South Korea’s third-biggest telecom firm LG Uplus said Thursday the company has approved a plan to acquire the country’s biggest cable TV operator CJ Hellovision amid growing competition in the local pay TV market.LG Uplus’ board gave the greenlight for the company to purchase a stake of 50 percent plus one share in CJ Hellovision from its holding company CJ E&M. The deal is estimated to cost about 800 billion won ($711 million), according to LG Uplus and CJ E&M.“The acquisition will be the firs

Industry Feb. 14, 2019

　Clocking in for work at Centropolis, a high-rise business building in downtown Seoul, office workers literally have to do nothing other than, well, start working.　 　They have no entrance pass for security or card to swipe through a reader. All they need is their smartphones connected to the fifth-generation network. They enter through a door with face recognition and immediately start working at reserved desks after connecting their phones on a docking pad to a cloud computing system. No deskto

Industry Feb. 13, 2019

　The standoff between Naver and its unionized workers continues to escalate over the company’s working conditions and labor regulations, as the tech giant’s labor union has threatened to go on strike after its negotiations with the management fell apart despite some 15 attempts.　Naver’s labor union has warned that it could take collective action if the management does not engage in “meaningful” dialogue. The union, launched in April last year, has said that it plans to take the first collective

Industry Feb. 12, 2019

South Korea’s third-largest conglomerate SK Group is seeking to launch a new mobile payment service by integrating various platforms scattered across its subsidiaries into one, amid growing competition over the country’s e-commerce market. According to industry sources here Monday, SK Group has been planning to combine the conglomerate’s two mobile payment systems -- called “11Pay” and “T pay” -- to create a more advanced payment platform for consumers. SK Group’s telecommunications unit, SK Tel

Industry Feb. 11, 2019

　With South Korean telecom firm LG Uplus moving to acquire the country’s biggest cable TV operator CJ Hellovision, attention is on whether the deal will pass regulatory muster, as local service providers struggle to compete against global streaming giants’ increasing presence in the local pay TV market.　According to industry and banking sources here, LG Uplus will convene a board meeting this week to approve the purchase of some 54 percent stake in CJ Hellovision from its holding company CJ E&M.

Industry Feb. 10, 2019

　Mobile subscribers in South Korea have lost nearly 200 billion won ($178 million) worth of mileage points accumulated over six years, a lawmaker said Thursday, as many consumers remain uninformed on how to redeem benefits.　Citing a report from the Ministry of Science and ICT, Rep. Noh Woong-rae of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea noted that mileage points worth 190.5 billion won had gone down the drain since 2013 because subscribers failed to use the benefits in time. 　Provided as a perk to

Industry Feb. 7, 2019

　Korea’s major telecom and internet provider KT is seeking to expand its overseas network to improve internet connection for subscribers of Netflix, as an increasing number of domestic subscribers are suffering from poor video quality amid the surge in users.  　According to industry sources, KT is planning to ratchet up its network capacity by the month-end. The firm declined to comment on exactly when the project will be completed and increase in capacity. KT　There are mounting complaints by Ne

Industry Feb. 7, 2019

Without Netflix’s innovative technologies, period drama “Kingdom” might have been tough for foreign viewers to understand, as the series set in 17th century Korea features a wide range of historical and cultural elements as well as forms of language used by different social classes. But visual and voice technologies developed by Netflix have made the drama accessible to global audiences, according to the company. “We are a double helix -- both a technology company and an entertainment company,”

Technology Feb. 6, 2019

Starting from Friday, South Korea braced itself for one of the biggest annual movements of people nationwide as many head to their hometowns for Lunar New Year celebrations next week. According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, some 49 million people are expected to hit the road during the holiday that lasts until Wednesday. Traveling from Busan to Seoul by car, for example, would take more than eight hours when people head home on Tuesday afternoon.  Traffic is congested in

Industry Feb. 2, 2019

South Korea’s top chat app operator Kakao has confirmed that it is reviewing a bid for gaming company, Nexon, but a rumored rival bid from Chinese gaming giant Tencent could prove stiff competition. 　Kakao said the company was reviewing the possibility of taking part in the bid for NXC Corp., the holding company that controls Nexon. NXC Corp. founder Kim Jung-jo is widely reported to have decided to sell his 98.64 percent stake. 　“There has been much internal discussion on the matter,” Kakao spo

Industry Jan. 30, 2019

　Global software giant Oracle reaffirmed Tuesday its plan to establish a massive data center in South Korea by the end of this year, as the data management provider seeks to expand its presence in the country’s cloud services market. 　During a meeting with reporters in Seoul, Oracle Korea CEO Kim Hyung-rae said the data center would be established as planned within this year. Oracle had announced its plans last year as other global tech companies made forays into Korea’s cloud services market. 　

Industry Jan. 29, 2019

South Korean tech firm Rainus has pledged to expand into the European and Japanese markets by capitalizing on the company’s advanced automated system to help retailers better manage consumer items. Rainus CEO Kim Hyun-hak said the company will attract overseas consumers with its electronic information label technology. Combined with wireless communications and display technology, the electronic information labels show product information efficiently and accurately. As the electronic labels allow

Industry Jan. 28, 2019

Following a yearslong dispute with South Korea’s internet service providers over network maintenance fees, Facebook has reportedly agreed to pay SK Broadband for using its server to secure faster internet connection to the social networking service. 　According to the government and business sources here, Facebook and SK Broadband have reached an agreement that requires the global tech giant to offer a hefty sum of money for using the local telecom company’s cache server. 　While details of the de

Industry Jan. 27, 2019

　With South Koreas’ mobile carriers gearing up to nationwide their fifth-generation networks for regular consumers as early as March, they face a dilemma over whether to charge more for the faster new service.　The country’s three telecom giants -- SK Telecom, KT and LG Uplus -- began operating 5G networks for a select group of businesses last month. But the big three have remained mute about how much they would charge when the first 5G smart phones roll out in the first quarter of this year. 　Wh

Industry Jan. 27, 2019

　Netflix said Thursday it has not considered raising its prices in South Korea, amid concerns over whether the streaming service giant would extend its biggest-ever price hike in the US to the Korean market. 　“Do we have any plans for price increase? Simple answer is no,” said Jessica Lee, vice president of Netflix Asia Pacific Communications, during a press conference in Seoul, where the streaming service had celebrated the launch of its first Korean-produced online series, “Kingdom.”  　Last we

Industry Jan. 24, 2019