SFTS case in Jeju suggest stray cats can spread deadly disease

A woman contracted Severe Fever with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome, a tick-borne disease, after coming into contact with a stray cat in Seogipo-si, Jeju, health authorities said on Monday. SFTS is an infectious disease that emerged from China with a mortality rate of up to 17 percent in Korea. The condition has no cure or vaccine as of now. The first local case was reported in 2013, and a total of 608 people have been infected with the disease in the last three years. Common symptoms include fever,

July 11, 2023

Samsung Electronics to rebound in Q3: analysts

Samsung Electronics, which was predicted to post its worst quarterly earnings in 14 years in the second quarter, will likely hasten its earnings recovery from the third quarter, led by chip production cuts and the early launch of its new foldable smartphone series, analysts said. On Friday’s earnings guidance for the April-June period released by Samsung, it said its operating profit in the period is expected to be 600 billion won ($462 million), down 95.7 percent from a year earlier. As f

July 9, 2023

Samsung Electronics predicts Q2 profit to plunge 96%, hitting 14-year low

Samsung Electronics has predicted an operating profit of 600 billion won ($458.5 million) for the April-June period, a 96 percent plunge to what would be the lowest quarterly earnings in 14 years, amid a severe global downturn in the chip industry. Releasing its earnings guidance on Friday for the second quarter this year, the tech giant said its consolidated sales is expected to be approximately 60 trillion won, down 22.3 percent on-year. As for the operating profit, the estimate is the worst s

July 7, 2023

LG Electronics estimates highest Q2 revenue of W19.9tr

LG Electronics reported Friday it expects its second-quarter revenue to increase 2.7 percent to 19.9 trillion won ($15.2 billion) year-on-year, the highest figure for the April-June period in the company’s history. Its operating profit is expected to jump 12.7 percent on-year to 892.7 billion won, which would be the second highest Q2 record for the firm. Releasing its preliminary earnings results for the April-June period, LG attributed its record earnings to its efforts to improve the fun

July 7, 2023

LG sets up R&D unit for TV business in Indonesia

LG Electronics said Thursday its home entertainment business division had set up its first research and development unit in Indonesia, completing a comprehensive business operation from product development to manufacturing and sales. The new facility spanning 40,000 square meters is located 3.5 kilometers from LG’s TV production plant in the Cibitung area,and some 40 kilometers from Jakarta where the tech giant operates a sales unit. LG said the new R&D unit will help not just improve

July 6, 2023

Samsung’s new foldable phones to be unveiled on July 26 in Seoul

Samsung Electronics on Thursday sent out invitations to the “Join the Flip Side” unpacking event for its new foldable smartphone series later this month in Seoul, marking the tech giant’s first Galaxy Unpacked on its home turf. Samsung will kick off the summer edition of its unveiling event at Coex, one of South Korea's largest convention and exhibition centers, in Gangnam-gu, southern Seoul, at 8 p.m. on July 26. The event will also be live-streamed on the company’s

July 6, 2023

Kumho Tire inks sponsorship deal with AC Milan

South Korean tire maker Kumho Tire said Thursday it has signed a sponsorship deal with AC Milan, the renowned Italian professional football club based in Milan, for five seasons through the 2027-28 Serie A season. The signing event was held at the club’s headquarters Casa Milan with top executives including Kumho Tire CEO Jung Il-taik and AC Milan CEO Giorgio Furlani in attendance. AC Milan, established in 1899, is one of the top European football clubs with a total of 19 league titles. Un

July 6, 2023

[Herald Interview] Snowflake seeks to expand presence in Korea

US cloud software company Snowflake launched its Korean unit in 2021 with the aim of attracting big-name local companies such as Samsung and LG as lucrative corporate clients. In Korea, many large conglomerates operate their own IT solutions providers, but during these times of digital transformation and the development of artificial intelligence, it has become a lot trickier to store and process vast amounts of information and make the best use of them on their own. "With Snowflake&rsquo

July 5, 2023

Samsung may face tighter scrutiny under new EU rules

Samsung Electronics may be subject to the European Union’s new platform service regulations targeting big tech companies, as the Korean tech giant notified the European Commission it meets the EU’s criteria as a “gatekeeper.” On Tuesday, the EU revealed the names of seven companies that have reported they meet the criteria set by the Digital Markets Act, which came into force in November last year. The seven companies are Google parent company Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Tik

July 5, 2023

LG bets big on art to enhance brand identity

LG Group is betting big on art to enhance its brand value globally. The nation’s fourth-largest conglomerate has been actively expanding partnerships with global art museums and institutions to spur artistic innovations and sponsor digital artists. In June last year, the group’s key affiliates -- including LG Corp., LG Electronics, and LG Display -- forged partnerships with Guggenheim Museum, a globally renowned modern and contemporary art museum in New York, under the LG Guggenheim

July 5, 2023

SK bioscience to help Thailand set up infrastructure for vaccine manufacturing

SK bioscience Co., a pharmaceutical affiliate of South Korea's SK Group, said Wednesday it has joined hands with Thailand's state-run drugmaker to build vaccine manufacturing and development infrastructure in the Southeast Asian country. SK bioscience and Thailand's Government Pharmaceutical Organization signed a memorandum of understanding on Tuesday, under which the Korean company will help the country prepare for future pandemics by developing a homegrown vaccine. As a first st

July 5, 2023

[Herald Interview] Chip wars: No end in sight

For those who may believe in the ideal of "free trade," it might seem "protectionist" for governments to intervene in international trade and provide subsidies to nurture their own industries. But these days, semiconductor powerhouses such as the US, South Korea, Taiwan and Japan, are all racing to present hefty subsidy programs to boost their own industries based on the fear that the lack of governmental support will decide the fate of their key strategic sectors. The world&

July 3, 2023

Korea, Spain join hands on mobility, smart manufacturing

South Korea and Spain are teaming up to conduct joint research on smart manufacturing and future mobility as part of their agreement signed last year to bolster technology ties, according to the Korea Institute for the Advancement of Technology, an institution affiliated with the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, on Sunday. In November last year, the two countries set up an industrial technology partnership committee and discussed possible areas for collaboration. As a follow-up to the agr

July 3, 2023

MWC Shanghai wraps up with focus on Chinese firms

SHANGHAI -- The Mobile World Congress Shanghai, which returned as an in-person event after a two-year hiatus, wrapped up on Friday. Some 300 companies participated in the three-day event to boast their latest innovation practice of the fifth-generation business but mostly centered around the Chinese telecommunications industry. The number of companies that set up exhibition booths at this year’s MWC Shanghai was nearly halved from some 550 in 2019. Around 37,000 people participated in the

July 2, 2023

[Herald Interview] Korea at forefront of innovation, leadership: GSMA execs

SHANGHAI -- Top executives of GSMA, the host of the Mobile World Congress, said South Korea is a perfect place to learn about the digital transformation since it has been at the forefront of technological innovation and leadership. “Korea was one of the very first (countries) to launch 5G (network) services. It's got such vibrant operators and a technology ecosystem that are globally known and respected,” John Hoffman, CEO and director at GSMA Limited, said in an interview with

July 2, 2023

[Photo News] Accessible Kiosk

LG Electronics said Sunday it is launching a new self-service kiosk that is more accessible to people with limited vision and other physically handicapped users. The new touch-screen kiosk features a Low Vision mode displaying a clearer screen with larger letters and a Low Position mode which lowers the menu for wheelchair users. The tech giant plans to launch a Voice Assistant mode equipped with tactile keypads for use at local franchise restaurants later this year.

July 2, 2023

SKT invests $100m in Joby Aviation to ramp up UAM business

South Korean telecom giant SK Telecom announced late Thursday it will invest $100 million to acquire a 2 percent stake in US urban air mobility firm Joby Aviation. The two forged the investment agreement on Tuesday, and vowed to strengthen their partnership in the UAM business further. The Korean mobile carrier first signed a strategic collaboration agreement with Joby Aviation in February 2022, which was expanded to include TMAP, South Korea’s largest mobility platform, in May 2022. Joby

June 30, 2023

South Korea, Japan hold in-depth talks to strengthen bilateral trade

South Korean Trade Minister Ahn Duk-geun discussed measures to strengthen bilateral trade with his Japanese counterpart Hirohide Hirai during his visit to Seoul on Friday. The bilateral talk comes as Japan has announced to reinstate South Korea as a "Group A" country earlier this week, returning to Seoul the preferential export treatment it had enjoyed until 2019. The latest decision marked the end to a trade dispute that had dragged on for four years stemming from the issue ofKoreans

June 30, 2023

South Korea, US agree to work closely to address IRA, trade concerns

South Korea and the United States agreed to work closely to resolve concerns over the US' Inflation Reduction Act, discussing ways to strengthen battery supply chains, Thursday. South Korean Deputy Minister Joo Young-joon in charge of industrial policy at the Ministry Trade, Industry and Energy met with Deputy US Trade Representative Sarah Bianchi visiting Seoul. During the bilateral talks, Joo assessed that the two sides overall have smoothly managed the IRA issue, closely communicating vi

June 29, 2023

[Photo News] LG's auto achievements

LG Electronics employees celebrate the 10th anniversary of its vehicle solutions business at the ceremony held at LG Sciencepark in Seoul on Thursday. The tech giant set up the automotive business unit in 2013 which turned to a profit for the first time in the second quarter of 2022. As of last year, the unit’s accumulated orders have reached 80 trillion won ($60 billion). The company aims to become a leading player in the fields of infotainment solutions, electric vehicle powertrains and

June 29, 2023