The financial regulator said Thursday it will require banks to build a two-pronged network system in a bid to avert cyber attacks after a series of online hackings into some of their websites. The Financial Services Commission (FSC), the country's top financial watchdog, said it plans to have large banks separate their network systems into two partitions -- one for internal use and the other for online use -- by next year. Under the measures, banks must split their main operating system first in

LG Electronics Co., a South Korean home appliance maker, said Wednesday that it has completed the construction of a research and development center to focus on the development of automotive parts.The R&D center will house 800 engineers to develop vehicle parts such as motors, inverters and converters for electric vehicles, it said.Last month, LG Electronics, also the world’s third-largest smartphone maker, said it will establish a new business division called the Vehicle Components Business Divi

SEJONG (Yonhap News) ― South Korea’s exports of information-technology products surged to a record high in the six months that ended on June 30 on growing shipments of mobile communication devices and semiconductors, the government said Tuesday.In the January-June period, the country’s IT exports reached $81.24 billion, up 10.9 percent from the same period in 2012, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.The country’s trade surplus in the IT sector also surged to a record high of

A total of 67 targets including public offices and companies came under cyber attacks on June 25 and the following days, the Korean government said Thursday. The types of attacks include distributed denial of service (DDoS) and malicious codes to destruct hard disk drives. Among them, 14 organizations lost some of their data stored on hard disks due to the malicious code.  At the press briefing on Thursday, the government disclosed the extent of damage by the latest series of cyber attacks. “A t

NHN, which runs South Korea’s biggest portal Naver.com, kicked off its news aggregation service called “Newsstand” in April, only to see plunging traffic and complaints from local news media, according to a recent forum. At a forum of online journalism experts who reviewed the portal’s news service, Sangji University professor Kim Kyung-hwan criticized the usability of the system. “The news service is very inconvenient for those who do not have a specific preference of the press.” He said it is

Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, the world’s top two memory chip makers, on Wednesday said they have signed a cross-licensing deal, significantly reducing the possibility of intellectual property feuds between the two.The contract, which reportedly had been in progress for a couple of years, will allow them to share technology on semiconductors for an unspecified amount of time so they can spend more time and effort on technological advancement. The pair also will be able to form a united front

Hackers claiming to be from hacktivist group “Anonymous” once again wracked the nation by launching fresh cyber attacks against 10 government agencies, local dailies and private firms on Monday, less than a week after similar attacks on the websites of Cheong Wa Dae, the presidential residence, government offices and political parties.The websites of local newspapers Yeongnam Ilbo and Gyeongnam Ilbo; Cyber Dokdo, a government-run promotion website for the easternmost islets of Dokdo; and the con

South Korea’s electronics giants Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics both announced on Monday that their TV products sold in Europe have recently received green technology certifications. Samsung’s Smart TV F8000 series was certified by Nemko, a Norwegian safety standard and regulation authority, while LG’s 55-inch curved OLED TV received certification from the U.K.-based Intertek for its eco-friendly technology and use of materials, the company officials said. Samsung and LG are now able to

The Science Ministry said Friday that IT sector policymakers from South Korea and China have signed a pact to foster closer cooperation on high-end mobile technologies. In China on Thursday, Vice Science Minister Yoon Jong-rok and a group of industry leaders from SK Telecom, Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics signed a memorandum of understanding with the Asian superpower’s 5G promotion group to better coordinate in developing 5G network technologies.The Chinese representatives included membe

A Belarusian online game company has stirred up a heated controversy in South Korea due to its upcoming title incorporating the Rising Sun flag of Imperial Japan.Enraged by the game’s adoption of the flag, a group of Korean gamers plan to launch a campaign to collect signatures from some 40,000 users to protest against the game developer.Belarus-based Wargaming.net is developing the game titled “World of Warships,” one of the massively multiplayer online game series including “World of Tanks” an