27 from the USPTO. Numerous tech companies have been speeding up the development of smart drones by utilizing artificial intelligence and Internet of Things technologi

March 30, 2018

Kakao to introduce music curation app for KakaoTalk

Kakao, operator of the nation’s top mobile messenger service KakaoTalk, will introduce its new Kakao Melon music platform to be infused into its chat rooms, the company said Thursday. Kakao Melon will offer various ways for customers to enjoy listening to shared music, gifting songs and expressing themselves with music while chatting with friends. The latest music platform provides customers an experience that goes beyond simply listening to music and caters to customers’ sharing of a whole vari

March 29, 2018

LG CNS to outline tech infra for next-generational govt e-procurement system

LG CNS has been selected as the most preferred bidder for a 2.2 billion won ($2.1 million) project to outline technological infrastructure for a next-generational e-procurement system by the Public Procurement Service, according to the firm Thursday.Through the bid, the information technology arm of LG Corp. will be engaged in a project for information strategy planning, a first step to revamp the state-run e-procurement system, locally dubbed “Nara Jangteo.”  A screenshot of "Nara Jangteo," Kor

March 29, 2018

Samsung to build its third-biggest AI R&D center in Paris

South Korean electronics giant Samsung will build a research and development center for artificial intelligence in Paris, which will be the company’s third-largest AI R&D base after Korea and the US, the company said Thursday. The announcement was made after the French president’s office said Wednesday that President Emmanuel Macron held a meeting with Samsung’s strategy chief Young Sohn in Paris to discuss a plan to boost the country’s AI capacities. An official announcement by the French gover

March 29, 2018

Facebook eases access to privacy tools after criticism

After coming under fire for collecting logs of calls and text messages through Facebook Messenger, the social network platform has made its privacy tools easier to find in order to enhance users’ control of their data, it said Thursday. Facebook has redesigned the entire settings menu on mobile devices from top to bottom to make things easier to find, it said. Instead of having settings spread across nearly 20 different screens, they are now gathered in a single place. A new Privacy Shortcuts me

March 29, 2018