Support for foreign start-ups reveals redundancies

Two years ago, the barrier for foreign entrepreneurs to open a business in Korea was 100 million won high ― about $100,000. As major cities began emerging as tech hubs, the Seoul government recognized its need to catch up with the global trend as global talent sought friendlier homes. Since then, it has been opening doors for foreigners’ start-ups as part of its creative economy drive to foster the “Korean Silicon Valley” as the next Asian tech hub. The government vowed

June 18, 2015

Hanwha mulls fireworks display drones

Hanwha Group, South Korea’s leading defense conglomerate, is working on using unmanned aircrafts, or drones, for the fireworks festival it holds every year near its landmark 63 City building in Yeouido, Seoul, industry sources said Wednesday. “Hanwha is a powerhouse of the domestic fireworks industry, and has worked for the past couple of years to add more aesthetic effects to the Seoul International Fireworks Festival with its own drone technology,” said a source close to the matter on conditio

June 17, 2015

[Photo News] SUHD Success

Tech giant Samsung Electronics said Wednesday that sales of the firm’s high-end super-ultrahigh definition TV lineup surpassed 10,000 units in the first three months following its launch in February. (Samsung)

June 17, 2015

High-tech exercise for busy urbanites

With the beach season finally here, many of us may be asking ourselves the perennial question: How do you slim down in the shortest amount of time possible? Technology, it seems, just may have provided us with an answer. Below are three high-tech, time-saving exercise routines that provide exclusive one-on-one coaching and are rising in Korea today:Electric muscle-building: MicrotrainingMicrotraining suits and machines at Elec Motion fitness studio (Elec Motion)When Neo first wakes up from the d

June 17, 2015

[Newsmaker] KT shows renewed vigor under new leader

KT, the nation’s No. 2 telecom carrier, has shown renewed vigor recently under the leadership of chairman and CEO Hwang Chang-gyu, who took office in January last year.For more than a decade, KT has been a fast follower behind SK Telecom, which played a leading role in creating key consumer and technological trends in the telecom industry. Although the state-run KT was privatized in 2002, a deep-rooted sense of complacency had been holding back the company and its employees.But the new CEO, form

June 16, 2015

SKT, Ericsson team up for next-generation network

South Korea’s largest mobile carrier SK Telecom said Tuesday it would work with Ericsson to conduct joint research and development projects for the “Internet of Small Things,” a network that processes small amounts of data. Holding a signing ceremony of a memorandum of understanding in Stockholm Monday, top executives from both firms agreed to develop machine-type communication technologies that allow small devices and sensors to communicate without glitches on a large scale.Since the existing L

June 16, 2015

KT commercializes world’s fastest LTE

South Korea’s largest telecommunications firm, KT Corp., said Monday it would commercialize the world’s fastest mobile network, called the GiGA LTE, which combines the current Long Term Evolution networks with Wi-Fi connections. The new network service offers a maximum download speed of 1.17 Gbps --15 times faster than the existing LTE and four times faster than the tri-band LTE-Advanced, the fastest wireless network currently available in the Korean market.It also boasts an upload speed 10 time

June 15, 2015

KT, LG Uplus turn to corporate clients as new growth engine

Facing saturation in the domestic wireless market, South Korean mobile carriers are turning their eyes to the business-to-business market in a bid to find a new growth engine.KT Corp., the country’s second largest wireless carrier, launched a Web portal that allows resellers of its cloud-based business management solution Ucloud Biz to efficiently manage their sales channels.The portal enables the dealers of Ucloud Biz to manage memberships, collect fees and adjust details of offerings on the cl

June 14, 2015

Private chef lends expertise for next line of Organica products

Christine Cho, a plant-based private chef based in New York City and one of the flavor masterminds behind Organica’s “Juice Just Cleanse” detox juice line, has returned to Korea to once again join hands with Organica in extending her healthy eating expertise for the next line of products from the premium organic whole foods company. Christine Cho (Lee Sang-sub/The Korea Herald)With the global trend of heart-smart eating and the ever increasing demand for natural and organic foods, Organica’s non

June 14, 2015

SK C&C to open Korea’s first Internet bank next year

A senior executive of SK C&C, a leading system integration developer in South Korea, said that the company would open the nation’s first online-only Internet bank as early as next year.“SK C&C is currently considering participating in projects to set up Internet banks together with financial institutes, local governments and ICT firms,” said Lee Ki-yeol, executive vice president of the company in a press meeting Tuesday in Seoul.“The Korean market will likely see the first Internet bank next yea

June 10, 2015

[Herald Interview] ‘Webtoons are cradle of ideas’

Online comic strips, or webtoons, nowadays play a pivotal role in the creation of media content, serving as a reservoir of new ideas for TV shows and movies. Featuring gripping stories with twists and turns and witty, but satirical punchlines, they allow people of all ages and genders to let their hair down while reading.Stories and genres are diverse, ranging from office life and heart-wrenching stories of people having suffered under Japan’s colonial rule to the sweet romance of an elderly cou

June 10, 2015

LG Chem launches new energy storage system in Europe, Australia

LG Chem, South Korea’s leading battery maker, said Tuesday it will be launching its new home energy storage system, RESU 6.4 EX, in Europe and Australia this week.The RESU, its name coming from residential energy storage unit, is a 6.4 kilowatt battery that can be paired with solar panels or work alone. The system is expandable to have an up to 12.8 kilowatt capacity with an additional two 3.2 kilowatt batteries. The company said the maximum capacity would meet 10 to 15 kilowatts of daily energy

June 9, 2015