Nearly a quarter of the South Korean public are dangerously reliant on smartphones, with almost 40 percent of the country’s youth diagnosed with smartphone overdependence, the Ministry of ICT and Science said Thursday. According to the ministry’s survey on the country’s digital divide and overdependence on smartphones, 24.2 percent of 10,000 households nationwide fell under the category of smartphone overdependence, up 0.9 percentage points on year. The ministry divided the

Social Affairs March 24, 2022

The South Korean government has approved the emergency use of anti-COVID-19 pill Lagevrio, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety said Wednesday. The medicine, co-developed by US pharmaceutical company MSD and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics, is the second anti-coronavirus pill to be authorized by the country’s health officials, following the approval of Pfizer’s antiviral drug Paxlovid in December. Amid the surging number of COVID-19 cases, the ministry said the approval decision was ma

Social Affairs March 23, 2022

South Korean gaming giant Nexon will launch Dungeon & Fighter Mobile -- the latest title of the developer’s megahit intellectual property -- on Thursday, the company said Wednesday. Similar to the PC version, the mobile title is a fast-paced 2D anime-styled side scrolling action game combined with elements of role-playing games and based on a continuously developing storyline. Dungeon & Fighter is one of Nexon’s most popular franchises as the PC version has 850 million re

Industry March 23, 2022

Naver will become an incubator that creates innovative technology penetrating the global market and seek to go beyond providing services that are popular today, the company’s new CEO said Monday. “Not only all businesses owned by Naver began with the thought of going global from the start, but all of the objectives also point to going global,” Naver CEO Choi Soo-yeon said at a meeting with shareholders and board of directors where she was appointed as the new chief. The IT g

Industry March 14, 2022

Saudi Arabia is pouring money into South Korean game makers NCSoft and Nexon, doubling down on its bet in the gaming industry. Public Investment Fund, the Middle Eastern country’s sovereign wealth fund, acquired an additional 563,566 shares of NCSoft for about 290 billion won ($240 million) through six transactions between Feb. 8 to 16., according to a regulatory filing submitted to the Financial Supervisory Service on Thursday. With the latest investment, PIF has become NCSoft’s s

Market March 11, 2022

Orion and Lotte Confectionery -- the makers of Choco Pie, a popular snack in Russia -- are closely monitoring the economic sanctions imposed by the international community against Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine, as they could cause instability in the supply of raw materials, a drop in the ruble’s value and a local economic recession. Orion, known for its popular signature snack Choco Pie, has expanded the production capacity of its local plants in Russia. Since 2019, the company has

Industry March 9, 2022

As one of South Korea’s online game pioneers, Kim Chang-han -- a computer engineer-turned-entrepreneur -- had early success in his life with his creation, PUBG: Battlegrounds. Since its debut in 2017, the popular battle royale game has sold over 75 million copies in 200 countries and also turned the small game company Krafton into a global studio generating 1.89 trillion won ($1.55 billion) of revenue a year. Kim, also known as the father of PUBG for his key role in developing the game, i

Technology March 6, 2022

Kim Jung-ju, the founder of South Korea’s biggest game maker Nexon and an engineer-turned-entrepreneur who led the country’s burgeoning game industry which also made him the richest man here, passed away on Monday. He was 54. According to Nexon’s holding company NXC, Kim died on Feb. 28 in Hawaii, the United States. He had been undergoing treatments for depression and it appeared that the symptoms had become worse as of late, the company said. Born in February 1968 in Seoul,

Industry March 2, 2022

Kim Jung-ju, founder of South Korea’s biggest game maker Nexon, passed away on Monday. He was 54. Nexon’s holding company NXC said Tuesday evening that Kim died in Hawaii, US, on Feb. 28. He had been undergoing treatments for depression and it appeared that the symptoms had become worse as of late, it said. The cause of death was not given. Nexon CEO Owen Mahoney paid condolences to Kim. “It is difficult to express the tragedy of losing our friend and mentor Jay Kim, a man w

Industry March 1, 2022

The technology of next-generation genome writing in the field of platform bio will be essential to leading the future in the competitive era of technology hegemony, the Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology said Monday, as it announced 10 promising future biotechnologies for this year. The state-run institute said the technology of next-generation genome writing, which allows designing DNA and quickly combining it at a mass scale, will help mankind overcome technical limitat

Technology Feb. 28, 2022

Located in the heart of Seoul, Gwanghwamun has been an essential hub for Korea’s history, culture and art. A new project there offers a glimpse of what the future might look like, with the help of cutting-edge 5G and artificial intelligence technologies. 　 The immersive media art project “Age of Light,” or “Gwanghwa Sidae” in Korean, was unveiled by the Korea Creative Content Agency and Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.  The project provides eight dif

Culture Feb. 26, 2022

South Korea’s first homegrown rocket Nuri will go for a second launch in June, aiming to complete the full launch sequence this time, the Ministry of Science and ICT said Friday. The first liftoff, which took place in October last year, came short of a successful mission as the rocket’s third stage engine shut down earlier than planned. The dummy satellite could not reach sufficient orbital speed as a result. The early stages of the launch were deemed successful as the three-stage

Technology Feb. 25, 2022

Philips Korea has received the Health and Welfare Minister’s Award at the 2022 Happiness Together Social Contribution Campaign for helping improve people’s lives through health care technology, the company said Thursday. Marking its 12th edition, the annual awards recognizes exemplary companies that practice social responsibilities. Co-hosted by the Korea Enterprises Federation and the Association of Korean Journalists, the campaign is sponsored by several ministries including the

Industry Feb. 24, 2022

South Korea has approved the use of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine for children aged 5 to 11, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety said Wednesday, amid growing concerns over sharply soaring infections ahead of schools' opening next week. The country reported a record high of over 170,000 daily cases of COVID-19 from the previous day. Of the new cases reported in the last week, almost 30 percent were found in children aged 18 or younger, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Age

Social Affairs Feb. 23, 2022

The year 2021 was monumental for South Korea’s pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical industries, as they set a number of records. The country rolled out four new drugs, the most in a year since the first domestically-developed new drug came to light in 1999. Companies also licensed out technologies worth 13 trillion won ($10.9 billion) and exported drugs worth over 10 trillion won. Big firms such as Samsung Biologics, SK bioscience and Celltrion are taking the lead in making the country&r

Industry Feb. 21, 2022