[Herald Interview] Metaverse offices are future of work, say Zigbang execs

Local property technology firm Zigbang made a bold decision last year to relocate its Seoul headquarters -- not to New York or Tokyo, but to a virtual world. For its 400 workers, instead of a hellish commute in the mornings and evenings, they log in to a new interface the company has created. Workers’ avatars hop on elevators to get to their office in the metaverse to chat and have meetings with their colleagues. Meanwhile, their physical bodies stay wherever they choose to be -- at home

July 5, 2022

LG Innotek joins RE100

LG Innotek said on Tuesday its membership in RE100 has been approved. RE100 is an international campaign launched by nonprofit organization the Climate Group in partnership with Carbon Disclosure Project in 2014. The campaign aims for member businesses that consume more than 100 gigawatt-hours a year to switch to 100 percent renewable electricity sources like wind and solar power by 2050. Some 370 global companies including Google, Apple and Microsoft are members of RE100. LG Innotek plans t

July 5, 2022

S. Korea begins transporting country's 1st lunar orbiter to US for Aug. launch

South Korea on Tuesday started transporting the country's first lunar orbiter to the United States ahead of next month's launch using a SpaceX rocket, officials said. South Korea plans to launch the Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter, also known as Danuri, aboard the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida at 8:24 a.m. on Aug. 3 (Korean Time). According to the Ministry of Science and ICT, Danuri was sent from the Korea Aerospace Research Institute in Daeje

July 5, 2022

[Newsmaker] 'Monkeypox test kits may not reap big rewards'

South Korean companies are dashing to develop diagnostic kits for monkeypox as the country confirmed the first case of the rare infectious disease last month. A number of firms that had success with the development of COVID-19 diagnostic kits in the earlier days of the pandemic, including Bioneer, Boditech Med, Genes Laboratories, Seasun Biomaterials, Seegene and Wells Bio, have already developed testing kits for monkeypox. According to companies, most Korean-made diagnostic kits can show th

July 4, 2022

Korean Police prepare for dystopian future with plans for power armor, robot dogs

South Korea’s National Police Agency appears to be preparing for the worst, as recent plans indicate the deployment of robot patrol dogs and body strengthening power armor within 30 years. The plans were part of a police policy outline obtained by Yonhap News Agency on police use of robotics, artificial intelligence and advanced mobility technologies, and extending operations to the metaverse. According to the policy outline, the national police force plans to deploy self-piloting robots

July 4, 2022

Apple to allow external app payment options in S. Korea in compliance with local law

Apple Inc. said Thursday it will allow alternative payment options for apps sold in South Korea in compliance with a law that bans app store operators from forcing their own in-app payment systems. The U.S. tech giant announced on its developer site that apps distributed on the company's App Store solely in South Korea will be able to use its "StoreKit External Purchase Entitlement" option to "provide an alternative in-app payment processing option." Apple said developers t

June 30, 2022

Samsung starts mass production of world’s first 3-nm chips

Samsung Electronics said Thursday it has started producing chips using its latest 3-nanometer manufacturing technology – an industry first globally. The 3-nm technology boasts greater transistor density than the current 5-nm technology, which means higher speed and lower power consumption of advanced chips for artificial intelligence, big data and autonomous cars. The new technology is a secret weapon for Samsung, the world’s largest memory chipmaker, to take on Taiwan’s TS

June 30, 2022

From 4-day workweek to workcations, local IT firms compete for staff with envy-worthy perks

From a four-day workweek to work-from-anywhere arrangements, also known as “workcations,” Korea’s big tech firms are riding on the global wave of workplace reforms toward extreme flexibility and better work-life balance for employees. The highly-enviable four-day working week experiment is to take place at Kakao. Starting from July, employees get every other Friday off. This is on top of the fully-remote work and flexible-hour system announced late last month. “As

June 30, 2022

Meta, Seoul National Univ. launch joint research center

Meta, formerly Facebook, said Wednesday it has launched a joint research center with Seoul National University to study extended reality (XR) technology and metaverse policies. The new facility, called XR Hub Korea, is part of Meta’s ”XR Program Research“ which kicked off last year as a collaborative research project with prestigious institutions worldwide. SNU has been participating from the beginning, the company said. The center will help form networks among scholars, and

June 29, 2022

LG turns to clean tech as future growth driver

LG Group is betting big on clean energy technology as part of its ongoing efforts to seek future growth drivers that are also environmentally sustainable. LG Corp., the holding unit, said Wednesday that LG Group plans to inject 2 trillion won ($1.55 billion) in the next five years into the fields of bio materials, batteries and plastic recycling and other carbon neutral technologies. The new clean tech push comes as Chairman Koo Kwang-mo marked his fourth anniversary at the helm of the natio

June 29, 2022

Korea approves 1st homegrown COVID-19 vaccine

South Korea has authorized its first homegrown COVID-19 vaccine, finally securing vaccine sovereignty almost 30 months after the pandemic began. The government on Wednesday announced the official approval of SKYCovione, a recombinant protein-based COVID-19 vaccine developed by SK Bioscience, after the final examination committee held a meeting to review the previous assessments earlier in the day. “The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety thoroughly verified safety and efficacy through a t

June 29, 2022

Helixmith to announce results of Engensis’ second phase 3 clinical trials next month

Local gene therapy biotech firm Helixmith will announce the results of Engensis’ second phase 3 clinical trials for diabetic peripheral neuropathy next month, officials said Tuesday. “We were hoping to announce the results of Engensis’ second phase 3 clinical trials today, but the (independent Data Monitoring Committee) has requested additional data,” said Kim Sun-young, CEO of Helixmith, in a press conference. According to the CEO, the requested documents included En

June 28, 2022

Korea to invest W24.7tr in science R&D next year

The South Korean government will invest 24.7 trillion won ($19.2 billion) into the country’s research and development efforts in 2023, a 1.7 percent increase on year, the Ministry of Science and ICT said Tuesday. According to the ministry, the R&D budget is focused on the three pillars of strengthening strategic investment for developing core technologies, working towards carbon neutrality and achieving digital transformation. The ministry said it plans to invest a total of 1.1 tri

June 28, 2022

[Best Brand] Linus offers top-notch app development services

Linus, an application development service provider, has successfully carried out 40 projects for companies across various areas, including analysis of nutrients, multilingual education and luggage delivery. As a startup established in 2019, Linus is a system integration company that creates apps for both Android and iOS, sets up servers and web services and develops machine-learning models and prediction platforms. According to Linus, the startup gets involved in the initial planning stages of

June 27, 2022

Korea close to authorizing 1st homemade vaccine

South Korea’s drug regulators are looking to announce the final approval of the country‘s first homegrown COVID-19 vaccine before the end of this week, officials said Monday. According to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, the Central Pharmaceutical Affairs Council concluded that SK Bioscience’s request for the approval of SKYCovione‘s biologics license application could be granted in a meeting on the previous day. A total of 23 outside experts and regulatory authori

June 27, 2022

Govt. unveils W1tr spending package for AI chip dominance

The South Korean government on Monday announced a five-year plan to spend a combined 1.02 trillion won ($794.8 million) in semiconductor chip research and development to maintain its competitive edge in the global chip market. The spending package in the country, home to memory chip powerhouses Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, is aimed at securing a stronger footing in the field of artificial intelligence chips, mainly by developing libraries and compiler software to encourage wider usage of d

June 27, 2022

LG Electronics makes foray into EV charging market

LG Electronics said Sunday it is making its foray into the burgeoning electric vehicle charging market, calling the sector one of its key growth drivers for its next big leap. As part of the big push, the firm said it has acquired a 60 percent stake in AppleMango, a local battery maker, in partnership with GS Energy and GS Neotek that took over 34 percent and 6 percent in the company, respectively. Following the deal, AppleMango has become a subsidiary of LG Electronics. Through the new su

June 26, 2022

Cyworld launches ‘digital inheritance’ service

South Korean social media platform Cyworld on Sunday launched a new service called “digital inheritance,” which allows the family of a deceased user to inherit digital data. Family members will gain access to published photos, videos and even the diary of the deceased, while other private materials open to friends or the account owner may not be disclosed due to privacy issues. The company added the “inheritance” will be made only if the user agrees to the terms befo

June 26, 2022

Panel expert downbeat on Korean investments in premium TV displays

Further investments on the part of South Korean display panel manufacturers in large OLED panels for televisions, monitors and laptops will be unlikely for the rest of 2022, according to a panel expert on Thursday. Yi Choong-hoon, chief executive officer of display panel research firm UBI Research, cited a slow path to profitability in the cutting-edge panel businesses by Samsung Display and LG Display, despite growing market demand, in a seminar at Coex in Seoul on Thursday. For Samsung, a

June 24, 2022

Researchers uncover new cause behind Alzheimer’s memory loss

South Korean researchers have found a new cause behind the memory impairment in Alzheimer’s disease, the Institute for Basic Science said Thursday. The researchers at IBS and Korea Institute for Science and Technology have pinpointed a process, the urea cycle, that takes place in astrocytes, which are star-shaped cells that take up over half of all brain cells. An activated urea cycle aggravated the memory loss in patients with Alzheimer’s disease, according to their study publishe

June 23, 2022