Local analysts say LG Electronics will see a turnaround in the first quarter because of strong sales of its upcoming flagship smartphone G6 to be unveiled in February at the Mobile World Congress. The Korean tech firm posted an operating loss of 35.2 billion won ($30.6 million) in the fourth quarter last year. The first loss in six years was mainly due to its money-losing mobile communications unit, which had a record-breaking operating loss of 467 billion won in the quarter and a cumulative ope

Industry Feb. 5, 2017

South Korea's duty-free outlets have sharply increased their sales but struggled to raise actual profits amid fierce competition, data indicated Saturday.The combined revenue of local duty-free stores hit a record high of 12.2 trillion won ($10.4 billion) last year, according to the Korea Customs Service. (Yonhap)It marks a 33.5-percent rise from a year earlier. Their sales jumped to 8.3 trillion won in 2014 from 6.8 trillion won in 2013.Having suffered a fall in 2015, hit by the impact of MERS,

Industry Feb. 4, 2017

 Four people were killed Saturday as a fire broke out at a shopping mall connected to a couple of residential skyscrapers in Dongtan new town in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, fire authorities said.The fire started at a kids park on the third floor of the four-story building at around 11 a.m., and it was brought under control after about 70 minutes.No children were inside the 264-square-meter kids zone at the time, as it was in the middle of being demolished. There were a lot of combustible materi

Social Affairs Feb. 4, 2017

North Korea has unilaterally sold rice cookers produced in the now-defunct inter-Korean industrial zone in Kaesong, a US media outlet reported Saturday.A source in China told Radio Free Asia that North Koreans took several hundred electronic rice cookers from Kaesong in mid-December and sold them to a businessman in China, who then put them up for sale in Chinese markets.A South Korean businessman was said to have purchased them and later sold them off to stores in Shenyang, the capital of the n

North Korea Feb. 4, 2017

South Koreans spent a new record high amount of money abroad last year on increased outbound travel despite an economic slump and sagging domestic consumption, data showed Saturday.Expenditures on ordinary foreign trips, excluding stays for study, jumped 7.4 percent on-year to US$23.1 billion in the year, according to the Bank of Korea and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.South Korea's gross domestic product is projected to have expanded 2.7 percent in 2016 from a year earlier, with d

Social Affairs Feb. 4, 2017

South Korea confirmed Saturday the outbreak of bird flu in Seoul, the first time in two years for the pandemic to spread to the capital.The dead body of a Great Crested Grebe (Podiceps cristatus) water bird was found at a Han River jetty in Seongdong Ward, central Seoul, on Monday, and it was sent to the National Institute of Environmental Research for study. The state-run institute concluded that the bird was infected with the avian influenza A (H5N6) virus.(Yonhap)According to the government m

Social Affairs Feb. 4, 2017

Samsung Electronics’ plan to launch Samsung Pay Mini in Korea is expected to intensify online payment competition with local internet and mobile giants Naver and Kakao. Samsung said Thursday it would “launch Samsung Pay Mini in March to enable Android users to pay online with the app.”It allows users to conveniently pay online with their credit card information saved via a smartphone running on Android 5.0 Lollipop and with a high definition display. Since the app does not support magnetic secur

Technology Feb. 2, 2017

Samsung Electronics sent out press invitations Wednesday to showcase its new tablet Galaxy Tab S3 at the upcoming Mobile World Congress. According to the invitation, Samsung said it would unveil its new product at the Samsung Press Conference to take place in Barcelona on Feb. 26, a day before the MWC’s opening ceremony. Although Samsung did not elaborate on details of its new product, the photo attached showed the bezel in the bottom of the tablet and the contour of the home button, indicating

Technology Feb. 1, 2017

Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics lost the top spot to Apple in smartphone sales in the fourth quarter on 2016 for the first time in five years, according to US research firm Strategy Analytics. SA’s latest report showed that Samsung grabbed a 17.7 percent market share in the global smartphone market in the fourth quarter. It sold 77.5 million smartphones, a 5 percent drop on-year and its lowest quarterly sales figure in six years. Samsung’s archrival Apple captured 17.8 percent market share

Industry Feb. 1, 2017

LG Chem aims to become the world’s fourth largest producer of carbon nanotube in 2018 with the production capacity of 400 tons, the company said on Tuesday. The Korean battery firm said it has invested 25 billion won ($21 million) in its carbon nanotube plant located in Yeosu city to initially produce around 100 tons this year and then 400 tons every year from 2018. Carbon nanotube, a tube-shaped material made of carbon, is used for secondary batteries, airplane bodies, car parts and semiconduct

Technology Jan. 31, 2017

Samsung Electronics, whose traditional cash cow used to come from smartphones, said it would focus on its components businesses -- chip and display, projecting slow smartphone sales this year in a regulatory filing Tuesday.The world’s largest memory chip and smartphone maker said it posted 53.3 trillion won ($45.7 billion) in sales and 9.2 trillion won in operating profit in the fourth quarter, a 50 percent jump year-on-year.“The fourth quarter earnings were driven by the components businesses -

Industry Jan. 24, 2017

Samsung Electronics has blamed battery malfunctions for the Galaxy Note 7 catching fire, ending widespread speculations that the explosions were caused by the device’s hardware or software.Since sales of the fire-prone Note 7 were discontinued in October, there have been several media reports attributing the device’s hardware design to the explosions -- alongside battery faults -- as Samsung excessively squeezed too many parts, such as a bigger battery, waterproof and dustproof features and iris

Technology Jan. 23, 2017