Expectations are running high ahead of Samsung Electronics’ first-ever online unpacking event Wednesday, as the South Korean tech giant is expected to introduce the Galaxy Z Fold 2 with a fuller display. At Samsung Galaxy Unpacked 2020, which is scheduled for 11 p.m., Samsung will introduce five products -- the Galaxy Note 20 phablet, Galaxy Z Fold 2 foldable smartphone, Galaxy Tab S7 tablet, Galaxy Buds Live wireless noise-canceling earbuds and the Galaxy Watch 3 smartwatch. Due to c

KT CEO Koo Hyun-mo has told executives and employees in a company-wide email that the mobile carrier needs to move beyond network service provision to become a platform operator. The KT CEO’s announcement followed several recent changes at the corporation. KT Skylife last month was selected as the preferred bidder to acquire cable TV operator Hyundai HCN. KT also inked a partnership with Netflix to improve the quality of its pay TV platform. “KT has started to undertake practica

Expectation grows for additional orders in H2

Last week’s disclosure by family members of the late Lotte Group Chairman Shin Kyuk-ho with regard to changes in their stakes in the group after inheriting assets from Shin showed that his second son, current Chairman Shin Dong-bin, has further expanded his control over the group. Friday was the deadline for members of the Lotte owner family to report their inheritance taxes, which are estimated to total at least 450 billion won ($376.94 million). The founder died in January and his two

Samsung Biologics plans another plant ‘in the near future’

Inadequate translation leads to misunderstanding from users

When the chief of Korea’s largest tiremaker sold all his stock in the company to his second son on June 30, the succession appeared to have proceeded smoothly. But it had not. The simmering family dispute has come to light because the chairman’s daughter took issue with the handover. On Thursday, Cho Hee-kyung, the eldest daughter of group Chairman Cho Yang-rai, applied to be her father’s guardian -- requesting the legal authority to care for the personal and property interes

Sales of mobile games in South Korea soared to a record high in the first half of the year amid the coronavirus pandemic that has confined more people to their homes, industry data showed Monday. Combined sales of three app markets -- Google's Play Store for Android devices, Apple's App Store for iPhones, and ONE store -- stood at 2.83 trillion won ($2.37 billion) in the January-June period, up 1.3 times from a year earlier, according to the data by mobile big data platform IGAWorks. The figu

Chong Kun Dang’s second quarter net profit rose 100 percent on-year due to decreased spending on marketing amid COVID-19 social distancing, and solid sales of its chronic illness treatments. Hi Investment & Securities said Monday it is upward-adjusting prospects for Chong Kun Dang by 26.9 percent from previous 130,000 won ($109) to 165,000 won. Shinyoung Securities set the prospect slightly higher at 170,000 won and reinforced the opinion to buy. Chong Kun Dang’s performance wa

South Korean telecom companies are ramping up moves to improve their videoconference services to meet rising demand amid the COVID-19 pandemic, which has spurred a telework trend here, industry insiders said Monday. Global videoconference and work collaboration software, such as Zoom and Microsoft Corp.'s Teams, have recently surged in popularity on the back of pandemic-driven demand. Zoom reported it had 300 million global daily meeting users in April, compared with 10 million in December las

Samsung Electronics Co. said Monday it has set up an in-house virus testing center to ramp up its anti-virus measures amid the pandemic. Samsung opened a virus testing center inside its plant in Hwaseong, south of Seoul, becoming the first company in South Korea to have an in-house COVID-19 testing facility. The center will manage specimen collection, diagnostic tests and other related tasks with six medical professionals, the company added. Samsung's Hwaseong campus is one of the company

South Korea’s exports in July declined by a single digit percent in four months after showing a double-digit drop for three consecutive months, data showed Sunday. The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said the nation’s exports fell 7 percent on-year to $42.83 billion last month. In the aftermath of COVID-19, Korea’s monthly exports fell 25.5 percent in April, 23.6 percent in May and 10.9 percent in June, marking the third consecutive month of double-digit decline.

The new coronavirus outbreak has given a big boost to domestic travel here amid disrupted air travel. But for some vacationers, visiting tourist attractions or using lodging facilities could still be the last thing they want to do. Against this backdrop, a new non-contact travel trend has gained traction in South Korea as more people are turning their eyes to outdoor camping and "chabak," a newly coined word that means sleeping and staying in a car during travel. A 31-year-old offic

Hanmi Pharmaceutical’s founder and chairman, Lim Sung-ki, died of a chronic disease Sunday at dawn after devoting his life to the South Korean bio industry. He was 80. Lim was the owner of Hanmi Pharmaceutical Group and the largest shareholder of Hanmi Science, the group’s holding company. Born in 1940 in Gimpo, Gyeonggi Province, Lim graduated from Chung-ang University’s college of pharmacy. He opened the Lim Sung-ki Pharmacy in Dongdaemun, Seoul, in 1967 and went on to

While pickup trucks have not been a major segment in South Korea’s automobile market, SsangYong Motor’s Rexton truck is something of an exception, with competitive pricing, convenient functions and designs attractive enough to change the minds of sedan-lovers. Rolling out Rexton Sports in 2018, the country’s first open-deck sports utility vehicle, SsangYong has taken 97 percent of the local market share, selling over 40,000 units of the car in first and second year of release