KT CEO Koo Hyun-mo stressed that the fifth-generation network would allow telecommunication firms to create new business opportunities across various industries, the company said Thursday. “If the telecommunications firms used to center on business-to-consumer services in the past, the industry will be involved more in the business-to-business sector in the future,” KT CEO Koo Hyun-mo said in a keynote speech during the Global TD-LTE Initiative’s online summit on Wednesday.

Technology July 2, 2020

South Korea’s exports in June decreased by 10.9 percent at $39.2 billion, as against $44 billion in the same month last year, latest data released Wednesday showed. According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, exports have been on a downward trend for four consecutive months, struggling amid the global economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic. The average daily exports decreased by 18.5 percent on-year -- the figure was minus 18.3 percent in May. However, the pace of

Industry July 1, 2020

KT announced Tuesday that it has introduced automated robotic solutions at a local auto parts manufacturer’s factory. The South Korean telecom firm’s smart factory robot Cobot has been installed at a facility of Parkwon -- a manufacturer of steel balls for steering and power transmission systems -- in Jecheon, North Chungcheong Province. The system can help in handling loading, packaging and other repetitive work procedures that are physically taxing, often causing injuries, acc

Technology June 30, 2020

South Korea‘s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy on Monday launched an innovation center aimed to support local fabless companies and system semiconductor developers. The newly opened semiconductor center, located in Pangyo, Gyeonggi Province, will function as a base that nurtures capabilities of chip design companies, known as fabless, the ministry said. It was a follow-up measure of the government-led plan to foster the logic chip industry where Korean chipmakers have not bee

Technology June 29, 2020

Technology June 29, 2020

Rescale, San Francisco-based company specializing in high performance computing applications for cloud systems, said Monday that the company will beef up efforts to expand operations in Korea, including increasing cooperation with the country‘s largest tech giant Samsung Electronics. Rescale entered the Korean market last year. The company currently has several Korean customers that use different types of cloud computing solutions, including LS Electric, Hyundai Electric and Energy and

Technology June 29, 2020

The Ministry of Science and ICT announced Friday that the ministry’s research and development budget for 2021 is set at 21.6 trillion won ($18 billion), up 9.7 percent from 19.7 trillion won in 2020. The ICT Ministry said the additional funds would be spent on high-priority areas such as disease research and cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence, fifth-generation wireless networks, self-driving vehicles and next-generation semiconductors. The budget for infectious

Technology June 26, 2020

An increasing number of IT companies in South Korea are developing artificial intelligence-based software to counter abusive online comments. The AI-based profanity filters help them to improve user experience by hiding unpalatable comments on their platforms, according to industry sources. One of them is the nation’s top game company Nexon, which in 2017 created an in-house AI research and development team called Intelligence Labs. The team of around 200 engineers has developed its ow

Technology June 24, 2020

South Korea‘s Trade Minister Yoo Myung-hee on Wednesday officially announced her bid to become the next general director of the World Trade Organization (WTO). Yoo, 53, is the third South Korean to run for the top post of the Geneva-based trade body, currently facing challenges over confusions in global trade rules and shaky cooperation among the member countries. If elected, Yoo would be the first Korean to lead the organization. “South Korea can become a bridge, connecting deve

Industry June 24, 2020

The future of Cyworld, a social media platform that was very popular years ago, depends on a final court ruling on CEO Jeon Jae-wan, according to industry sources Tuesday. Jeon has been indicted on charges of failing to pay a total of 1 billion won ($830 million) to his former employees after the company suffered financial difficulties. The trial is scheduled on July 25 at Seoul Eastern District Court. If the court next month rules that Jeon is largely responsible for the payment delays, it

Technology June 23, 2020

Kakao, the operator of South Korea’s top mobile messenger, is expected to roll out a new artificial intelligence-based speaker brand in the second half of this year, according to industry sources Monday. The company’s AI subsidiary Kakao Enterprise has trademarked a new product called Mini Hexa. However, further details have not yet been revealed. It is reportedly reviewing details, including when it would officially showcase the voice-enabled speaker. The new model is likely t

Industry June 22, 2020

South Korean telecommunications firm KT’s CEO Koo Hyun-mo on Friday held a video conference with Global System for Mobile Association Director General Mats Granryd to share ideas on future of ICT industry in post-coronavirus era, the company said Sunday. During their first official one-on-one meeting between the two, Koo stressed the increasing importance of telecommunications firms in the ICT sectors. Koo said 5G network and artificial intelligence technology will be the key factors tha

Technology June 21, 2020

Sitting on the northeastern side of Changgyeonggung is a Joseon-era complex where people carried out ancestral rites and nurtured the country’s leaders. “It may be difficult to believe, but there were students who actually lived and studied here around 600 years ago,” said Son Chin-woo, the 33rd director of Sungkyunkwan -- the highest educational institution of the Joseon era. Sungkyunkwan and Confucian shrine Munmyo were built in 1398 and renovated in 1869 to repair war-t

Travel June 20, 2020

The South Korean government is carrying out a nationwide quality inspection of its 5G networks amid growing dissatisfaction among people using the service, which came out last year. According to an ICT Ministry announcement Tuesday, the government has started assessing 5G networks and service in the nation’s major cities -- Seoul, Busan, Incheon, Daegu, Daejeon, Gwangju and Ulsan. The government has sampled around 100 locations in those cities, checking call quality and 5G network recept

Technology June 16, 2020

The day will soon come when artificial intelligence provides a full-length explanation for all math problems and even inspire the students to do better, at least according Lee Yong-jae and Lee Jong-heun, the founding CEOs of South Korea’s up-and-coming educational technology startup Mathpresso. Mathpresso is a startup that operates AI-powered edtech platform Qanda, through which the company raised a total of around 70 billion won of investment since its establishment five years ago. Mat

Technology June 14, 2020