Naver unveils first ‘hyperscale’ AI platform

South Korea’s IT giant Naver unveiled a supersized artificial intelligence platform on Tuesday that can process massive amounts of data, saying it aimed to lead the era of “hyperscale” AI. Dubbed HyperCLOVA, the firm’s latest AI tool is not only the local industry’s most advanced but is also the first large-scale AI trained in the Korean language, Naver said. “As a company that represents Korea’s artificial intelligence technology, we will find our w

May 25, 2021

FTC to look further into Google and Facebook’s advertising practices

The Fair Trade Commission of South Korea is expected to survey the local digital advertising market to uncover any unfair practices on the part of major platform operators such as Google and Facebook. According to government officials Tuesday, the antitrust watchdog has commissioned research on potential antitrust issues in the local advertising market. It will include in-depth interviews with advertisers, ad agencies and consumers. The US-based internet giants Google and Facebook are among

May 25, 2021

S. Korea ranks 4th in number of AI patents, but impact falls short: report

South Korea ranks fourth in terms of the number of patents registered in the artificial intelligence sector, but an index showing the impact of the patents shows that the quality of patents from South Korea fell relatively short, according to a report, Tuesday. The report from Clarivate Analytics and KAIST Center for Innovation Strategy and Policy says that the number of patents that South Korea registered in the AI field has reached 6,317 between 2010 and 2019, the fourth highest among the 10

May 25, 2021

2G services in S. Korea to be terminated by June

South Korea's ICT ministry on Tuesday said it has approved LG Uplus Corp.'s plan to phase out its 2G services by the end of June, which will mark the complete termination of the country's old telecommunications network. LG Uplus, the country's third-largest mobile carrier, will begin closing its 2G network here on June 11 following the ministry's approval. SK Telecom Co., South Korea's largest wireless provider, ended its 2G services in July last year, while rival KT Corp. shut down 2G operat

May 25, 2021

SK Bioscience wins additional funding for COVID-19 vaccine development

SK Bioscience said Monday that it will be receiving additional funding from the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations for the development of its COVID-19 vaccine candidate. The grant of up to $173.4 million will be spent on global phase 3 clinical tests of GBP510, a protein-based vaccine candidate that the South Korean firm is developing in collaboration with the University of Washington. The amount is far greater than what the Oslo-based international organization has provided to

May 24, 2021

South Korea aims to develop mRNA vaccine by next year

A South Korean government official said Monday that the country aims to secure messenger RNA vaccine technology to strengthen its vaccine production capacity and take a step up as a global vaccine production hub. “Our goal is not to become a contract manufacturing partner in the production of ingredients for the mRNA COVID-19 vaccines. We aim to develop the mRNA vaccines by next year, with technologies acquired through possible technology transfers and co-development deals,” said

May 24, 2021

LG to produce limited volume of Rollable phones for internal use

LG Electronics has officially given up smartphones, but its very last project -- the first rollable smartphone -- will see the light of day, even though it will not be for sale. The South Korean firm confirmed Monday that it is considering producing a limited volume of Rollable phones for internal use. “Development of the Rollable was completed before the management’s decision to end the phone business,” said a company official. “The exact timing or volume of the

May 24, 2021

[Newsmaker] Samsung Biologics sets out preparation for Moderna vaccine production

Samsung Biologics is working to expedite preparations to start churning out “hundreds of millions” of doses of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine in early second half, the company said Sunday. At its sterile drug manufacturing facility in Songdo, Incheon, which is one of the largest in the world, the South Korean pharmaceutical will handle the fill and finish process of the production of mRNA-1273, Moderna’s messenger-RNA based COVID-19 jab. The firm signed a contract with Mo

May 23, 2021

Moon visits SK Innovation’s battery plant in Georgia

South Korean President Moon Jae-in visited a plant construction site of SK Innovation Co., the country‘s leading battery maker, in the United States on Saturday. “This plant symbolizes friendship and high-tech cooperation between South Korea and the United States,” Moon said in a speech at the factory in the state of Georgia. “South Korean firms are best partners in the battery field. Cooperation in the sector offers a good opportunity for the US and South Korea to devel

May 23, 2021

Three cups of coffee a day could help you live longer, study finds

Having more than three cups of coffee a day can help those in their 40s or older live longer, researchers from Chung-Ang University found in a study with the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency. The study was conducted on 110,920 individuals older than 40. Scientists tracked the patients’ daily coffee intake and death rate for an average of 9.1 years. Individuals already diagnosed with diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer were not included in the study. The study conclude

May 22, 2021

SK hynix's acquisition of Intel's NAND biz gets approval from Europe

SK hynix, South Korea's second-largest chipmaker, on Friday said it has earned approval from Europe's antitrust watchdog for its acquisition of Intel Corp.'s NAND business. SK hynix said it received unconditional clearance from the European Commission for its takeover of Intel's non-volatile memory unit. Last October, SK hynix signed a deal to buy Intel's NAND business for $9 billion, which includes the US firm's solid state drive business and a NAND flash chip plant in Dalian, China. Followin

May 21, 2021

S. Korean memory chipmakers expected to leverage upcoming super cycle: report

South Korea’s top semiconductor manufacturers, Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, are expected to enjoy a super cycle in the global memory chip market until 2023, industry sources said Friday. According to international market tracker IC Insights, global sales of memory chips will reach a record high of $180.4 billion in 2022. The record for global memory sales was $163.3 billion in 2018, when manufacturers benefited from price hikes on rising demand during a so-called super memory cyc

May 21, 2021

Moderna COVID-19 vaccine gets final nod in S. Korea

A panel of medical experts on Friday said the vaccine for the novel coronavirus developed by US pharmaceutical company Moderna Inc. showed enough efficacy and safety, and recommended the use of the product. In the previous two rounds of review on Moderna's two full-dose regimen, the panel already concluded that the product is eligible for all adults. The Moderna vaccine, finally approved by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, marks the country's fourth COVID-19 vaccine, following the ones by

May 21, 2021

Korea’s greenhouse gas tracking system becomes 1st WMO-endorsed project in Asia

South Korea has become the first country in Asia to launch a project officially endorsed by the World Meteorological Organization’s Integrated Global Greenhouse Gas Information System, or IG3IS, the Korea Meteorological Administration said Friday. The project is named Inverse-Korea, which is short for inverse modeling for validating and evaluating the reduction of sectoral emissions in Korea, according to the KMA. The National Institute of Meteorological Sciences under the weather agency

May 21, 2021

International Vaccine Institute chief backs Seoul as vaccine hub

The chief of the International Vaccine Institute said Thursday that he feels positive about the possibility of South Korea becoming an Asian manufacturing hub for COVID-19 vaccines. Dr. Jerome Kim, director general of the Seoul-based IVI, made the remarks during a conservation with Korea Society President Tom Byrne, released via YouTube. When asked if Korea has what it takes to become an Asian vaccine production hub in 6 to 9 months, he responded: “I think the short answer is yes.&rdqu

May 20, 2021

Monthly active users of Netflix in S. Korea decrease for third consecutive month

The video-streaming service  Netflix saw the number of its monthly active users in South Korea decline for a third consecutive month, data showed Thursday. It is the first time the figure has ever dropped for three straight months. Netflix had 8.08 million monthly active users here in April, down 1.9 percent from 8.24 million in March, according to the data published by market researcher Nielsen Koreanclick. The figure peaked at 8.99 million in January, according to the data. The vide

May 20, 2021

Netflix users dip in S. Korea amid growing competition

Monthly active users of the US video streaming service Netflix Inc. in South Korea recorded a decline in the past three months, data showed Thursday, as the platform faces a slowdown in global subscriber growth and increasing competition from local players. Netflix's monthly active users in the country last month stood at 8.08 million, down 1.9 percent from 8.24 million in March, according to the data from market researcher Nielsen Koreanclick. The latest figure marks a dip since the platform

May 20, 2021

Samsung confirms smartwatch OS partnership with Google

Samsung Electronics Co. said Thursday that it will team up with Google LLC to deliver a new smartwatch operating system (OS), as they seek to better compete with Apple Inc. in the wearables market. Yoon Jang-hyun, who heads Samsung's software development team, said in an editorial that the South Korean tech giant will develop a unified smartwatch platform with Google. Samsung currently uses Tizen OS for its Galaxy smartwatches, while Google offers Wear OS. Their OS partnership was first unve

May 20, 2021

[News Focus] Action plan to make Korea a global COVID-19 vaccine factory takes shape

In the global fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, South Korea could step up as a global vaccine factory, if players unite to ramp up the country’s total production capacity, already the world’s second-largest, officials and industry insiders said Wednesday. Talks have already begun among local biopharmaceuticals to forge a consortium for co-production of the doses -- in particular the entirely new type of mRNA vaccines developed by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, the sources said.

May 19, 2021

SK’s Chey departs for US, raises expectations for new investments

SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won on Wednesday departed for the United States, raising expectations about his visit to SK Innovation’s battery plant in Georgia, and a possible pledge for additional investments. Chey boarded a plane bound for a US city, with a handful of group officials. SK Group declined to reveal the destination of Chey’s flight. He is among the several Korean business leaders who are visiting the US in time for the first summit meeting between Presidents Moon

May 19, 2021