South Korea’s health care sector is breaking physical barriers with the rise of the metaverse and its core technologies -- virtual reality and artificial intelligence. As the COVID-19 pandemic has limited most offline interactions for the past two years, metaverse technologies that ultimately envision a shared virtual space where people can interact with each other and carry out lifelike activities and tasks have been brought to the fore. Unlike the traditional health care sector that

Technology June 11, 2022

Lotte Biologics has picked Lee Won-jik, a former Samsung Biologics executive, to lead its bio business as the company’s CEO. Born in 1977, Lee has over two decades of experience in global biologics and the pharmaceuticals industry, including working at the US Department of Health and Human Services and Bristol Myers Squibb. Before he joined Lotte in August, Lee was the head of Samsung Biologics’ drug product business unit. Lotte Biologics and its new CEO will officially debut at

Industry June 10, 2022

Kakao Pay shares tumbled Wednesday morning after it was reported that its second-largest shareholder Alipay was looking to sell 5 million shares -- about 10 percent of the total stake it holds in Kakao Pay -- in a block deal. The stock price of Kakao Pay fell 15.57 percent to close at 89,500 won. Despite the sell-off, the payment arm of IT giant Kakao said Alipay will continue to be a strategic investor and remain the second-largest shareholder, with 34.72 percent of Kakao Pay shares, and the

Market June 8, 2022

Samsung Biologics has signed an intent letter for a contract manufacturing organization deal worth $81 million with multinational pharmaceutical firm Norvatis Pharma, the South Korean company announced Tuesday. According to the contract manufacturing giant’s regulatory filing, the two sides on Friday signed the initial contract, which is equivalent to 6.41 percent of the company’s annual sales of 1.57 trillion won ($1.25 billion) last year. It did not reveal which of Novartis&rsquo

Industry June 7, 2022

DAEJEON -- South Korea is gearing up to become the seventh nation in the world to carry out a lunar probe mission with its first lunar orbiter set for an Aug. 2 launch. The country's first lunar mission, which has been named "Danuri" through a nationwide naming contest, has completed the final stages of space tests including durability checkups against extreme temperatures and electromagnetic waves at the Korea Aerospace Research Institute. It is waiting to be transported to its laun

Technology June 6, 2022

Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong on Tuesday showed up to participate in the Samsung Ho-Am Prize award ceremony for the first time in six years, but stayed mum on questions about his meeting with Intel’s CEO from the previous day. A group of reporters asked him about investment plans on his way to the ceremony, but Samsung group‘s de facto leader did not answer any questions. Named after the penname of Samsung group’s late founder Lee Byung-chull, the Samsung Ho-

Social Affairs May 31, 2022

All Kakao employees will be required to work remotely for at least four days a week from July as part of a new "metaverse work" system, the IT giant said Monday. During the testing period of the new working system, which will begin from July 1, employees are to work from outside the office for four days a week. For the remaining day, employees will have to meet offline but the meeting does not have to take place at the company office, a Kakao official said. All work-related items wil

Technology May 30, 2022

South Korea will double the number of professional semiconductor talents by implementing chip-company-licensed departments and strengthening graduate programs at major science institutes across the country, the Ministry of Science and ICT said Monday. Science Minister Lee Jong-ho met with industry leaders including chiefs of Samsung Electronics and SK hynix as well as presidents of four major science institutes -- KAIST, GIST, DGIST and UNIST -- to discuss ways to cooperate for nurturing semic

Industry May 30, 2022

Kakao founder Kim Beom-su has stepped down as chairman at the Brian Impact foundation he established last year for philanthropic projects, the nonprofit said Friday. With the announcement, Kim has resigned from all chairman posts including his resignation as Kakao chairman of the board in March. Kim will keep his position as the head of the Kakao Future Initiative Center. The founder and former CEO of the South Korean IT giant will remain as a registered director on the board and continue to t

Technology May 27, 2022

Hancom Group, South Korea's leading office software developer, has launched the country's first private Earth observation satellite into orbit, the company said Thursday. According to the firm, the satellite named Sejong-1 was carried on a Falcon 9 rocket developed by US firm SpaceX. The rocket blasted off from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida at 2:35 p.m. on Wednesday. A Hancom official confirmed that the satellite entered its targeted orbit and successfully made communic

Technology May 26, 2022

The second launch of South Korea’s homegrown Nuri rocket will take place on June 15, about eight months after its first blastoff failed to complete its mission in October last year, the Ministry of Science and ICT said Wednesday. The launch control committee, composed of officials at the Science Ministry and the Korea Aerospace Research Institute, left a window of backup launch dates open from June 16 to 23 in case of bad weather or other issues that could hinder the planned blastoff.

Technology May 25, 2022

With Google poised to begin removing applications that disobey its mandatory in-app payment policy from June 2, South Korean content providers are raising consumer charges as the global IT giant's billing rules require hefty fee rates. Google's in-app payment system means that consumers must use the internal payment system developed by the app market operator, also Google, when purchasing paid content from apps in Google's Play Store. For app developers using Google's in-app billing system,

Technology May 24, 2022

South Korea's first lunar probe mission, formally known as the Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter, has been named "Danuri," the Ministry of Science and ICT said Monday. Danuri is a combination of the two Korean words "dal" and "nuri," meaning moon and enjoy, respectively. According to the ministry, the name expresses a desire for the country's first moon mission to be successful, and for the probe to enjoy everything that the moon has to offer. Between Jan. 26 and F

Technology May 23, 2022

The number of metaverse users across major virtual world platforms in South Korea has dropped sharply since social distancing measures were lifted, a report showed Sunday. According to big data analysis firm Mobile Index, the number of Roblox’ weekly active users recorded 773,678 during the period between May 9 and 15, a nearly 18 percent drop from the previous weekly figure. It was the lowest number recorded since the last week of June 2021. During the same period, the amount of time s

Social Affairs May 22, 2022

Hana Financial Group is expanding its project to help youth startups nationwide, as it has signed the first regional partnership with the Korea National University of Cultural Heritage, the group said Sunday. According to the group, the two sides signed a memorandum of understanding at the KNUCH in Buyeo, South Chungcheong Province on Friday. They agreed to provide support for startup ideas related to traditional culture, co-create educational content and offer hands-on experiences for local c

Social Affairs May 22, 2022