South Korea’s Hanwha Corp. announced Monday it has introduced an advanced version of its electronic detonator, called “HiTronic II,” with an aim to increase the firm’s global market share to 25 percent by 2024. 　Hanwha said in a press release that the company had succeeded in developing HiTronic II, an improved version of its predecessor, HiTronic I. Hitting the market in 2015. Hitronic I is the country’s first electronic detonator developed by a local defense firm.

　Kakao’s blockchain subsidiary Ground X on Thursday launched a public network platform for companies and developers, as dozens of regional tech giants pledged to work with it to promote blockchain-based businesses. 　Ground X said that its blockchain platform Klaytn has officially begun operations by releasing its mainnet for commercial use. Klaytn is designed for easier access and faster speed compared with existing blockchain platforms, and various companies have joined its test operation

South Korea's internet giant Naver said Tuesday it will develop a superaccurate map for autonomous driving by the year’s end, as it seeks to gain an upper hand in the futuristic technology. 　The company’s research and development subsidiary Naver Labs announced its plans to create a virtual Seoul map with 10 centimeter-level accuracy. It pledged to build a digital layout of streets 2,000 kilometers long by acquiring geographic data via aerial and land devices. 　Naver is one of few Ko

 An increasing number of mobility startups have released their business plans for ride-hailing services in cooperation with car rental companies here, further stoking controversy in the competition with the conventional taxi industry.　Mobility firm Chacha Creation said Thursday it will work with two local car rental companies to introduce a new car-sharing platform, ChaCha Van service. Limo Korea and Isaac Rental Car will partner with ChaCha to provide cars for the carpooling service schedu

　South Korean telecom firm KT announced Friday it will work with Japanese entertainment company JW2B to produce futuristic K-pop content for 5G-based smartphones using virtual and augmented technologies. 　The memorandum of understanding was signed in Tokyo on Thursday. 　The agreement allows KT users to enjoy AR- or VR-based content delivered by JW2B featuring K-pop stars’ performances in Japan. KT said the content will be available on 5G-powered smartphones and KT’s internet TV servi

　South Korea’s biggest mobile carrier SK Telecom launched Wednesday a smartphone application aimed at helping address the chronic problem of parking space shortage.　The company said it has released the Tmap Parking app to help users locate parking lots. Based on its navigation app Tmap, the service notifies drivers about available parking spaces nationwide in real time.  　Users can also purchase parking tickets via SKT’s parking app before parking at designated spaces. The servi

The South Korean government on Wednesday unveiled extensive schemes to expand industries related to the fifth-generation cellular network, with an aim to boost the Korean companies’ global market share in 5G network equipment and smartphones. The meeting, presided over by Science and ICT Minister Yoo Young-min, was attended by chiefs from SK Telecom, KT and LG Uplus, along with mobile division leaders from Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics.The participants launched the “5G plus

　South Korean telecommunications firm KT said Tuesday it will invest up to 500 billion won ($421 million) in expanding its cloud computing business, with an aim to target government agencies and financial firms. 　During a press conference in Seoul, KT announced its five-year business plan to support companies’ efforts to migrate massive data to cloud servers. KT pledged to increase the country’s cloud services market to 7 trillion won by 2023. 　As the government is seeking to ease re

South Korea’s internet giant Naver said Monday it has introduced a mobile payment system that can be used at stores in Japan, a move that the company said could help Koreans traveling there have a better shopping experience.According to the firm, its users can purchase items in Japan via its own mobile payment service Naver Pay. Using the tool called Cross-Border service, the users can carry out electronic payments by swiping a QR code with mobile devices.  The service is available at

  South Korea’s biggest mobile carrier SK Telecom said Sunday it will develop the sixth-generation network technology with Nokia and Ericsson, as the Korean government seeks to enhance economic ties with Nordic countries. The telecom firm signed memorandums of understanding for research and development cooperation with the two companies based in Finland and Sweden. The agreement with Nokia and Ericson was made on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively, at their headquarters. While

　LG CNS, the information technology services unit of South Korea’s LG Group, said Sunday it will work with Microsoft to develop advanced business platforms to improve its working environment. 　The company said that it has signed a memorandum of understanding with Microsoft to develop cloud-based business platforms. The agreement was reached on Friday at Microsoft’s Asia-Pacific headquarters in Singapore. 　The new platforms are designed to incorporate Microsoft’s advanced softwa

 　South Korean companies will experience faster, more predictable and applicant-friendly patent system in the future both here and overseas as efforts are underway to create an efficient and transparent ecosystem, the country’s top intellectual property official said on Thursday.　During his interview with The Korea Herald, Intellectual Property Office Commissioner Park Won-joo said top IP officials from five major countries agreed to streamline patent registration processes for applic

　With companies around the world searching for new business opportunities with the fifth-generation cellular network, augmented reality appears to be a crucial technology in maximizing the effects of 5G, offering new content experiences to consumers, namely in gaming.　The country’s three major mobile carriers have been scrambling to find AR-based contents that could prove as popular as mega-hit game “Pokemon Go.” But questions linger as to whether the new network service will s

The photo-sharing application Instagram is gaining popularity faster than any other social media app in South Korea with young Koreans leading the trend, a survey showed Tuesday. According to the survey of 33,000 Android smartphone users carried out last month by Wise App, time spent on Instagram amounted to a combined total of 2.6 billion minutes for all respondents -- a 73 percent increase from the same period a year before. Instagram’s on-year growth in Korea was stronger than that of o

　Those living in South Korea are expected to enjoy the benefits of hyper-speed internet in every nook and cranny of the country from as early as next year, as the Korean government pledged to designate it “mandatory business” for internet service providers.　The Ministry of Science and ICT said Monday that it will mandate telecommunications companies provide ultra-fast internet to every part of South Korea. The initiative is to be enforced on Jan. 1, 2020 via government decree, the mi