Samsung Electronics on Tuesday named Koh Dong-jin, executive vice president in charge of mobile R&D, as the new mastermind of the company’s flagship mobile business division amid its recent struggle for profitability. 　A surprise appointment, the 54-year-old engineer’s replacement of the current mobile chief Shin Jong-kyun, 60, hinted at a generational shift in the Korean tech giant’s top brass. “Shin will focus more on long-term strategy and foster new growth businesses,” the company said in a

Dec. 1, 2015

CULTURAL DIPLOMACY -- LG Group chairman Koo Bon-moo (center) attends a jazz concert Monday in Seoul to mark the 50th anniversary of ties between Korea and Japan. Koo said he wished for the two nations to strengthen their relations through cultural exchanges. (LG Group)

Dec. 1, 2015

COLLABORATION FOR 5G -- LG Uplus said Tuesday that it had set up a research and development center for 5G network technology where it would work together with local and global network equipment firms on projects for the next-generation network technology. (LG Uplus)

Dec. 1, 2015

Expectations are reaching new heights for Korea’s first online-only banks, or direct banks, to spark enormous changes not only in the country’s 120-year-old financial sector but also in other industries including information technology and retail.The financial authorities have given preliminary approval to two consortiums ― Kakao Bank and K-Bank, led by mobile messenger creator Kakao and mobile carrier KT, respectively ― to set up the banks with no brick-and-mortar branches. They will be the fir

Nov. 30, 2015

Samsung Group is expected to carry out a modest promotion of executives this week, reflecting a sense of crisis prevalent across its affiliates, industry sources said Monday. Samsung Electronics vice chairman and the group’s heir apparent Lee Jae-yong is also unlikely to take office as chairman to focus more on improving the profitability of the flagship electronics unit and other key companies. “Many executives do not expect to receive promotions this year. They just want to stay,” said a Samsu

Nov. 30, 2015

Two consortiums, led by South Korean Internet giant Kakao and No. 2 telecom operator KT, were approved to launch the nation’s first Internet-only banks next year, the banking authority said Sunday. Under the government’s pilot program, the two banks will offer financial services from deposits, lending and credit cards to foreign exchange transactions through their online platforms only -- the first of their kind in Korea’s 23 years of financial history.Their operations are expected to start afte

Nov. 29, 2015

　LG Display said Friday it would invest a whopping 10 trillion won ($8.7 billion) in building a new plant for organic light-emitting diode displays in Paju, Gyeongi Province.　The firm’s recent investment plan is part of its initiative, which was announced in August, to invest 10 trillion won in projects to foster businesses for OLEDs along with liquid crystal displays over the next three years.　The nation’s leading display manufacturer will first pour 1.84 trillion won into the construction of a

Nov. 27, 2015

As digital disruption is accelerating across all industries, top market leaders will be outgunned by challengers quick to adapt to a digitization wave, according to a Cisco executive.Presenting a recent report about technological disruption and future business models at Cisco’s office in Songdo, west of Seoul, Thursday, Ross Fowler, president of the U.S. firm’s Digital Transformation and IoE (“Internet of Everything”) Acceleration in Asia-Pacific and Japan, said that "four out of top 10 companie

Nov. 26, 2015

Korean game developer Smilegate Entertainment said Thursday it has signed a $500 million exclusive publishing agreement with Oriental Shiny Star for the upcoming “Crossfire 2” online shooting game in China. Qihoo 360 Technology also announced the deal Monday in a NASDAQ filing. Oriental Shiny Star is an affiliate of System Link Corporation, a joint venture between Qihoo 360 Technology, a leading Chinese gaming platform operator, and System Link Corporation, a game developer also based in China.

Nov. 26, 2015

LG Electronics CEO and vice chairman Koo Bon-joon has joined LG Corp., the group’s holding company, stepping closer to the center stage of the nation’s fourth-largest conglomerate. As part of the group’s annual executive reshuffle on Thursday, Koo was assigned with a crucial mission for LG’s survival in the future -- beefing up next growth engine businesses such as display, battery, energy solutions and automotive parts. While the flagship LG Electronics is suffering from slowing device sales am

Nov. 26, 2015

CHIPPING AWAY -- Samsung Electronics said Thursday it had started mass production of the world’s first 128-gigabyte DDR4 module for enterprise servers and data centers. The new DDR4 boasts the industry’s largest capacity and highest energy efficiency of any DRAM module. (Samsung Electronics)

Nov. 26, 2015

PALO ALTO, California -- Ever since first-generation artist Kang Full’s “Love Story” became a sensation on Korean portal Daum in the early 2000s, the local webtoon industry has grown into a $290 million industry with more iconic series like “Misaeng” and “Secretly, Greatly.”But it is one of Korea’s best-kept secrets, as local webtoons -- visual stories that read from top to bottom instead of left to right for easy screen scrolling -- have struggled to spread globally for the past decade. Tapas M

Nov. 26, 2015

South Korea’s largest search engine Naver is considering a lawsuit against global computing giant Hewlett-Packard, claiming that the company’s new IT unit copied its signature green search bar logo.  In April, Hewlett-Packard spun off its corporate hardware and services arm and named it Hewlett Packard Enterprise. The company also unveiled a new green rectangular logo, a distinct identity from the blue circular HP logo.“The rectangular logo represents values such as openness, simplicity and clie

Nov. 25, 2015

An inspection committee for workplace safety and health at chipmaker SK hynix said Wednesday it could not find a direct link between diseases suffered by its employees and the working environment at its facilities. Announcing a yearlong inspection of the working conditions at the chip manufacturer’s factories and its correlation to illnesses, including cancer and leukemia, the committee noted that “some research showed meaningful results from a statistical perspective, but more time and data is

Nov. 25, 2015

From smartphone-makers to retail firms, more companies are jumping on the mobile payment bandwagon in a bid to take the initiative for hassle-free digital payments.As there is no single dominant player or set of standards yet, the mushrooming mobile payment market is flooded with more than 20 related applications in Korea and may look like a hodgepodge of technologies for some.Many industry officials, however, had a positive outlook on the fledgling market, anticipating that the mobile payment s

Nov. 25, 2015

South Korean battery-maker LG Chem said Tuesday that it has teamed up with GS E&R, a local power generator, to build the world’s largest wind power storage system in Yeongyang, North Gyeongsang Province.The ESS will have a storage capacity of 50 megawatt hours, which can power some 5,000 households per day. The batteries are the equivalent of those used for 2,700 units of GM’s Volt plug-in hybrid. GS E&R has recently completed the turbine construction and carried out the pilot operation since Se

Nov. 24, 2015