The Ministry of Science and ICT said Thursday that it has proposed a 17.3-percent on-year increase in the national research and development budget for 2020 to allow the country to strive for independence in critical technologies.The proposal, which is subject to parliamentary approval, set aside 24.1 trillion won ($19.8 billion) for R&D, up from 20.5 trillion won from 2019."This is the first time in 10 years that South Korea is aiming for a double digit increase in its R&D spending

LG Innotek, electronic parts affiliate of LG Group, announced Wednesday the firm has developed flexible three-dimensional lighting for premium cars with a plan to aggressively enter the high-end vehicle market. Dubbed Nexlide-HD, it is a module for cars’ front and rear external lighting that emits bright and uniform light. The lighting module consists of a number of specialized LED packages attached to a thin substrate, which helps spread the light around 180 degrees. Previous lighting mod

　With a South Korean court overruling the media regulator’s decision to fine Facebook Korea for a network outage in 2017, content providers are raising pressure on the government to amend regulations on network usage fees.　Google, Facebook and Netflix have partnered with local tech companies including Naver and Kakao in ramping up criticism that the “network sharing” regulation has caused excessive financial burdens for content providers here and abroad.　The criticism intensifi

　South Korean information technology firm LG CNS is recruiting its former female workers as IT educators to provide them with opportunities after they left their jobs for childbirth and parenting. 　On Tuesday, LG CNS began a three-day recruiting session for such former employees. Those selected will work as coding program instructors for middle school students from next month.  　Candidates who will be given priority are those who left LG CNS between 2013 and 2015 after working as engineers

South Korea’s capital city plans to host a tech event Sept. 4-6 in a bid to redefine itself as an innovation launchpad for foreign entrepreneurs, the Seoul Metropolitan Government said Tuesday. “Start-Up Seoul: Tech-Rise 2019” will feature keynote speeches and panel sessions by global startup ecosystem experts, as well as a pitching competition, a demo day and seminars. These will take place at four locations in the city, including Dongdaemun Design Plaza and the Seoul Startup

Market analysts and investors said Tuesday it has become clearer that Samsung Display will invest in quantum dot organic light-emitting diodes as the next-generation display technology to replace liquid-crystal displays. “Samsung Display is likely to stop its LCD production at the Gen 8.5 line in Asan in the coming months and covert the LCD business to large-size QD-OLED panel business phase by phase,” said Kim Dong-won, an analyst at KB Securities. Such expectations were raised afte

In order to provide better user experiences on dual-screen devices, LG Electronics has partnered with Naver to work on expansion of the web portal’s multitasking-focused browsing platform, the company said Tuesday. LG will adopt Naver’s web browser Whale for the firm’s upcoming devices, which will focus on optimizing the user interface of LG’s dual screen devices. Whale is marketed as an “omni-tasking” browser that enables users to operate more than two tasks

Amid the harsh trade and market conditions surrounding South Korea’s largest conglomerate, Samsung Electronics, the company is on high alert as the country’s highest court is set to rule this week on a bribery scandal involving Samsung’s heir and the former president. The Supreme Court is scheduled to deliver a final verdict Thursday at 2 p.m. in the cases of former President Park Geun-hye, her confidante Choi Soon-sil and Samsung heir Lee Jae-yong. The top court will decide wh

South Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics’ in-vehicle computing system DeX will be piloted by the Chicago Police Department in the United States, the company said Friday. Dubbed as “DeX In-Vehicle,” the solution will provide police officers the ability to dock their Galaxy smartphones and access policing applications on a dash-mounted display and keyboard. The officers in the pilot -- taking place across the city’s 11th District this year -- will be able to access compu

　Facebook Korea has won a yearlong legal battle against the government’s decision to impose a financial penalty for a massive network cutoff in 2017.　The Seoul Administrative Court ruled Thursday that it was unlawful for the Korea Communication Commission to impose a 396 million won ($367,000) fine on Facebook for delaying access for those subscribed to SK Telecom, SK Broadband and LG Uplus by changing network connection routes.  　Facebook had denied the accusation, saying that the te

South Korea’s leading battery maker LG Chem has introduced sustainability as an evaluation factor for battery material suppliers to incorporate the rising importance of supply chain management and ethical purchases, the company said Thursday.  The company recently conducted the first assessment of its material suppliers, in which it evaluated the suppliers’ sustainability by examining working conditions, human rights of employees, safety of the work environment, management of ma

Samsung Display CEO Lee Dong-hoon held an event to boost communication with employees, underscoring that the company was taking steps forward despite facing challenges the company said Thursday. At its corporate campus in Asan, South Chungcheong Province, on Wednesday, Lee had a question-and-answer session with around 450 employees. The event was broadcast live for employees who were not able to be present.  During the 1 1/2 hour meeting, Lee offered frank answers to questions raised by emp

‘Complete switch has occurred with collapse of DRAM and NAND flash markets’

Samsung SDI, a battery affiliate of Samsung Electronics, hosted a summer camp for about 500 children this month, providing opportunities to learn about the environment, the company said Wednesday. The camp, called the “Green Planet Environment School,” ran from Aug. 6 through 14, inviting kids from community children’s centers near the company’s headquarters. The camp’s curriculum included topics related to the environment, such as solar energy, climate change and e

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