South Korea's top mobile messenger operator Kakao Corp. said Monday its mobile payment platform Kakao Pay currently has more than 10 million users, roughly 19 months after its launch in the country.Introduced in September 2014 and similar to the world-famous PayPal, users pre-register their credit and debit cards, and make transactions simply by typing in their passwords. Kakao, which has been rolling out various services on the back of 38 million local users of the KakaoTalk mobile messenger, s

Technology June 20, 2016

A French national who tried to abandon his 2-year-old toddler son was arrested on Monday on charges of violation of the children’s welfare law, according to the Incheon Seobu Police. The 39-year-old is being accused of leaving the boy at a bench in a park in Seo-gu, Incheon-si on June 2 at 4:30 p.m.  (Yonhap)According to the police, the man had met the Korean mother of his son in France through an online chatting platform. They had maintained a three year de facto marriage during which time the

Social Affairs June 20, 2016

South Korea's digital signage industry could create 70,000 jobs and generate 10.1 trillion won ($8.6 billion) in production by 2020, a local think tank said Monday.The Korea Economic Research Institute made the prediction in a report on the smart advertising industry.Digital signage refers to display devices that show advertisements and information in public or commercial areas through networks. Last year, South Korea accounted for 19 percent of the global digital signage market.The South Korean

Industry June 20, 2016

A team of South Korean researchers has developed a new type of graphene for lithium-ion batteries that can be recharged at a faster rate than conventional ones with no risk of reduced capacity, they said Monday.Conventional graphene is a two-dimensional atom-thin sheet of carbon that is commonly produced by resolving graphite in a chemical solution and then later separating the ultra-thin sheet of carbon from the solution, according to the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology.Such

Technology June 20, 2016

South Korean home appliance maker LG Electronics Co. introduced a set of brand new devices Monday that are able to transform conventional household appliances into smart and connected devices which can interact with the latest mobile communication devices.They are SmartThinQ sensors and SmartThinQ Hub.The smart sensor is attached to old, plain home appliances with no connectivity, such as conventional washers, dryers and refrigerators, to enable a connection between the electronic appliances and

Technology June 20, 2016

A 42-year-old pimp was rescued from forced labor on a fishing boat, the Gyeongnam Provincial Police said Monday. The victim, originally a restaurant owner, introduced a woman to a prostitution bar run by a trio of gangsters in Changwon-si, South Gyeongsang Province in March 2015. (123RF)Within a week, the woman ran away with 5 million won ($4,300) in advance payment.The victim was forced by the gang to sign a contract to work on a fishing boat in the southern coast of Korea for 10 million won, o

Social Affairs June 20, 2016

North Korean trading companies are making all-out efforts to get trade permits so they can earn as much foreign currency as possible, a media outlet reported Monday, citing sources in the reclusive country.According to the Washington-based Radio Free Asia, the North's state-run trading firms, as well as state agencies, are competing to broaden their business boundaries as a way to export minerals and herbal plants. 123rfEarlier this year, the United Nations slapped its toughest-ever sanctions ag

North Korea June 20, 2016

Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn said Monday the government will beef up its security measures to tackle any potential terrorist threats, especially amid concerns that the Islamic State may be targeting South Korean citizens and U.S. military bases on its soil.The National Intelligence Service said IS has been calling for terrorist attacks through telegrams and messaging services by revealing the locations of 77 Air Force installations belonging to the United States and North Atlantic Treaty Organiz

Defense June 20, 2016

South Korea on Monday condemned North Korea for threatening to carry out nuclear attacks against U.S. military assets in the South, saying that the latest provocation clearly proves that Pyongyang's recent dialogue offer was just a bogus peace initiative.North Korea's National Defense Commission said that its military has long put U.S. bases in South Korea in the range of its precision strike, warning Washington that it has the capacity to carry out nuclear strikes.Seoul's unification ministry s

North Korea June 20, 2016

South Korea's ruling Saenuri Party said Monday it will make efforts to bring fair competition to the country's business realm, adding it will also root out irregularities among conglomerates."A country that is not run fairly cannot stand up straight,"said Chung Jin-suk, the floor leader of Saenuri, adding the country must make efforts to withhold unnecessary privileges from the high-income bracket.The lawmaker claimed South Korea's economy is effectively run by the upper 10 percent. He said this

June 20, 2016

Two drunk Vietnamese crewmen aboard a deep-sea fishing vessel operating in the Indian Ocean killed a South Korean captain and a chief engineer on Monday, the Coast Guard said.The two suspects, whose identities were withheld, allegedly attacked the 43-year-old captain of the Kwang Hyun 803, surnamed Yang, and the 42-year-old engineer, surnamed Kang, at around 2 a.m. in waters near the Seychelles archipelago between the east coast of Africa and southern India, it said. The vessel in question (Yonh

Social Affairs June 20, 2016