SK Telecom to triple investment in AI

The CEO of SK Telecom, South Korea's largest wireless carrier by subscription, unveiled on Tuesday the company's roadmap to leap forward as a global artificial intelligence firm within the next five years by expanding its business and technology based on its AI assistant service, A. At a press conference held in Seoul earlier in the day, the telecom giant's chief Ryu Young-sang introduced the firm's new "AI pyramid strategy," which focuses on three major areas: AI i

Sept. 26, 2023

Kakao completes its first own data center

South Korean IT giant Kakao, having suffered from its worst-ever server shutdown last year, has completed its first in-house data center in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province, the company said Tuesday. The new facility, called Kakao Data Center Ansan, spans 47,378 square meters within Hanyang University’s ERICA campus in the industrial city, some 29 kilometers south of Seoul. It is expected to become fully operational by the first quarter next year. "Our gratitude extends to both Ansan City and

Sept. 26, 2023

SKT, OpenAI hold AI competition for social good

SK Telecom said on Monday that it successfully wrapped up its international AI competition, “Prompter Day Seoul 2023,” held in partnership with OpenAI. The event’s theme centered around building AI innovations beneficial to humanity. The two-day event first had 226 teams proposing concepts leveraging OpenAI's generative AI model. After online qualifiers, 20 of these teams showcased their AI innovations at Dreamplus Gangnam, a shared office space in Seoul on Saturday and Su

Sept. 25, 2023

SKC to build bioplastics plant in Vietnam

South Korea's advanced materials maker SKC said Monday that it had decided on a location in Vietnam’s northeastern city of Hai Phong to establish a manufacturing plant for biodegradable plastics, as it pushes to expand its eco-friendly business. Amid mounting global calls to reduce plastic waste, the international market size for bioplastics is expected to grow at an annual rate of over 20 percent. SKC and its joint venture Ecovance officials and top executives visited Vietnam on Fr

Sept. 25, 2023

Hyundai Engineering wins US gas-to-liquid facility project

Hyundai Engineering on Thursday secured an order from US energy firm GTL Americas to build a plant in the US that will turn natural gas into high-grade diesel, naphtha and jet fuel. Under the project, the gas-to-liquid or GTL facility will be established near the city of Pine Bluff, Jefferson County, Arkansas, to generate some 41,000 barrels of fuel per day, including synthetic diesel or high cetane synthetic fuel, and paraffinic synthetic naphtha. The GTL procedure is a high-tech process that g

Sept. 24, 2023

Apple to launch iPhone15 series in S. Korea on Oct. 13

Apple’s latest flagship smartphone series will likely launch in South Korea next month, according to industry sources Friday. Apple is preparing to sell its new smartphones -- the iPhone15, iPhone15 Plus, iPhone15 Pro and iPhone15 Pro Max -- on Oct. 13 in Korea, taking preorders a week ahead of the official release here, sources said. If the tech giant rolls out its latest smartphone lineup on that date in Korea, it will be about a month after the company first unveiled the iPhone 15 serie

Sept. 22, 2023

Broadcom slapped with W19.1b fine for abusing market power in Korea

South Korea’s antitrust regulator said Thursday it is imposing a fine of 19.1 billion won ($14.2 million) on US chipmaker Broadcom, along with a corrective order, for its unfair business activities against Samsung Electronics. The move came after the US chipmaker forced Samsung to sign a long-term contract to use its telecommunications components in 2020 by abusing its market dominance and using unlawful tactics, including cutting off its supply and technical support, the Fair Trade Commis

Sept. 21, 2023

SK Pharmteco takes over US contract drugmaker CBM

SK Pharmteco, a global contract development and manufacturing organization under Korean conglomerate SK Group, said Wednesday that it has acquired the Center for Breakthrough Medicines, a US cell and gene therapy firm. The Korean firm exercised its right to acquire a controlling stake in CBM to obtain the management right of the Philadelphia-based cell and gene therapy CDMO, offering pre-clinical to commercial phase therapies. The right was given when SK Pharmteco made its capital investment i

Sept. 20, 2023

Posco E&C targets tenfold valuation growth by 2035

Construction and engineering firm Posco Eco & Challenge unveiled on Tuesday a new vision to multiply its corporate valuation tenfold by 2035, zeroing in on its renewed commitment to spearheading growth in the eco-friendly space. Under the vision, it is aiming to reach 25 trillion won ($18.9 billion) in sales and 2 trillion won in operating profit by 2035, which would help boost its corporate value, the firm said. “Using Posco E&C's sturdy foundation as the bedrock, we are layi

Sept. 19, 2023

Art Token joins hands with Anicube for K-art's global expansion

Non-fungible token platform company Art Token said Monday that it recently joined hands with Anicube Entertainment, a music metaverse platform company, in a move to drive the global expansion of Korean digital art content. The latest partnership was inked at Art Token's headquarters in Gangnam, southern Seoul earlier last week, with top executives including Art Token CEO Hong Ji-sook and Anicube Content Market Business Head Lee Cheol-jae in attendance. Under the agreement, Art Token aims

Sept. 18, 2023

[Photo News] New Mercedes-Benz Korea CEO

Mercedes-Benz Korea CEO Mathias Vaitl, whose official term as CEO started earlier this month, speaks at the awards ceremony for the “Korea TechMasters” technical skills competition held at the Mercedes-Benz Korea Training Academy in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, Friday. The German carmaker’s two separate automotive training programs, Ausbildung and Automotive Mechatronic Traineeship, also kicked off this year’s sessions a day prior. (Mercedes-Benz Korea)

Sept. 18, 2023

KT proposes telecom work in Ukraine

South Korean telecommunications giant KT Corp. has suggested to the Ukraine government ways of improving the war-torn country's telecom infrastructure and operating with energy efficiency, upon its participation at a forum hosted by South Korea’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport in Ukraine's capital Kyiv on Thursday. KT was among the 18 state-run and private firms specializing in housing, public water supply, airports, environmental technology, construction, vehicle

Sept. 17, 2023

[Beyond Earth] Orbit hopes to bring science closer to public

The level of public interest in space here has reached its highest point in recent years when South Korea consecutively succeeded in launching homegrown Nuri rocket and Danuri, the Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter, last year. Orbit, undeniably the most well-known science communicator in South Korea at the moment, says the science frenzy here should continue by uncovering the more entertaining aspects of science from the vastness of the universe, as well as fun research. Science communicators are i

Sept. 17, 2023

[Photo News] SK chief inspects chip cluster

SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won (right) inspected the construction process at chip-making affiliate SK hynix's Yongin Semiconductor Cluster in Gyeonggi Province, upon his visit to the site with the latter's CEO, Park Jung-ho (left) on Friday. Calling it the "most thoroughly and strategically planned project" in SK hynix history, Chey asked for the utmost efforts in the cluster's success. With a 120 trillion won ($90.3 billion) investment, the world's second-largest m

Sept. 15, 2023

Samsung secures upper hand in patent fight against BOE

Samsung Display has gained an upper hand in its legal fight over patent infringement against its Chinese rival BOE Technology, as the US trade agency backed the Korean firm's claims. On Monday, the US International Trade Commission, an independent, quasi-judicial federal agency, upheld all interpretations of Samsung’s claims in its five patent infringement cases against the Chinese firm. The latest pretrial order comes after a hearing in June to examine eight technical terms with diff

Sept. 14, 2023

[Photo News] Apgujeong gets green light for face-lift

Apartment complexes are seen in Apgujeong-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, Thursday. A city construction commitee under the Seoul Metropolitan Government passed a revision to relax reconstruction regulations placed on aging apartment complexes in the wealthy neighborhood. With the passage of the plan, obsolete buildings can be rebuilt as high-rise complexes with 50-plus floors. (Yonhap)

Sept. 14, 2023

LG CNS joins forces with Korea University to foster AI talent

Information technology service provider LG CNS said Thursday it has inked a deal with Korea University to nurture future talent in the burgeoning field of artificial intelligence and data science. Under the new industrial-academic partnership, a department temporarily named “AI and Data Science” will be set up at Korea University’s graduate school, and students will receive a job offer at the company upon graduation. Starting next year, the department plans to admit over 20 gra

Sept. 14, 2023

[Contribution] Vintage audio is not a prop

By Winter Choi Visit the trendiest places and you’ll be bound to see them: turntables flanked by 33’s, album art on the wall, maybe even a ghettoblaster if you’re lucky. Retro audio formats have enjoyed a comeback in recent years. And with people spending more time at home during the pandemic – and spending more money on goods than experiences – sales are higher than ever. But are people buying physical formats for the music, or only to display them on a shelf? Classic audio

Sept. 13, 2023

[Photo News] Sold out

Samsung Electronics said Wednesday that more than 110,000 people applied to order the Galaxy Z Fold5 Thom Browne Edition during the seven-hour lottery event held via its website on Tuesday. The limited-edition bundle, priced at 4.29 million won ($3,230), includes a phone, a smartwatch and accessories featuring the American fashion house’s color scheme. (Samsung Electronics)

Sept. 13, 2023

Samsung SDS unveils generative AI model for corporate clients

South Korean IT solutions provider Samsung SDS unveiled new services that will allow its clients to easily adopt generative artificial intelligence in their businesses to improve work productivity, with the aim to usher in hyperautomation innovation. “There has been a view that generative AI will fall into a chasm due to the variability of human languages, but large language models (LLMs) have paved the way for a true hyperautomation of office work,” Samsung SDS president and CEO Hwa

Sept. 12, 2023