Mong-ryong uses his MacBook to study while talking to friends on a smartphone. Chun-hyang wears canvas shoes under her short pink dress. They first meet at a club. The state-run National Changgeuk Company of Korea’s production of “Different Chunhyang” (2014) by Andrei Serban was very different from any of the previous productions of the classical Korean love story ― between Mong-ryong, the son of a nobleman, and Chun-hyang, the daughter of a low-class retired female entertainer, during the Joseo

Business collaboration ― combining two industries or markets that were once considered irrelevant to each other ― is the hottest trend in the retail industry. From food firms to lighter brands, companies are joining hands with unlikely business partners to bring fresh perspectives to product design, or for cross-promotion and publicity. “With more people using various platforms and devices for shopping, and their eyes wide open to new things 24/7, bringing a breath of fresh air to products throu

LAS VEGAS ― Brimming with cross-industry innovations, this year’s International CES, the world’s largest electronics trade show, was a hotbed of collaboration and technological convergence. From tennis rackets, watches, jewelry and clothing to household appliances, the event showed how conventional products were getting high-tech upgrades for the coming era of the Internet of Things.One noticeable feature of this year’s CES, which closed Friday, was the slew of technological collaborations for a

From art, fashion and technology, crossover collaboration inspires new creations

For Korea’s financial industry, which has largely been stagnant since the global economic crisis, the fast rise of financial technology is both a challenge and an opportunity to regain momentum.Fintech ― the use of information technology in financial services ― is a key word in the industry as well as a touchstone for determining financial companies’ potential for market survival.The term no longer pertains only to online banking services operated by banks and securities firms but also refers to

Digital wallets such as Apple Pay and Alipay are gradually replacing cash and credit cards with more and more people browsing and purchasing goods by tapping and swiping on their smartphones.Kakao Pay, codeveloped by Internet giant Daum Kakao and ICT solutions developer LG CNS, is one of the services spearheading the mobile payment industry in South Korea.After launching its mobile payment service Kakao Pay in October, Daum Kakao was able to attract 2 million subscribers in less than three month

Archaic systems, inconvenient processes and a great deal of patience. These were the conditions that brought the founder of fintech startup Viva Republica to the exciting and growing arena of financial technology.Viva Republica is one of only a handful of fintech startups in South Korea, where strict regulations and excessive security measures remain major hurdles for market development. Lee Seung-gun, a dentist-turned-CEO, founded the company in 2011 to free users from complex security and veri

Global tech companies’ entry into the nation’s mobile payment market may hinder the growth of early-stage fintech startups, industry watchers say. Fintech, a convergence of finance and technology, is a range of new financial services offered through information technology platforms. Amid slow growth in the local fintech industry, global tech giants including America’s PayPal and China’s Alipay have already expanded their financial services from simple mobile transactions to loans, investment and

Each year tends to be a mixed bag of good and bad incidents, but the silver linings were hard to see this year. Tragedy dawned on the morning of April 16 when the ill-fated Sewol ferry sent a distress call, with 476 people on board, many of whom were young students from a high school in Ansan. Koreans were briefly relieved at one point in the day to hear the news that most of the passengers were rescued. But the report was false, horrifyingly removed from the tragic developments that eventually

[Politics] Political reforms fizzlePoliticians wax and wane, but none have done so as quickly and dramatically as Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo of the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy. In 2014, Ahn rose to the heights of being cochairman of the main opposition, despite having little real powerbase. However, with his “new politics” achieving little and his party’s election failures, he resigned as the cochairman. The result for the June 4 local elections were disappointing to the main opp

Changing viewer demand, innovative ideas, new stars bring sea change to broadcasting industry

South Korea’s cable TV program providers are seeking to diversify the export destinations for their content from Asia to Europe and North America.According to the Korea Cable Television and Telecommunications Association, new export targets include Italy, France, the Netherlands, Canada and the United States. Over the past few years, their content has gained popularity mostly in East and Southeast Asia.“Contract performance is backing up the analysis that the local cable TV industry has begun ga

From ‘Misaeng’ to ‘Grandpas over Flowers,’ cable TV shows set trends