LG Electronics Inc. is still mulling the fate of its money-losing mobile business, industry insiders said Monday, amid rumors that the South Korean tech giant may shut down the unit instead of selling it. In January, LG announced its mobile communications division is open to "all possibilities" for its future operations after years of poor performance. LG's mobile business has been in the red since the second quarter of 2015. Its accumulated operating losses reached nearly 5 trilli

LG Uplus Corp., a major South Korean telecom operator, said Monday it has launched its first store that operates without the help of retail workers, joining other mobile carriers to offer services that minimize physical contact amid the coronavirus pandemic. LG Uplus' new store in Seoul's central ward of Jongno incorporates automation technology, such as digital kiosks that allow customers to change their data plans and buy new phones or USIM cards without the help of store workers. Customers

Samsung Electronics Co. said Monday its study showed its Galaxy Buds Pro wireless earbuds could help people with hearing impairments. The study, which was published last week in Clinical and Experimental Otorhinolaryngology (CEO), a renowned scientific journal dedicated to ear, nose and throat research, suggested that the Galaxy Buds Pro's Ambient Sound feature could assist those with mild to moderate hearing loss to better engage in conversation with others, according to Samsung. Its Ambien

SK Innovation, the battery and new energy affiliate of SK Group, entered the battery market in 1996 and started off with large-storage lithium-ion batteries just two years later. Thanks to two decadeslong coating technologies accumulated at chemicals maker SKC, the company was able to complete world-class coating and assembly technologies for lithium-ion batteries at the time. SK’s focus was on lithium polymer batteries, making them lighter and in new form factors like the prismatic-ty

Naver spent 1.33 trillion won ($1.1 billion) in research and development last year, nearly a quarter of its total annual sales, the company said Sunday. Its investment-to-sales ratio of 25.11 percent was the highest among all South Korean companies that release annual performance reports. According to the company’s annual report, its investment in R&D activities was larger than its annual operating profit last year, which was 1.2 trillion won. Compared to a year earlier, the R&D

The launch of South Korea's next-generation midsized observation satellite, slated for Saturday afternoon at a space center in Kazakhstan, has been postponed, government officials here said. The 540-kilogram satellite, loaded on Russia's Soyuz 2.1a, was scheduled to take off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 3:07 p.m. (11:07 a.m. local time). But the launch has been postponed, reportedly due to problems detected from the upper part of the carrier rocket, according to officials at

  An external compliance monitoring committee on Samsung Electronics and its affiliates concluded on Friday that the restriction on Samsung chief Lee Jae-yong’s employment was “unclear.” The committee, led by former Chief Justice Kim Ji-hyung, discussed during its regular meeting the ongoing controversy involving the Ministry of Justice’s latest ban on Lee from being employed by Samsung for five years due to his conviction in a bribery scandal involving forme

Samsung BioLogics’ CDMO business to cover a wider range of products, continue production increase and research capacity down the road

South Korea will launch its next-generation midsized observation satellite this week, the latest in the country's efforts to boost its space industry and develop its own space technologies. The 540-kilogram satellite loaded on Russia's Soyuz 2.1a will take off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Saturday morning (local time) and contact the Svalbard Satellite Station in Norway after reaching its target orbit, according to the Ministry of Science and ICT. Equipped with an imaging sens

Market expectations grow over LG’s ‘select and focus’ strategy, creation of new holding firm

The competition to develop the country’s second COVID-19 treatment continues among South Korea’s major pharmaceutical companies after Chong Kun Dang Pharmaceutical recently dropped out. South Korea’s Ministry of Food and Drug Safety announced Wednesday that it has decided not to approve Chong Kun Dang Pharmaceutical’s candidate, Nafabeltan, based on a review by its advisory board of its efficacy and safety. Chong Kun Dang Pharmaceutical’s acute pancreatitis dru

Daewoong Pharmaceutical said Thursday that the company has out-licensed its gastroesophageal reflux disease agent Fexuprazan to Shanghai Haini Pharmaceutical for 380 billion won. The deal included an upfront payment of 6.8 billion won and 13.6 billion won in milestone payments, the company added. Under the agreement, Shanghai Haini has acquired rights to conduct clinical studies for the agent used to treat a digestive disorder. Shanghai Haini would also be in charge of the entire approval pr

South Koreans are estimated to have spent more than 70 billion won ($62.4 million) for Netflix's video streaming services last month, more than tripling from the previous year, data showed Thursday. Local credit and debit card payments on the video streaming platform reached 72.5 billion won in February, the highest-ever monthly figure, compared with 22.5 billion won the same month the previous year, according to the data from industry tacker WiseApp. Based on the data, WiseApp said there were

Samsung Electronics is apparently shifting its focus to midrange phones from premium ones, announcing three new affordable but high-spec models on Wednesday. During its first online Galaxy Awesome Unpacked event for midrange smartphones, the South Korean smartphone vendor unveiled the Galaxy A52, A52 5G and A72 that boast optical image stabilization cameras, high-refresh rate displays and 5G for the first time among Galaxy A phones. Such a move is aimed at cementing Samsung’s top pos

The US Food and Drug Administration will carry out a pre-approval inspection in May at Hanmi Pharmaceutical’s drug manufacturing facilities and packaging sites in Gyeonggi Province’s Pyeongtaek that produces the novel drug Rolontis, the Korean company said Wednesday. The US FDA was slated to approve Hanmi’s manufacturing of the given drug on Oct. 24 last year, but the schedule was temporarily shelved due to restrictions on overseas business trips amid the escalating COVID-19