[THE INVESTOR] Pantech, one of top three mobile phone manufacturers in Korea, showcased its new smartphone IM-100 on June 22 at its R&D center in Seoul, unveiling its ambition to recover lost ground.IM-100 -- pronounced as “I am back” with the number pronounced “back” in Korean -– will begin sales starting next week. Pursuing minimal design, the company excluded its logo on the new mobile phone, which comes in two options: white or black. The 7-millimeter-thick mobile phone incorporates a wheel

[THE INVESTOR] SK Telecom is expanding its online-to-offline business in China in collaboration with a Korean start-up and local firms, the mobile operator said on June 22.The company signed a letter of intent on June 21 in China with Korean start-up 12CM and three Chinese firms -- Duolabao, BlueFocus, Heima Live -- to establish a joint venture. 12CM is highly evaluated in the O2O industry in Korea having invented Smart Stamp, which is widely used in coffee shops and restaurants, that has replac

[THE INVESTOR] Smartphone-maker Pantech will release a new model on June 30, its first after being acquired by a consortium led by telecom equipment firm Solid in December last year.The firm, once the third largest in Korea after Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics, was on the brink of bankruptcy due to decreasing sales and financial constraints in 2015.After it was acquired by the consortium, the firm has focused on rolling out connected devices for automotive, defense and home automation in

[THE INVESTOR] Kakao’s gaming affiliate Nzin will change its name to KakaoGames next month aiming to improve integration of its ever-evolving business portfolio. The decision will be voted during a shareholders meeting planned on June 30.“The renaming aims to strengthen the company’s brand value as a multi-platform gaming company and elevate the sense of unity as a Kakao family,” said a Kakao official. The official said, among others, the renaming will be helpful for the company to seek business

[THE INVESTOR] Korea’s media regulator is planning to set up an independent organization to improve the TV license fee system of KBS, a state-run broadcaster, which will likely include a measure to charge smartphone users.The Korea Communications Commission will form an independent group dedicated to assessing the financial structure of state-run broadcaster KBS and improving the broadcasting firm’s TV license fee system, according to a briefing reported to the National Assembly on June 20.  The

[THE INVESTOR] Mobile messenger operator Kakao is reportedly planning to split its services business into two divisions -- social network and portal.The social network division will be in charge of running its flagship social networking services including KakaoTalk and KakaoStory while the portal business will be operating news platform Daum News and content platform KakaoTalk Channel among others.KakaoTalk ChannelLim Sung-young, director of the firm’s media content team, will head the portal bu

[THE INVESTOR] A group of KT’s shareholders on June 16 filed a lawsuit against the telecommunications company for allegedly infringing on their right to speak at the shareholders meeting in March.The minority shareholders claimed in their complaint that the firm intentionally blocked them from entering the venue of the meeting for three hours in order to fill the front row seats with employee shareholders who sided with the firm. “KT deliberately gave only those employee stockholders in the fron

[THE INVESTOR] SK Planet has been named the Telecom eCommerce Service Provider of the Year for its mobile marketing brand Syrup, the company said Thursday.The award was presented to the firm at the 2016 Asia Pacific ICT Awards in Singapore on Wednesday. It was hosted by the consulting firm Frost & Sullivan and this was the 13th year of the awards.　Frost & Sullivan said that SK Planet was chosen for the award because Syrup had increased value to customers through omni-channel competitiveness, and