South Korean game giant NCSoft said Tuesday that it posted a record high operating profit of 328.8 billion won ($287.8 million) in 2016 mainly generated by its flagship game “Lineage” and its intellectual property rights.　The company raised 983.6 billion won in revenue last year, up 17 percent on-year and falling slightly from the 1 trillion won revenue milestone. Net profit came in at 271.4 billion won in 2016, up 63 percent from the previous year, according to NCSoft.NCSoft said that its growt

A group of South Korean scientists discovered a new magnetic resonance imaging  platform that selectively finds diseased cells, the state-run research center said Tuesday, a development that could overcome the limits of the current MRI technology.The team led by Cheon Jin-woo at the Center for Nanomedicine under the Institute for Basic Science developed the so-called "nano MRI lamp" which activates MRI signals only in the presence of the disease target. (Institute for Basic Science)"This study c

Led by the worldwide success of its mobile games, South Korea’s Netmarble Games raked in more than 1.5 trillion won ($1.32 billion) in revenue in 2016, the company said in its annual earnings report on Monday.　The Korean mobile game giant has broken the 1 trillion won revenue mark for the second consecutive year, setting another major milestone for the firm.Netmarble’s 2016 operating profit reached 295.4 billion won, up 31.3 percent on-year, while its revenue for the year reached around 1.51 tri

South Korean telecommunication businesses are making various efforts to increase their presence worldwide, moving beyond limited growth of the domestic market. KT said Monday its subsidiary KT Submarine won a $9.79 million order from US-based SubCom to lay fiber optic communications cables under the Pacific Ocean last December. The company will break ground in April. KT Submarine is the only submarine cable company in Korea, and it is also the only Asian firm participating in the latest project.

The Korean government concluded Monday that Samsung Electronics’ Galaxy Note 7 explosions were caused by faulty batteries and vowed to strengthen battery safety and recall measures for smartphones. The conclusion came after the state-run Korean Agency for Technology Standards conducted tests for three months with 14 overheated smartphones, 46 normal phones and 169 batteries given by Samsung Electronics. “We found batteries (made by Samsung SDI and ATL) had some factors that cause explosions and

STARTUP SUPPORT FOR MOMS -- Google Campus Seoul, a co-working space for startups operated by the US internet giant, said it is recruiting new participants for its “Campus for Moms” program until Feb. 28. Run by Google, “Campus for Moms” is a baby-friendly startup school that provides entrepreneurial and human resource support to mothers striving to open a startup. A total of 52 parent-entrepreneurs have taken part in the Seoul program since its inception here in July 2015. Google will hold an op

As the web transitions from text and images toward interactive videos, South Korea’s two flagship internet technology companies Naver and Kakao are eyeing a future in the video platform business.According to a recent forecast from Cisco, by 2020 around 82 percent of consumer internet traffic will be generated by videos, while total global internet traffic will grow annually by 22 percent from 2015 to 2020.With video slated to dominate the web, Naver and Kakao have been moving to streamline and s

The South Korean government said Monday that flaws in batteries caused the fires in Samsung Electronics Co.'s Galaxy Note 7, which led to a worldwide recall and production halt of the smartphone.In a test conducted by the state-run Korean Agency for Technology and Standards, it was found that electrodes of batteries installed in the Galaxy Note 7 were damaged, while some batteries missed insulation materials, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said in a release. (Yonhap)The ministry said

South Korea's science ministry said Monday that it will inject 77 billion won ($67.7 million) this year to develop climate-related technologies to curb carbon gas emissions.The Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning said it designated seven new sectors in 2017 to secure related technologies to better combat climate change. (Yonhap)The ministry said it will earmark 19.2 billion won for the seven projects, including carbon use technology and a climate change adaption program to help developi

The Korean Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology said recently that it will be taking part in creating a National Aeronautics and Space Administration-funded education program producing space educational content.Together with the US-based Wex Foundation and the International Space Exploration Research Institute at Hanyang University in Seoul, KICT was awarded a 1.48 billion won ($1.24 million) grant from the NASA, the institute said.  Vacuum chamber being built at KICT (KICT)“KI

SK Telecom Co., South Korea's top mobile carrier, said Sunday it will build a network for the so-called Internet of Things in Bangkok and Phuket. Under a contract with Thailand's state-owned CAT Telecom, signed last Friday, SK Telecom plans to build the network and start a trial service of IoT in April, the company said in a statement.  Cha In-hyeok (2nd from L), head of SK Telecom's IoT business shakes hands with CAT Telecom's chief executive, Sanpachai Huvanandana, after signing a contract in

The global market for automotive semiconductors is expected to grow 7.1 percent annually by 2020, fueled by strong investment by carmakers into electric and self-driving cars, according to a market estimate on Sunday. With semiconductor demand for cars growing, Samsung Electronics Co. and SK hynix Inc. have expanded their automotive semiconductor businesses.  (Yonhap)Research firm Gartner recently predicted that the global market for automotive chips would grow to $42.4 billion in 2020 from $32.

 Students sponsored by LG Display introduce themselves at a performance staged at the Paju factory of the display provider in Gyeonggi Province on Friday. Since 2012, the company has supported a total of 74 students with talents in arts, music and engineering with about 500 million won. (LG Display) 　

Mobile carrier seeks growth on IoT, AI this year

Kakao Corp., an internet company that operates the country's top mobile messenger KakaoTalk, said Friday it will provide its map tools to local game developers from the first half of this year to help them produce a megahit like Pokemon Go.The move was disclosed by Namkoong Whon, the company's chief game officer, through Facebook.   Namkoong Whon, chief game officer at Kakao Corp. (Yonhap file photo)Kakao "will provide the software development kit so that the developers can use Kakao Map to more