South Korea’s trade deficit for intellectual property rights reached an all-time low during the first half of this year, fueled by increasing demand for computer and mobile games and the consequent boom of franchising rights and copyrights, central bank data showed Tuesday.The country’s trade loss in the intellectual properties account stood at $600 million as of the end of June, down from $910 million a year ago, according to preliminary data released by the Bank of Korea.This was the lowest de

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles Korea has released the all-new Jeep Wrangler, revamped 11 years after its previous model, in hopes of boosting demand for off-road driving, the company said Tuesday.The latest 4x4 sport utility vehicle was revealed at the 2017 LA Motor Show. The carmaker described it as the model that created the SUV segment and the first to introduce the concept of off-road driving.Amid an increase in demand among off-road drivers, 1,425 units of the Wrangler were sold in 2017, up 40.6

FTC to be single channel for leniency but information will be shared with prosecutors real time

Samsung unveils Air Dresser, challenging market dominance of LG

South Korean cosmetics-to-health care conglomerate Aekyung Group said Tuesday that it has opened new headquarters in northwestern Seoul. Aekyung Tower (Aekyung Group)Named Aekyung Tower, the new headquarters building houses offices of its five affiliates including household care product maker Aekyung Industrial and its holding company AK Holdings. Its air carrier company Jeju Air’s international sales team will also move into the new headquarters. Built on 53,949 square meters of land, the new m

Handheld electronic fans emit high levels of electromagnetic radiation and should be used at least 25 centimeters from the face, according to a report by nonprofit organization Asian Citizen’s Center for Environment and Health, Monday.The ACCEH said that in its test of 13 types of handheld electronic fans purchased at shopping malls in Seoul, 12 emitted high levels of electromagnetic radiation. The tested fans emitted an average of 647.7 miligauss of electromagnetic radiation, with a low of 281m

Samsung Group acquired K-Twin Tower, 22-story twin buildings in central Seoul, for a whopping 720 billion won ($620 million) in February. It was a rare purchase for the nation’s largest conglomerate that has been busy selling off its own office buildings in the city center. The central location and big name tenants like Microsoft and Kim & Chang, Korea’s top law firm, were attractive enough but industry sources say it was actually latecomer WeWork, the US co-working giant that helped reduce the

South Korea’s biggest used goods online marketplace Joonggonara has raised 5 billion won ($4.47 million) in fresh investment from JB Woori Capital and Kiwoom Securities, the company said Tuesday. Together with 8 billion won in Series A funding from venture capital investors in 2015, Joonggonara’s total funds raised now reach around 13 billion won, it added. Founded in 2003, Joonggonara is Korea’s largest online marketplace where users can buy or sell used goods, with more than 16 million monthly

Samsung Electronics said Tuesday that it would not be acquiring a major car manufacturer, refuting market rumors that the South Korean tech giant might re-enter the automobile business.In a message to its workers, the company said it has no plans to manufacture electric vehicles and self-driving cars, or acquire related companies. (AFP)The company will instead focus on the development of displays and chips for a self-driving control system as part of its automotive business, it added.Rumors of S

Samsung Electronics Co. on Tuesday showcased a new garment care appliance that allows users to remove dust, odor and even germs from clothes at home.The South Korean tech giant unveiled the Air Dresser, which provides a four-level garment care program: air, steam, dryer and purifier.Samsung said the Air Dresser is comprised of various know-how of its home appliances, including the steam technology of its washers, odor treatment system of refrigerators and filtration of air purifiers.  Air Dresse

South Korea's information and communication technology industry is globally competitive but falls behind in policy and regulation, according to the results of a survey of the sector's workers on Tuesday.The recent poll conducted by the Institute for Information & Communication Technology Promotion among 838 people in ICT businesses found 47 percent of them see the country's ICT industry policy and regulatory conditions as low compared to other countries. Only 20.8 percent answered that the condi

The Korea Transportation Safety Authority (KOTSA) under the Transport Ministry on Monday said BMW Korea was uncooperative in transferring technical documents needed to look into engine fires prior to official orders by the ministry.“We confirmed irregularities in the BMW 520d frequently catching fire this June and requested BMW Korea for technical documents on June 25, July 5 and July 19. But BMW Korea did not transfer the files and in some cases, parts of the documents were missing,” said Kwon

A public transportation agency said Monday it will closely look into the engine fires involving dozens of BMW vehicles with an aim to determine the exact cause by December.  A BMW 520d vehicle is on fire on a highway in North Gyeongsang Province on Monday. YonhapIn a press conference held in Government Complex Sejong, 120 kilometers south of Seoul, the Korea Transportation Safety Authority (TS) said it has demanded additional documents involving recent vehicle fires and purchased three second-ha

SKT's IoT/Data Unit Head Chang Hong-seong (left) holds an agreement with Macrogen CEO Yang Kap-seok in Seoul on Monday. (SK Telecom)South Korea’s leading mobile carrier SK Telecom is moving to use its machine-learning technologies to analyze human genomes in order to raise the predictability of rare diseases, the company said Monday. The telecom giant signed a partnership with Macrogen, a local precision medicine business, to develop AI solutions that would predict probabilities of critical dise

Midsized SUV dubbed as 'Song Joong-ki car' is back with refreshed design, high-tech features