South Korea's second Internet-only bank, Kakao Bank, is set to begin operations Thursday, in the latest move by the government to reinvigorate the nation's banking sector suffering from weaker growth. The planned launch of Kakao Bank, led by Kakao Corp., operator of Korea's dominant messaging app KakaoTalk, came after the first Internet-only bank, K-Bank, gained wide consumer appeal. Consumers can open an account at Kakao Bank by downloading an app and verifying their personal information throug

SK hyinx Inc. said Wednesday it plans to allocate some 9.6 trillion won ($8.5 billion) this year to expand its production facilities for dynamic random-access memory and NAND chips.Through a regulatory filing, the South Korean chipmaker said it expanded the amount of investment originally estimated at 7 trillion won this year. (Yonhap)SK hynix said the investment is aimed at actively coping with changing market conditions while laying a firm foundation for its future growth. The investment will

Online gaming firm Nexon Korea Co. said Wednesday that the third edition of its mega-hit series "Dark Avenger" will launch in South Korea later this week.The action role-playing game will be officially available on both Android and iOS on Thursday, the latest edition of the mobile game series which has racked up more than 35 million downloads worldwide."The Dark Avenger 3 is the game that offers the same dynamic action and graphic quality presented by console games," said No Jung-hwang, a Nexon

Samsung Electronics Co.'s share of the Chinese smartphone market for the second quarter is estimated at 3 percent, data showed Wednesday, remaining in doldrums as Chinese rivals continued to roll out price-competitive models.According to the data compiled by Counterpoint Research, Chinese smartphone makers took up 87 percent of their home market in the April-June period. The top four brands -- Huawei Technologies Co., OPPO Electronics, Vivo Mobile Communications Co., and Xiaomi Inc. -- took up 6

Sales of smartphones through online platforms in South Korea remain sluggish compared with other countries, data showed Wednesday, due mainly to strong dominance of mobile carriers in the mobile phone market.According to the data compiled by Strategy Analytics, the sales of smartphones through online platforms in the country are expected to take up 17.2 percent, or 3.8 million units of the total sales estimated at 22.1 million units in South Korea this year.Of the amount, the sales of smartphone

South Korea’s leading biopharmaceutical association has set out to form a new center that will support the country’s new drug development efforts with artificial intelligence computing technologies.　The Korea Pharmaceutical and Bio-pharma Manufacturers Association said Monday that it is working to create an AI-backed drug development support center this year to expedite ongoing efforts by local drugmakers to develop new blockbuster therapies for diseases.New drug development is a lengthy, high-r

South Korea's top mobile messenger operator Kakao Corp. said Monday it has joined forces with the country's leading automaker Hyundai Motor Co. and its sister company Kia Motors Corp. to develop Artificial Intelligence technology.Under the agreement, the automakers will implement server-based speech recognition technology into the Genesis G70 model by utilizing Kakao's AI platform, called Kakao I, starting in September of this year.The server-based speech recognition technology is the first serv

LG Electronics Inc. on Monday showcased its new mid-end smartphone -- the LG Q8, equipped with top-notch audio and camera features -- in a bid to attract consumers seeking budget models.The South Korean tech giant said the 5.2-inch Q8 smartphone is intended for consumers looking for models between its flagship G and V models, and the budget X smartphones.The smartphone comes with a Quad HD screen with wide-angle cameras. Like high-end smartphones, the Q8 is also water and dust resistant, and is

The Korea Herald is publishing a series of articles highlighting South Korea’s promising startups in the emerging sectors of digital health care and next-generation medical devices. This is the 10th installment. -- Ed.　For most people, recognizing the slightest differences between objects that look similar is difficult. This is especially true for pills, which can easily look the same, even to professional pharmacists.　Targeting this problem, one tech startup in South Korea has set out to introd

Samsung Electronics on Thursday officially denied a local news report alleging that it forced South Korea’s major portal website operators Naver and Kakao to remove negative news articles about its de-facto chief Lee Jae-yong.Samsung Electronics said in an official statement sent to Kakao and Naver that it “did not come into any form of (illicit) contact with the two firms” and that “the news report is groundless.”Earlier this week, the Hankyoreh newspaper reported that Samsung forced the two fi

LG Electronics Inc. said Friday it introduced commercial robots to Incheon International Airport, announcing the move will work as a stepping stone for the company to tap deeper into the industry.The South Korean tech giant said it deployed five cleaning and information robots, respectively, to South Korea's main gateway.The move came in line with the airport's drive to adopt a "smarter" environment. (Yonhap)LG Electronics said the deployment will also be an opportunity to advertise its robot bu

South Korean internet giant Naver begun offering its artificial intelligence language translation program Papago as an official service this week, expanding the software’s functions and service range.　Naver introduced Papago in the form of a mobile app in August 2016 in beta testing to showcase its machine learning-based translation algorithms to users, collect more data and receive broader feedback.The translation program was initially offered only as a mobile application and could handle only

Global smartphone giants are expected to compete fiercely in the second half of 2017, industry watchers said Friday, as South Korea's top two players are fixing the release dates of their latest flagship smartphones next month.Samsung Electronics Co. said it will showcase the presumed Galaxy Note 8 in the United States on Aug. 23, with LG Electronics Inc. also planning to unveil the presumed V30 smartphone in Germany on Aug. 31.US smartphone behemoth Apple Inc. is also seeking to release the iPh

Samsung Electronics Co. on Friday released the Galaxy J7 smartphone through South Korea's No. 2 mobile carrier KT Corp., expanding its budget portfolio for mobile devices.The 5.5-inch J7 comes with a Super AMOLED display with a built-in 3,600 mAh battery.  (Yonhap)As the device has 13-megapixel cameras in the front and back, users can take better selfies compared with other smartphones, the mobile carrier said.The Galaxy J7 also supports key features from flagship devices, including a fingerprin

Samsung Electronics Co. said Friday it will showcase the presumed Galaxy Note 8 in late August, around a year after the ill-fated predecessors' production was suspended over faulty batteries.The South Korean tech giant sent invitations for its "Unpacked" event scheduled to be held in New York on Aug. 23.The invitation shows the slogan "Do bigger things," along with a blue graphic that looks like the Galaxy Note series' exclusive S-Pen. The Galaxy Note models normally come with wider screens comp