South Korea’s Incheon Airport has adopted an employee identification system using iris scanning technology, with aims to expand the biometrics ID system to all general airport users by as early as 2020, according to local news reports Sunday. 　If applied to the airport’s passenger check-in system, the system would allow people to pass customs and board airplanes via iris scanning, removing the need to present a physical passport. As of this month, Incheon Airport has reportedly installed an iris

Line, the Japan-based mobile messenger under South Korean internet giant Naver, has announced plans to launch five new decentralized apps, or DApps, running on its proprietary blockchain network, Link Chain. The company said Friday that DApps focusing on various service categories including prediction, question-and-answer, product review, food review and location review will be introduced in the coming weeks, kicking off Line’s efforts to build up a token economy system.As part of the move, Line

Four out of 10 South Korean users of YouTube spend an hour or more watching videos on the platform on a daily basis, according to survey results recently released by local pollster Embrain.Of 1,000 Korean YouTube users aged 19-59 surveyed, 42.58 percent responded that they spend at least one hour on the video platform each day. The proportion of those who were spending more than three hours on YouTube was 5.2 percent.By demographic, the majority of those who responded they were watching more tha

South Korean cybersecurity service provider Raonsecure said Thursday that its FIDO biometrics authentication solution has received FIDO2 certification from the FIDO Alliance, an organization that standardizes and promotes interoperability among authentication devices.　Raonsecure obtained the FIDO2 certification in two categories. The company’s TouchEn OnePass system was certified for the server section while the Raon FIDO Dongle was certified in the authentication device area.TouchEn OnePass is

South Korean biopharma company GC Pharma said Friday that the US Food and Drug Administration has delayed the approval of the firm’s immunodeficiency drug IVIG-SN, demanding additional data related to the drug’s manufacturing procedures.The company had initially expected the US FDA to grant final approval for IVIG-SN, short for human normal immunoglobulin G for intravenous administration, this month.The company noted that the drug’s safety and efficacy are solid, as the product is already being

Dunamu, the operator of South Korea’s leading cryptocurrency exchange Upbit, said Friday its blockchain tech research lab Lambda256 has released a beta version of its decentralized app, or dApp, builder solution “Luniverse.”Luniverse is the Dunamu-owned research unit’s proprietary blockchain service development platform that lets developers build various dApps and run token economy systems in an easier and faster manner. Using Luniverse, developers can immediately launch their planned blockchain

The National Assembly on Thursday passed a bill that grants a regulatory sandbox for new businesses in the information and communication technology sector, a development that is expected to speed up the adoption and commercialization of next-generation technologies in Korea. The bill to amend the Special Act on Promotion and Vitalization of Convergence of Information and Communications Technology was passed into law on Thursday, according to the Ministry of Science and ICT.The changes include th

Celltrion said Thursday that it had signed an “incubation” agreement with US-based Emory University to jointly research and develop new drug candidates for atherosclerosis.　An incubation agreement is an open innovation arrangement in which a firm provides its resources and business capabilities, such as research facilities, workforce and operations consulting, to an external research institute.The arrangement aims to ensure the autonomy of the research while obtaining preferential rights to disc

Global pharmaceutical companies operating in South Korea locally invested a combined 271 billion won ($242 million) in clinical research and development in 2017, marking a 5.9 percent increase in R&D funding from the previous year, according to the Korea Research-based Pharma Industry Association.　KRPIA is a business association consisting of the Korean units of 28 foreign pharma companies, including Allergan, Amgen, Boehringer Ingelheim, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Bayer, AstraZeneca, Novartis, Pfize

Kakao Pay, the mobile pay solutions unit of South Korean mobile messaging giant Kakao, said Wednesday that its QR code payment option is now available at more than 100,000 partner stores nationwide.　The feat was achieved within just three months of launching its QR pay service, Kakao Pay said. QR code pay is a mobile payment and acceptance method through which customers can make payments by scanning a QR code, instead of paying with cash or a credit or debit card. Of the merchants that have adop

South Korean biopharma company Celltrion said Wednesday it was “undecided” on the location for its third biologics manufacturing plant, denying a local report that alleged the company had confirmed Singapore as the final location for the new facility.“Celltrion is currently wrapping up steps to add 50,000 liters of expanded capacity to its first plant based in Songdo, Incheon. At this point, we’d like to clarify that nothing has been decided on the location of the third plant,” Celltrion said in

Riot Games has opened an esports arena and culture entertainment complex for its hit online battle arena game “League of Legends” in Seoul. The US game maker said it had invested around 100 billion won ($88.9 million) in the new space, dubbed LoL Park, which is located on the third floor of the Gran Seoul building in Jongno, central Seoul. The space includes an esports arena for “League of Legends” players that can seat 400 spectators. It will host the 2018 LoL World Championship next month and

Kakao, the operator of South Korea’s most popular mobile messenger KakaoTalk, has officially adopted a new feature that lets users delete sent messages within five minutes of their delivery. The update has been applied as of Tuesday.　However, once a user deletes a message, the phrase “this message has been deleted” appears in place of the removed message on both the sender’s and receiver’s chatroom, leaving a conspicuous record of the deletion.　To delete a message, users can long-press a given m

Last year, South Korean game company Bluehole made its mark in the global gaming landscape with its hit survivor shooting game “PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds,” now available on PCs, consoles and mobile devices.With aims to go beyond the success of “PUBG,” the Seoul-based game company is now out to entice gamers in the West with a mobile game in the genre of real-time strategy games: “Castle Burn.”Developed by Delusion Studio, part of the Bluehole Group, “Castle Burn” is a mobile RTS game in whic

SMILEGATE SHOWCASES ‘LOST ARK’ -- Smilegate RPG CEO Jee Won-gil introduces the company’s latest massively multiplayer online role-playing game, “Lost Ark,” during a media event in Seoul on Monday. Smilegate is accepting preorders for “Lost Ark” until Nov. 5. The game will officially be released Nov. 7. (Yonhap)