[Newsmaker] YouTube threatens to cut down investments in Korea over ‘network usage fee’ bill

For the first time, YouTube has openly expressed concerns over the South Korean parliament’s push for global content providers to foot the bill for creating excessive network traffic. Gautam Anand, Vice President and Managing Director at Google’s YouTube Asia Pacific, wrote on Wednesday on the official YouTube Korea blog that if the revisions are enacted, it could “undermine YouTube’s opportunity to make continuous investments for Korean creators to be successful.&rdquo

April 21, 2022

At G-20 meeting, Korea’s fiscal chief stays out of protest against Russia

SEJONG -- South Korea’s Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki kept his seat while other fiscal chiefs or central bank governors walked out of a G-20 meeting in protest of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, according to the ministry on Thursday.　 According to overseas news reports and remarks from British officials, top officials from the US, Canada and the UK left the G-20 finance ministerial meeting, held in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday,&n

April 21, 2022

Pengsoo featured in AFoCO campaign

South Korea’s beloved penguin character, Pengsoo, has been featured in a campaign promoted by Asian Forest Cooperation Organization to raise public awareness of sustainable forest management in Asia. AFoCO is an intergovernmental organization which launched in 2018 to combat climate change and foster sustainable management of Asia’s forests. The organization has been hosting the #REForest2022 challenge, which stands for Rescue Earth’s Forests, since March 21 to promote publi

April 21, 2022

Samsung Electronics’ market presence hits 34-month low

South Korean tech behemoth Samsung Electronics saw its presence on the main bourse drop to the lowest in 34 months in terms of market capitalization, data showed Thursday, with analysts pointing to volatilities caused by the global supply bottleneck and foreigners’ selling spree. Samsung’s value stood at some 402.9 trillion won ($325.7 billion) as of April 14, accounting for 18.91 percent of the Kospi’s total market value of 2,131 trillion won, according to data provided by t

April 21, 2022

Drug developer GI Innovation eyes IPO in 2nd half of year

Local drug developer GI Innovation has submitted a preliminary application for listing on the country’s secondary tech-heavy bourse Kosdaq with its eyes set on going public in the second half of the year, the company said Thursday. GI Innovation’s initial public offering will be carried out under Kosdaq’s special listing track, known as the “unicorn special listing.” The Korea Exchange established the unicorn special listing process in April last year to simplify

April 21, 2022

Exports surge 17% in first 20 days of April

South Korea's exports rose 16.9 percent in the first 20 days of April from a year earlier on the back of demand for chips and petroleum products, customs data showed Thursday. The country's outbound shipments stood at $36.3 billion in the April 1-20 period, compared with $31 billion a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service. Imports increased 25.5 percent on-year to $41.5 billion, resulting in a trade deficit of $5.2 billion during the cited period, the data showed. By

April 21, 2022

Naver Q1 net plummets 99% on-year on base effect

Naver Corp., South Korea's top internet portal operator, said Thursday its net profit plummeted 99 percent on-year in the first quarter due to a low base effect. Net profit reached 151.4 billion won ($122.5 million) during the January-March period, compared with 15.31 trillion won in the previous year, the company said in a regulatory filing. The record high net profits for last year's first quarter was due to accounting profits reflected from the business integration of its messaging firm Line

April 21, 2022

Producer prices up for 3rd month in March as energy prices rise

South Korea's producer prices rose for the third straight month in March as high energy and raw material prices pushed up the costs of churning out factory goods, central bank data showed Thursday. The producer price index, a major barometer of consumer inflation, stood at 116.46 in March, up 1.3 percent from a month earlier, according to the preliminary data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). From a year earlier, the index also jumped 8.8 percent, which was faster than the previous month's 8.5 perce

April 21, 2022

Seoul stocks open higher amid rate hike concerns

South Korean shares opened higher Thursday as investors picked up large-cap shares amid woes over high-flying inflation. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) rose 12.78 points, or 0.47 percent, to 2,731.47 as of 9:15 a.m. Overnight, the US stock markets ended mixed. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.71 percent, while the S&P500 fell 0.06 percent and the Nasdaq was down 1.22 percent. On the Seoul bourse, shares mostly traded higher. Market bellwether Samsung Electro

April 21, 2022

[Photo News] Taste of Flying Cars

Visitors enjoy a riding experience on next-generation urban air mobility vehicles with virtual reality headgear mounted at SK Telecom’s exhibition booth at the World IT Show on Wednesday at Coex in Seoul. The annual tech event, hosted by the Science Ministry, runs from Wednesday through Friday.

April 20, 2022

[Newsmaker] S. Korea’s longest serving fiscal chief to retire amid mixed reviews

SEJONG -- Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki spent his five-year term dealing with major economic tasks, from the pandemic-triggered market crisis to controversial real estate measures. However, assessments of Hong -- South Korea’s longest serving fiscal chief -- appear divided. Proponents say that the minister has been faithful to principles to boost the economy and weather a variety of barriers on the growth of the country’s gross domestic product. They also s

April 20, 2022

Seoul shares end nearly flat amid global uncertainties

South Korean shares closed nearly flat Wednesday as investors took a wait-and-see approach over the global economic slowdown and the US central bank's monetary tightening. The Korean won went up against the US dollar. After a choppy session, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) inched down 0.2 point, or 0.01 percent, to 2,718.69 points. Around 1.7 billion shares worth some 12.1 trillion won ($9.8 billion) changed hands, with gainers outnumbering losers 513 to 317. Foreigners s

April 20, 2022

[Herald Interview] Data gathering still human job in digital era: real estate platform CEO

The pressure to accelerate the digitalization of industries as a result of the coronavirus has spread to the real estate sector. Using big data, the industry is automating the buying, selling and leasing of homes and office spaces instead of traditional real estate transactions through agencies. But some important information-gathering still has to be done by humans, according to the CEO of a local commercial real estate platform. “It is difficult for tenants to access necessary informat

April 20, 2022

SK ecoplant to produce steel bar alternative made of plastic bottles

SK ecoplant said Wednesday that it will begin producing glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP) bars as an alternative to steel bars. SK ecoplant will be the first to make GFRP bars made from elements extracted from used plastic bottles, which the company named “KEco-Bar.” Manufacturing GFRP bars does not involve using scrap iron limestone, thus reducing carbon emissions by more than 50 percent compared to manufacturing steel bars. GFRP bars do not get rusty when in contact with wat

April 20, 2022

Korea develops world’s 1st fiber-based white OLEDs

South Korean researchers have developed the world’s first fiber-based white organic light-emitting diodes, or WOLEDs, paving the way for more functional wearable tech, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology said Wednesday. The research team came up with a single, dip-coated white emission layer suitable for a fiber structure to design the fiber-based WOLEDs. In doing so, the researchers figured out how to implement WOLEDs on a string of fiber through simulation and optimizatio

April 20, 2022

Samsung’s M&A dealmaker joins revamped think tank

A key mergers and acquisitions dealmaker at Samsung Electronics has recently been relocated to join an in-house think tank, fueling speculation about the tech giant’s long-awaited “mega deals” in chips or other growth driver sectors. According to industry sources on Wednesday, Ahn Joong-hyun, an executive vice president at Samsung’s business support task force, was promoted to president last week to lead a future business division at Samsung Global Research. Ahn, 58,

April 20, 2022

KT develops AI-powered tech to restore Lou Gehrig patients’ voices

KT Corp. said Wednesday it has restored the voices of patients who are losing their voices due to Lou Gehrig’s disease using its personalized text-to-speech (P-TTS) technology. Based on a small sample of a patient’s voice recordings, the technology replicates his or her vocal tone and manner of speech using artificial intelligence based on deep learning, the telecom company said. When a patient types a message on KT’s Maeum Talk app, the app reads the message in his or her v

April 20, 2022

Authorities mull placing Upbit operator under stricter regulations, scrutiny

South Korean authorities are considering to classify Dunamu -- the operator of the nation’s largest cryptocurrency exchange Upbit -- as a “large business,” which would put the firm under further government scrutiny, sources said Wednesday. The Fair Trade Commission annually reviews businesses with a total asset over 5 trillion won ($4.03 billion) on whether they should be subject to stricter regulations. Those who are deemed as large businesses – firms with assets of mor

April 20, 2022

Samsung Galaxy Quantum 3 to launch in April

Samsung Galaxy Quantum 3, the latest midrange 5G smartphone powered by a chipset with quantum cryptography technology, is poised to start shipping on April 26 in South Korea, domestic mobile carrier SK Telecom said Wednesday. The chipset with quantum random number generators will allow access for smartphone users to security features for digital activities via mobile apps -- ranging from mobile banking to payments, social networks and games -- as well as for external data storage. “The

April 20, 2022

LG-Magna JV to build $100m EV parts factory for GM in Mexico

LG Magna e-Powertrain, a joint venture between LG Electronics and Magna International, will build a $100 million plant that manufactures General Motors electric vehicle components, scheduled for completion in 2023, the company announced Wednesday. The 25,000 square-meter factory will produce inverters, motors and on-board chargers to support North America-focused EV production of GM, as GM was tapped to become a foundational customer for the new facility. The plant will be located in Ramos A

April 20, 2022