GEAR S2 POP-UP STORE FOR HOLIDAY -- Samsung Electronics said Wednesday it would operate a pop-up store for its smartwatch Gear S2 during the year-end holiday season in Garosu-gil, Seoul, a street brimming with upscale coffeehouses and clothing shops. (Samsung)

Facing a looming battle with global media behemoth Netflix, mobile carrier SK Telecom said Wednesday it would invest around 5 trillion won ($4.3 billion) in beefing up its media platform business for the next five years. The investment plan came on the heels of the firm’s announcement of acquiring CJ Hellovision, the nation’s largest cable TV operator and an affiliate of CJ Group.The Korean mobile carrier unveiled its plan earlier last month to merge its wholly owned Internet TV operator SK Broa

Tech giant expected to make big push in software

Tech giant replaces Galaxy chief, retains three co-CEOs

CULTURAL DIPLOMACY -- LG Group chairman Koo Bon-moo (center) attends a jazz concert Monday in Seoul to mark the 50th anniversary of ties between Korea and Japan. Koo said he wished for the two nations to strengthen their relations through cultural exchanges. (LG Group)

COLLABORATION FOR 5G -- LG Uplus said Tuesday that it had set up a research and development center for 5G network technology where it would work together with local and global network equipment firms on projects for the next-generation network technology. (LG Uplus)

Expectations are reaching new heights for Korea’s first online-only banks, or direct banks, to spark enormous changes not only in the country’s 120-year-old financial sector but also in other industries including information technology and retail.The financial authorities have given preliminary approval to two consortiums ― Kakao Bank and K-Bank, led by mobile messenger creator Kakao and mobile carrier KT, respectively ― to set up the banks with no brick-and-mortar branches. They will be the fir

Lee Jae-yong to speed up business restructuring

Two consortiums, led by South Korean Internet giant Kakao and No. 2 telecom operator KT, were approved to launch the nation’s first Internet-only banks next year, the banking authority said Sunday. Under the government’s pilot program, the two banks will offer financial services from deposits, lending and credit cards to foreign exchange transactions through their online platforms only -- the first of their kind in Korea’s 23 years of financial history.Their operations are expected to start afte

　LG Display said Friday it would invest a whopping 10 trillion won ($8.7 billion) in building a new plant for organic light-emitting diode displays in Paju, Gyeongi Province.　The firm’s recent investment plan is part of its initiative, which was announced in August, to invest 10 trillion won in projects to foster businesses for OLEDs along with liquid crystal displays over the next three years.　The nation’s leading display manufacturer will first pour 1.84 trillion won into the construction of a

As digital disruption is accelerating across all industries, top market leaders will be outgunned by challengers quick to adapt to a digitization wave, according to a Cisco executive.Presenting a recent report about technological disruption and future business models at Cisco’s office in Songdo, west of Seoul, Thursday, Ross Fowler, president of the U.S. firm’s Digital Transformation and IoE (“Internet of Everything”) Acceleration in Asia-Pacific and Japan, said that "four out of top 10 companie