LG Uplus Corp., a major South Korean telecom operator, said Thursday it aims to increase sales from its smart factory solutions business by sevenfold within five years as part of its broader push to boost its enterprise-focused services. The telecom operator has recently been developing industrial solutions that use its 4G and 5G networks to automate workload and improve safety. The carrier said in an online briefing its smart factory solutions are currently used in 150 locations across the co

Disney aims to gain foothold in expanding market with launch of streaming service in Korea, amid heightened interest among local investors, telecom operators

The South Korean government said it will invest 2.6 trillion won ($2.2 billion) by 2025 in hyperconnectivity and related technologies used in newly emerging services, such as metaverse, blockchain and cloud technology. The Ministry of Science and ICT on Wednesday held an online meeting to discuss its future investment plans to support the development of key technologies in the information and technology industry. During the meeting, Minister Lim Hye-sook said, “The metaverse sector and

SK Bioscience is expected to secure a large-size COVID-19 vaccine supply deal from the COVID-19 Vaccine Global Access Facility next year, a local brokerage firm said Wednesday. The possible deal will boost earnings of the South Korean pharmaceutical company, it added. GBP510, the firm’s COVID-19 vaccine candidate, is a recombinant-protein vaccine funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, which is leading the vaccine-sharing

Google, under fire in South Korea for allegedly abusing others with its market power, on Wednesday hit back at the criticism, arguing it contributed 11.9 trillion won ($10.25 billion) in economic benefits to Koreans last year. Holding an online press event it called “Google for Korea,” executives of the US giant cited data from global market analysis firms to tout the positive side of its presence in Korea. “Last year, YouTube’s creative ecosystem contributed around 1

South Korea’s exports of information and communication technology products in August surpassed $20 billion for the first time in 34 months, on robust sales of semiconductor products, government data showed Tuesday. According to the Ministry of Science and ICT, the country’s outbound shipments of ICT products last month reached $20.27 billion, up 33.2 percent on-year. It was the best results ever recorded for the month of August, and second-best for any month. With that, the ICT e

South Korea‘s antitrust regulator said Tuesday it has decided to fine US-based tech giant Google 207.4 billion won ($176.8 million) for abusing its market power with the Android mobile operating system. In addition to the fine, the FTC ordered Google to stop forcing device manufacturers to sign an anti-fragmentation agreement, which has prevented the manufacturers from using operating systems developed by Google’s rivals or other variants of Android. The FTC began investigating ac

Tech firm aims to soothe public anger in face of tightening regulations

It took two decades for Naver to grow from an internet portal site to a giant in e-commerce, content and mobile payment, and just one decade for Kakao to build a sprawling business empire encompassing commerce, mobility and entertainment, off its mobile messaging app. Both were praised for innovative internet and mobile technologies that changed the way Koreans work, buy and communicate, making life without their services almost impossible to imagine. But just as their dominance is further

South Korean pharmaceutical company Samsung Bioepis said Monday its breast cancer treatment biosimilar Ontruzant is proven to be just as safe and effective as the original drug. The Korean drugmaker conducted a follow-up study lasing five years, tracking 367 patients with human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 positive breast cancer. The patients received several cycles of trastuzumab biosimilar Ontruzant or the reference medicine along with chemotherapy and surgery during the period. S

Kakaopay, a financial unit of tech giant Kakao Corp., will suspend its car insurance comparison service later this month after providing an unauthorized brokerage service, industry sources said Friday. Kakaopay's service to help customers find the best deal among six partnered car insurers, including Hyundai Marine and Fire Insurance Co. and DB Insurance, will be suspended from Sept. 25, according to the sources. The Financial Services Commission said the online program is not advertising tha

Amid growing scrutiny of online giants Naver and Kakao, South Korea’s antitrust watchdog chief on Friday spoke of the need to regulate massive online platforms in order to better protect small vendors and consumers. “E-commerce platforms have brought new benefits and convenience, but concerns over side effects have newly arisen,” Joh Sung-wook, chairperson of the Fair Trade Commission, said during a breakfast meeting organized by the European Chamber of Commerce in Korea.

Two more local companies have newly joined the “K-mRNA vaccine consortium,” a local alliance of pharmaceutical companies dedicated to co-developing and co-producing homegrown messenger RNA vaccines. The consortium, led by Hanmi Pharmaceutical, GC Pharma and ST Pharm, on Thursday announced the participation of pharmaceuticals company Dong-A ST and medical equipment and materials maker Ecell, which it said will speed up its joint research and development of COVID-19 vaccines. Dong

Biotech firm GeneOne Life Science has received approval from the South Korean government to carry on with the phase 2 clinical trial of its investigational oral drug to treat COVID-19, the company said Thursday. GLS-1027 is an orally administered drug that could suppress the cytokine inflammations that lead to more serious lung diseases. Korea University Guro Hospital in Seoul will lead the administration of the drug candidate for the local study. GeneOne Life Science has been conducting p

Aiming to become global ‘digico,’ firm eyes IT solutions developer as next M&A target, executive says