The market share of South Korean app store One Store has reached a record high of 18.4 percent in August with 68.9 billion won, according to a local market research agency here Thursday. One Store is the largest local app store platform developed by the nation’s three mobile carriers -- KT, SK Telecom and LG U+ -- and Naver in 2016. The market shares of Google Play and Apple Store in August were 71 percent and 10.6 percent, respectively, the market research report added. The report sa

The Ministry of Science and ICT announced Wednesday that it would inject 499 billion won ($420.6 million) of supplementary budget this year to support artificial intelligence big data-powered businesses as part of the Korean New Deal. The budget will be provided to 2,103 local businesses, developers and institutions, according to the ICT Ministry. The ministry added the investment is expected to create around 28,000 jobs. Of the total, 292.5 billion won will be spent on constructing data set

Korean mobile carrier LG U+ announced Tuesday that the company has forged an alliance to create augmented reality and virtual reality content. Joining the Global XR Content Telco Alliance are telecommunications firms LG U+, KDDI in Japan, Bell in Canada and China Telecom. Award-winning entertainment studios Felix & Paul Studios and Atlas V are also joining the alliance as partner companies. Alliance members and partner companies will bring together their resources and technologies to cre

Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) announced Monday that it would push digital transformation to provide quality services to local and foreign businesses. The agency said it would bring digital transformation into a wide range of tasks it manages. According to KOTRA, its customers can now easily access various types of market data that it has collected from its 125 offices in 82 different nations around the globe. The agency said the big data collected in different nations would

Reinforced rules by South Korea’s antitrust regulator began to take effect Tuesday to prevent social media influencers from advertising products without telling viewers of their business ties with corporate sponsors. According to the Fair Trade Commission’s guidelines, the online streamers and social media influencers should explicitly disclose their business ties when they are provided with financial means to produce promotional posts or videos. The FTC said it revised old guidel

Home transactions in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province have plunged over the last three months, after the government introduced strict measures to stabilize real estate prices, including tax hikes and loan regulations, data showed Sunday. The number of apartment transactions in Seoul dropped to 1,923 in August from 15,589 in June, while that of Gyeonggi Province too decreased to 7,117 in August, from 34,899 in June. The housing prices, which the government aimed to rein in, remained flat. As of

As competition in over-the-top and pay TV services market intensifies, SK Broadband is seeking to overhaul its solutions. The company said Sunday it has changed the brand name to Lovely B tv, while adding new features and contents to its platform to increase user experience, including artificial intelligence recommendation engine and Supernova, which is designed to improve the quality of image and sound source based on AI-deep learning algorithms. The company has also transformed the user exp

Telecom operator KT said Sunday that it would hire around 400 new employees through virtual recruiting this fall. “The company decided to hire new employees to offer jobs to young people, although there are difficulties in operating a workforce amid the coronavirus pandemic,” the company said. KT said it would hire 400 new workers, including interns who will later get opportunities to become full-timers. The divisions that are open to applicants include marketing & sales, netwo

In the first six months of this year, 142,663 babies were born in South Korea, marking the lowest since the Statistics Korea started compiling related data in 1981. The number of newborns in June dropped to 22,193, down by 7.5 percent from 23,992 in the same month of 2019. The nation’s fertility rate -- average number of children a woman bears in her lifetime -- came to 0.92 last year, down from 0.98 in 2019. Meanwhile, the number of people who died during the first quarter reached

Netflix’s regional office in South Korea is being investigated for alleged tax avoidance, according to industry sources on Thursday. The National Tax Service made its first visit to the Netflix‘s office in Seoul and launched a probe on Wednesday. The NTS suspects the global streaming giant might have intentionally avoided paying tax by reporting fiscal deficits after sending large-sized management consultation fees to the company‘s US-based headquarters. Netflix’s o

The employment rate in South Korea dropped in the first half of this year, due to the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, according to Statistics Korea’s data Wednesday. The employment rate for cities went down by 2 percent at 58.3 percent, compared to last year, according to the data. The employment rate for counties also decreased by 0.9 percentage point to 65.9 percent. The jobless rate in Osan, Gyeonggi Province, and Gumi in North Gyeongsang Province reached 5.4 percen

The Ministry of Science and ICT said Wednesday that it will look into Google and Apple‘s in-app payment systems over claims that they apply excessive commssions to app developers using their platforms. Local app developers and businesses earlier this month asked the government to look into their in-app payment systems and see if the US tech giants are violating local laws that prohibit telecommunications service operators from obstructing users in choosing services. Local developers argu

Microsoft announced Tuesday it has opened an experience center in Hyundai Department Store branch in Gangnam-gu, southern Seoul. The company noted that its Smart Life-style Experience Store will hold exhibitions featuring the latest products. The store comes in four sections showcasing different types of products, including its gaming console Xbox, the company’s operating system, software, digital devices and character products from Minecraft. The company will also hold promotional ev

Coca-Cola Korea on Sunday said it has launched summer editions of its widely loved drinks Coke and Sprite, decorated with signature colors and graphics depicting summer activities. The company said it tried to add an uplifted spirit to its drinks against the backdrop of the new normal after the COVID-19 outbreak. Coca-Cola also expressed hopes that its drinks accompany people’s summer activities that people now tend to enjoy while staying indoors. Coca-Cola Korea’s limited edition

Samsung Electronics said Friday that it has officially launched its flagship Galaxy Note 20 phablets globally. The South Korean tech giant’s newly launched lineup, available in 70 countries, comprises the standard Note 20 and the high-end Note 20 Ultra. Samsung Electronics added that the products will be available in a total of 130 nations worldwide by mid-September. The company plans to hold launch events and promotional activities depending on the COVID-19 situation in each nation.