The Seoul metropolitan government said Tuesday it is developing augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) platforms to enable the public to virtually experience a government office and historical palace rituals from the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910). The city government will develop the platforms in partnership with the Cultural Heritage Administration, Woomi Construction Corp. and Cheil Worldwide Inc. under an agreement signed Tuesday, and unveil them to the public next year. The project w

South Korea and Israel said Monday they plan to speed up joint research and development projects to cope with the changing business environment amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The announcement came after the two countries announced earlier this year that they will increase contributions to the Korea-Israel Industrial R&D Foundation. The foundation kicked off in 2001 to promote bilateral technology exchanges. In May, South Korea and Israel vowed to each disburse $4 million annually for the foun

Apple’s move puts pressure on Korean providers offering paid-for lossless music plans; Spotify also set to launch CD-quality streaming later this year

South Korea’s top wireless carrier SK Telecom said Monday that the company has started a test run of its 5G network running on the 28-gigahertz bandwidth at Coex, in Samseong-dong, Seoul. For the test run of super-fast wireless connection, the company has set up an exhibition at a 36,000-square-meter area at Coex, offering a glimpse into SKT’s future technology businesses, such as the metaverse. During the event, which runs through Sunday, anyone who visits can use the “mi

Samsung Electronics will unveil a lineup of new mobile devices, including foldable phones, next month, according to industry sources on Monday. Industry watchers say that Samsung will be holding a Galaxy Unpacked event at 11 p.m. on Aug. 11, Korea time, which will be livestreamed from Seoul. Samsung, however, hasn’t yet sent out an official invitation to its partners and media worldwide. Regarding the schedule, Samsung said it is not yet fixed. The upcoming show will be the first th

Social network that swept Korea pre-Facebook reopens

South Korea's oceans ministry said Sunday it plans to launch a new platform to provide the latest information on the radiation level in local seas to the public amid growing safety concerns over Tokyo's planned release of contaminated water. "We plan to minimize the public's concerns over the safety of our waters and seafood, and bolster monitoring on the radiation level of the ocean," the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries said in a statement. In April, the Japanese government said it

LG Corp., the holding company of Korea’s fourth-biggest conglomerate, on Friday inked a 100 billion-won ($88 million) investment deal with Kakao Mobility as part of efforts to discover new opportunities in future mobility. Both sides did not reveal how much stake LG would acquire in the digital transportation service app operator with the latest deal. LG said the investment was made as part of considerations to develop potential synergy between the conglomerate’s affiliates and

South Korean central nervous system drug developer SK Biopharmaceuticals CEO Cho Jeong-woo vowed to help the firm attain a value of 50 trillion won ($44.02 billion) by 2030 and make the list of the world’s top 10 health care firms. SK Biopharm shared its latest corporate vision during an online event titled “Financial Story,” held Friday. During the event, SK Biopharmaceuticals presented detailed strategies to achieve the goal. SK Biopharm said the company would launch mor

Vice Chairman Shin Hak-cheol aims to hire young engineers who could lead future R&D with ESG focus

South Korea’s business community expressed concerns Friday about a global move toward additional taxes on technology companies that would affect Korean tech giants such as Samsung Electronics and SK hynix. The Federation of Korean Industries, an organization that represents the interests of Korean businesses, said in a statement, “We express concerns about the side effects of an agreement on the digital tax announced by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

LG Chem announced Thursday that the company received positive results from the phase 2 clinical trial of its gout treatment candidate LC350189 in the US. LC350189 is a novel nonpurine selective inhibitor of xanthine oxidase, which oxidizes both hypoxanthine and xanthine to uric acid. High uric acid levels can increase the risk of gout. The phase 2 clinical trial in the US, which involved 156 patients, showed efficacy of the gout treatment candidate in lowering uric acid levels, accordi

South Korean diagnostics company Seegene said Thursday that the company has partnered with Bio-Rad Laboratories for the clinical development and commercialization of diagnostic products in the US. Under the agreement, Seegene will provide the company’s diagnostic tests for use on Bio-Rad’s molecular diagnostic CFX96 Dx Real-Time PCR Detection Systems. The contract will run for five years from the date that the two companies win approvals from the US Food and Drug Administration.

CEO aims to expand nontelecom biz to 30% by 2025

South Korean mobile users on 5G networks reached nearly 16 million in May, data showed Thursday, as telecom operators seek to expand applications of the next generation networks. As of the end of May, 5G subscriptions stood at 15.84 million, accounting for 22 percent of the total 71.45 million mobile subscriptions in the country, according to the data from the Ministry of Science and ICT. South Korea has a population of around 51 million. Top mobile carrier SK Telecom Co. had the most 5G subsc