South Korea has reported the first confirmed case of a person infected with a tick-borne virus in the country following reports of deaths in China and Japan, the state-run disease control agency said Tuesday.Out of five suspected cases, a 63-year-old woman was found to be infected with the virus transmitted by one species of tick, the Haemaphysalis longicornis, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control & Prevention.The infected patient died in Seoul in August last year and four others w

May 21, 2013

A rise in temperature and sunny weather are forecast for this weekend, raising expectations for one last spring trip out of the city. Health authorities, however, warned Thursday of the growing risk of harmful bacteria, particularly for those who plan to go to the seaside. The Korea Centers for Disease Control said vibrio vulnificus, a type of bacteria that causes necrotizing fasciitis, or flesh-eating bacteria syndrome, was detected in sea water collected from the country’s southern sea.Vibrio

May 16, 2013

Cancer is the No. 1 cause of death among South Koreans, the Korean Medical Association's institute said Thursday, citing data by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).The Research Institute for Healthcare Policy said in a report that for every 100,000 South Koreans, 193.7 died from cancer in 2010. This is less than the 211.6 cancer deaths on average among the 34 member states of the OECD.South Korea ranked as the fifth-lowest country in terms of the cancer mortality ra

May 16, 2013

An elderly man suspected of being bitten by a killer tick died on Jeju Island on Thursday, the first such case in the country following recent reports of deaths in Japan, local health authorities said.The 73-year-old farmer, identified as his surname Kang, died earlier in the day of blood poisoning after showing symptoms similar to those of SFTS, or severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome.Kang had been in the intensive care unit since last week after suffering from high fever, diarrhea, vomi

May 16, 2013

Samsung Electronics Co., the world's largest smartphone maker, captured a whopping 95 percent of all Android smartphone profits in the first quarter of the year, data showed on Thursday.According to the data compiled by Strategy Analytics, global Android smartphone profits reached $5.3 billion in total in the January-March period. Samsung dominated and captured an impressive 95 percent share with $5.1 billion during the cited period."An efficient supply chain, sleek products and crisp marketing

May 16, 2013

Scientists have finally recovered stem cells from cloned human embryos, a longstanding goal that could lead to new treatments for such illnesses as Parkinson's disease and diabetes.A prominent expert called the work a landmark, but noted that a different, simpler technique now under development may prove more useful.Stem cells can turn into any cell of the body, so scientists are interested in using them to create tissue for treating disease. Transplanting brain tissue might treat Parkinson's di

May 16, 2013

Samsung Group, South Korea’s top family-owned conglomerate, said Wednesday that it plans to spend 170 billion won ($153 million) in training software engineers and nurturing the related industry over the next five years.The group also said it plans to hire over 2,000 software engineers every year through 2017, up almost 30 percent from an average seen in the past few years.Samsung will also offer software-related training courses for 50,000 students over the next five years.“The plans will help

May 15, 2013

Choi Mun-kee, the minister of science, ICT and future planning, on Wednesday said the nation’s most influential Web portal Naver was too dominant.“(Naver) seems to have too much of the market,” Choi said, saying that when companies go over the line, they should switch modes to focus more on social contribution.“Naver, however, still seems to be concentrating to much on making the pie bigger,” the minister said in a press conference. He added that the “young CEO” ― Kim Sang-hun, CEO of NHN, which

May 15, 2013

The government said Tuesday that it will allow so-called mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) to sell their mobile phone services through the country’s state-run postal service provider starting from September, in a bid to help lower mobile rates and households’ communication bills.MVNOs borrow networks from existing mobile carriers at wholesale prices, thus offering their services at cheaper rates compared to existing mobile operators.They can offer cheap mobile rates because they do not sp

May 15, 2013

A group of scientists from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology has discovered a way to produce an “unbreakable” screen, which may pave the way in display technology, the school announced on Tuesday.The research team led by Yoon Choon-sup used polyamide film instead of glass.Researchers have already been looking at using polyamide film, but so far failed to put it to practical use because of its weak heat-resistance and durability.The KAIST team noted that they have increased t

May 14, 2013

South Korea took the third spot among 143 countries in terms of the number of secure Internet servers in 2011, the country's ministry in charge of IT and science said Tuesday.The country had 2,496 secure Internet servers per million people in 2011, the third-largest after Iceland and the Netherlands, the Ministry of ICT, Science and Future Planning said, citing data compiled by the World Economic Forum (WEF).Secure Internet servers are servers using encryption technology in Internet transactions

May 14, 2013

SK Hynix, the world’s second-largest chip supplier, signed a deal with the Chinese city of Chongqing for chip testing and packaging, the Seoul-based company said on Monday.Under the agreement, the two sides will establish a joint corporation based on a memorandum for investment. Chongqing will be responsible for the backend processing involving mainly the testing and packaging of chips, the company said. SK Hynix appeared to believe that the investment would be mutually beneficial, with the chip

May 13, 2013

GS EPS Co., a local energy firm, said Monday that it will spend 300 billion won ($269.5 million) to build Asia’s No. 1 biomass generation plant in a bid to tap deeper into the renewable power industry.The envisioned plan calls for GS EPS to construct the plant that will use a mix of agricultural byproducts to generate electricity in Dangjin, some 123 kilometers south of Seoul.In a groundbreaking ceremony held earlier in the day, the company said it plans to complete the plant by August 2015. The

May 13, 2013