KT to launch telemedicine pilot in Vietnam by 2022

South Korean telecommunication firm KT said Wednesday it plans to launch a pilot telemedicine platform in Vietnam before the end of this year, with the aim of a soft landing within the next three years. The service will be aimed at monitoring those who are suffering from chronic diseases such as cancer, diabetes and high blood pressure, allowing patients to check their health conditions, medications and workouts, and get access to counseling with Vietnamese medical professionals. Vietnam&lsquo

April 13, 2022

S. Korea, Israel to invest $5.3m for robotics development

South Korea and Israel have pledged to invest up to $5.3 million (6.6 billion won) to support the joint development of robotics technology under a new strategic collaboration project named the Lighthouse Program, officials said Tuesday. As a joint research and development project between Seoul and Jerusalem, the Lighthouse Program is a follow-up of the revisions made to the industrial technology agreement between the two countries last year. Both sides agreed to double the annual funding for th

April 12, 2022

Samsung hires governance specialist in renewed ESG push

Samsung Electronics has recently hired Daniel Oh, a corporate governance specialist who worked for Institutional Shareholder Services and BlackRock, as an executive vice president at its global investor relations team. According to the tech giant’s business report Monday, Oh, 48, started working at Samsung in February, becoming the No. 2 man on the investor relations team. Oh who studied economics at MIT has more than 19 years of experience in investor relations and corporate governance

April 11, 2022

Renowned chip expert nominated as science minister

Science Minister Nominee Lee Jong-ho is a chip engineering scholar who supported, as an adviser, South Korea’s policy endeavor in building its strength in semiconductor industry for years. “I have experienced the semiconductor industry for a long time and I believe it has a great importance. I will try to advance it,” said Lee at the nominee selection announcement Sunday. “But our country has more than just semiconductors. I will look at all industries and listen to va

April 10, 2022

Apple CEO Tim Cook welcomes opening of new store in Myeong-dong

Apple CEO Tim Cook welcomed the opening of a new Apple Store in the shopping district of Myeong-dong, central Seoul, on Saturday, “Apple Myeongdong opened its doors as our newest store in the heart of Korea. We‘re thrilled to further support our Korean customers in a space as unique and vibrant as the community it serves,” Cook tweeted Saturday. In another tweet Sunday, he congratulated K-pop group Seventeen’s appearance on Today at Apple -- a creative initiative offere

April 10, 2022

Samsung poised to beat earnings estimates in Q1

Samsung Electronics said Thursday it was highly likely to report its best quarterly earnings in the first quarter this year on upbeat sales of memory chips and smartphones. According to its earnings guidance, the tech giant projected its operating profits at 14.1 trillion won ($11.5 billion) for the first three months of the year, a 50.03 percent increase from a year earlier. The figure topped estimates consensus of 13.8 trillion won among local securities firms compiled by market tracker Fn

April 7, 2022

Kakao Mobility eyes overseas expansion

Kakao Mobility, the country’s leading taxi-hailing service operator, said Thursday it will expand its domestic-focused business, with its next-generation mobility technology and user-friendly service. “This year will be the starting point of Kakao Mobility to enter the global market, as we move ‘Beyond Korea,’” said Kakao Mobility CEO Ryu Geung-sun in an online press conference. Ryu said the company will expand its taxi-hailing service -- currently available in s

April 7, 2022

[Herald Interview] SK-backed US startup out to empower Asia’s carbon goal

The Asia-Pacific region is responsible for more than half of carbon dioxide emissions worldwide. While net-zero carbon emissions mandates in the region pose promising economic opportunities, green technology players’ expansion to the Asia-Pacific from outside the region may seem like a murky prospect. “There is a choice between trying to build it ourselves, or finding a compatible vision and strategic capability to make engagements with the market more successful,” Cam Hosie,

April 7, 2022

Rsquare to launch commercial real estate services in Vietnam

Korea’s real estate platform Rsquare said Wednesday it will provide commercial real estate services in Vietnam with Shinhan Bank’s branch in Vietnam. The firm will offer brokerage service, asset management, interior construction, residential property consulting and property inspection for Shinhan Bank Vietnam clients. According to Rsquare, it has compiled data on over 10,000 offices and commercial buildings in major Vietnamese cities including Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi. “U

April 6, 2022

Kakao to expand overseas revenue by 30% by 2025

South Korean IT platform giant Kakao will expand its overseas revenue by 30 percent in the next three years to diversify its heavily domestic business-reliant income source, the company said on Wednesday. “The 56 overseas branches aim to boost their sales revenue by 40 percent this year. By 2025, we plan to increase overseas revenue to account for 30 percent of total sales, compared to the current 10 percent,” said Kim Sung-su, co-head of Kakao’s corporate alignment center.

April 6, 2022

Instagram taps S. Korea as test bed for expanded Reels

Instagram has picked South Korea as a test bed for its expanded Reels service, the social media platform said Wednesday. The new Reels feed will include videos that can be up to 15 minutes long. The previous Reels feed only showed short clips up to 60 seconds, according to Instagram. Korea, along with Brazil, was one of the only two countries to be selected for the trial run of the more inclusive Reels service. As the video tab will be removed from each account’s profile page, all vid

April 6, 2022

After GOS scandal, Samsung touts Galaxy S22 sales, calls it ‘smooth ride’

Samsung Electronics said Wednesday its latest smartphone Galaxy S22 is highly likely to see 1 million unit sales at home this week, calling its sales performance a “smooth ride” despite unfavorable market conditions such as supply chain constraints and slowing domestic smartphone sales. According to the company’s preliminary estimates, the phone’s sales exceeded 900,000 units early this month, and the figure is expected to hit the 1 million mark on Friday, six weeks afte

April 6, 2022

Nanox begins producing digital X-ray chips in Korea

An Israeli medical imaging technology company said it began producing digital X-ray chips at its semiconductor plant in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, on Tuesday. The Nasdaq-listed Nanox said its Yongin facility will be the main production site of its microelectromechanical systems, or MEMs, called Nanox.Source chips, a key component of the company’s Nanox.ARC, a 3D medical imaging system that has the potential to bring X-ray technology to two-thirds of the world without meaningful access.

April 6, 2022

Regulator says Google’s billing policy violates Korean law

The South Korean regulator on network and IT services said Tuesday that it has reached the conclusion that Google’s new payment policy violates the Korean law that prohibits app store operators from forcing app developers to use in-app payment systems. Based on its conclusion, the Korea Communications Commission will make a final ruling on whether Google’s new billing system is against the law after reviewing related cases based on the levels of coercion and unfairness. The regulato

April 5, 2022

SK hynix, Solidigm launch enterprise SSD for data centers

South Korean memory chip maker SK hynix and its US NAND flash memory solutions arm Solidigm have launched solid-state drives for data centers, the companies said Tuesday. The new product, called P5530, is their first collaborative effort since San Jose-based Solidigm‘s SSD business was acquired by the world’s second-largest memory chip manufacturer in December. P5530 will be a combination of SK hynix‘s 128-layer NAND flash technology with Solidigm’s SSD controller and

April 5, 2022

From anti-aging to chip materials: Samsung unveils futuristic projects to fund

Samsung Electronics and its tech foundation said Tuesday they are spending a combined 48.65 billion won ($40 million) this year to fund 27 new research projects on futuristic technologies from anti-aging to new materials for chips. The tech giant has supported local researchers and their work through the Samsung Science & Technology Foundation since 2013. About 1.5 trillion won has been poured into supporting 735 projects involving 14,000 researchers at some 50 schools over the past decade

April 5, 2022

Aviation industry readies for rebound as carriers resume mid, long-haul flights

South Korea’s aviation industry is gearing up for a full recovery of operations that were hit hard from the prolonged pandemic for more than two years as the flights resume along long-stalled mid- and long-haul routes.  The Transport Ministry aims to increase the number of international flights this year to the 50 percent level of 2019. As of March, the number of international flights departing the country was at 406 per week, around 8.8 percent of the corresponding figure in 2019 w

April 4, 2022

SK Square affiliates eye May IPOs

SK Square is poised for two stock market flotations of its key affiliates -- a mobile app marketplace and a security service -- on the Korea Exchange in May, filings showed Monday. The initial public offerings of the subsidiaries will amount to up to 1.33 trillion won ($1.09 billion) if combined, in the first two attempts since SK Square was spun off from Korea’s largest telecom carrier SK Telecom. SK Shieldus, a security service subsidiary of SK Square formerly known as ADT Caps, aims

April 4, 2022

[CONTRIBUTION] Key to successful digital platform government through lens of big data

Each time a new presidential administration took office, promises surrounding information technology were repeatedly made in a bid to appeal to the public. The military regime and the Kim Young-sam administration’s pledges to foster an information and communications network were followed by the Kim Dae-jung administration’s policies to promote venture businesses. President Roh Moo-hyun envisioned the transition to an e-government, Lee Myung-bak outlined an IT convergence plan, Park

April 4, 2022

‘Workcation’: Mixing work, vacation for both productivity, creativity

Oh Chung-hee, a product designer at Korean fintech startup Toss, was at first reluctant to go on a two-week “workcation,” worrying it was going to be a hassle. But her worries melted away soon after she arrived at the company’s workcation site in the southern coastal region of Namhae, South Gyeongsang Province. Instead of going to work on a jam-packed bus or subway like others in Seoul, Oh started her day by enjoying the vast open scenery and fresh air. “Changing the wo

April 3, 2022