[Weekender] Metaverse technologies bring health care to doorsteps

South Korea’s health care sector is breaking physical barriers with the rise of the metaverse and its core technologies -- virtual reality and artificial intelligence. As the COVID-19 pandemic has limited most offline interactions for the past two years, metaverse technologies that ultimately envision a shared virtual space where people can interact with each other and carry out lifelike activities and tasks have been brought to the fore. Unlike the traditional health care sector that

June 11, 2022

Samsung chief’s brother-in-law elected first Asian ISU President

Kim Jae-youl, a council member of the International Skating Union, was elected president of the organization at the ISU Congress held on Friday in Phuket, Thailand. Kim, the brother-in-law of tech giant Samsung’s de facto leader Lee Jae-yong, has become the first non-European to lead the ISU since its foundation in 1892. The candidate from South Korea is a short-track speed skating powerhouse who won 77 out of 119 possible votes. Kim will serve as ISU president until 2026. He earlier p

June 10, 2022

Police decline to refer Samsung chief to prosecution for alleged employment violation

Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong has steered clear of a legal risk involving his alleged violation of a restriction on his employment that is effective until 2026. The Seoul Metropolitan Police decided not to refer the case involving the 53-year-old de facto leader of the South Korea-based tech giant to the prosecution, considering he was not paid for his casual work as an unregistered director, according to activist groups on Friday. Seven civil activist groups, including the C

June 10, 2022

DataStreams to join state-led big data project on infectious diseases

South Korean data processing solution developer DataStreams said Wednesday that it has been chosen as a preferred bidder by the Ministry of Science and ICT and the National Information Society Agency, or NIA, to participate in a project to create a big data platform for infectious diseases. DataStreams is currently in negotiations with the NIA and is set to officially sign the deal later this month. The project worth 7 billion won ($5.5 million) will create a database to integrate informatio

June 10, 2022

LG Uplus to launch AI voicebot, recommendation tools

South Korean telecommunications carrier LG Uplus is poised to discover more commercial use cases of artificial intelligence, as it looks to launch a voicebot for mom-and-pop stores and a personalized recommendation system for its TV viewers and online shoppers, its data head told a news conference on Thursday. LG Uplus aims to launch a new conversational voicebot service that understands the natural speech of human customers and interacts with them by as early as August this year. This differe

June 9, 2022

KT vows to spend W27tr on network, AI, cloud over 5 years

South Korean telecommunications giant KT said Thursday it plans to spend a combined 27 trillion won ($21.5 billion) in the field of network infrastructure, artificial intelligence and cloud computing over the next five years until 2026. KT, Korea‘s largest telecommunications firm by revenue as of 2021, also pledged to hire 28,000 employees during the same period. The 12 trillion won package will be used for AI, cloud computing and media contents. KT will hone AI-powered products such a

June 9, 2022

Merck completes expansion of OLED facilities in Pyeongtaek

Merck Korea, the local subsidiary of the German science and technology giant, said Thursday that it has completed expansion work of its local production plant in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province. In October 2020, the company announced plans to invest 20 million euros ($21 million) into expanding facilities at the plant to produce key materials for organic light-emitting diode displays that had been imported from Germany. “We can now quickly respond to customer requests and demands in Asia

June 9, 2022

SK hynix to supply industry’s first HBM3 chip to Nvidia

SK hynix said Thursday it has started mass production of HBM3, the world’s best-performing DRAM, or dynamic random access memory, product, with the first batch being supplied to US chip giant Nvidia. Referring to high-bandwidth memory, the latest development vertically interconnects multiple DRAM chips, drastically increasing data processing speed compared to traditional DRAM chips. The latest HBM3 DRAM is the fourth generation of its HBM product. SK hynix, the world’s second-lar

June 9, 2022

LG Chem rises to world’s No. 3 chemical brand

Petrochemicals-to-battery materials company LG Chem has become the third most valuable chemical brand in the world, up a notch from a year earlier, data showed Wednesday. LG Chem’s brand value, estimated at $4.3 billion, followed that of Germany-based BASF and Saudi Arabia-based Sabic, according to London-headquartered consulting firm Brand Finance. LG Chem’s brand valuation rose over 19 percent compared to the estimate of the previous year. This is the highest point LG Chem has

June 8, 2022

All eyes on Lee Jae-yong’s Europe trip

Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong on Tuesday left for Europe, home to key partners of the world’s largest memory chip maker’s renewed push for chip supremacy.  Upon his departure from Seoul’s Gimpo Airport earlier in the day, some 50 journalists shouted questions on the purpose of the trip and plans for any new deals, but the Samsung chief declined to answer any of them. Lee’s Europe trip comes six months after his last trip to the Middle East in Dec

June 7, 2022

Samsung’s Lee Jae-yong poised for 2-week trip to Europe

Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong is poised to embark on a two-week trip to Europe on Tuesday, highlighting the South Korean chip-to-consumer electronics giant’s need for a breakthrough. Also under the spotlight is whether the largest conglomerate in Korea would be looking to secure a new growth driver in Europe, coupled with Samsung‘s fresh investment pledge announced earlier in May. The Seoul Central District Court on Thursday approved Lee’s absence from the t

June 6, 2022

[From the Scene] 'Danuri' all set for Korea's first moon exploration

DAEJEON -- South Korea is gearing up to become the seventh nation in the world to carry out a lunar probe mission with its first lunar orbiter set for an Aug. 2 launch. The country's first lunar mission, which has been named "Danuri" through a nationwide naming contest, has completed the final stages of space tests including durability checkups against extreme temperatures and electromagnetic waves at the Korea Aerospace Research Institute. It is waiting to be transported to its laun

June 6, 2022

AI uses digital waste for upcycled clothing design

Tilda, a virtual artist powered by the artificial intelligence engine of South Korean conglomerate LG, has showcased 30 upcycled clothing designs on World Environment Day that fell on Sunday, according to the company Monday. The collection on the metaverse comprising 13 jackets, 14 trousers and three hats, dubbed the “Digital Upcycling Project,” was designed to highlight using digital waste to reduce carbon footprint. In its first solo fashion collection, Tilda combined digital w

June 6, 2022

Rsquare makes foray into Singapore’s real estate market

South Korean real estate platform Rsquare said Thursday it has collected over 65,000 pieces of commercial real estate data in Singapore, officially launching its business in the major Asia-Pacific hub. The company has compiled both quantitative and qualitative data on office buildings, hotels, distribution centers, factories and other commercial buildings in Singapore’s principal districts. “Just like in South Korea and Vietnam, our employees went on foot, visited office buildings

June 2, 2022

Samsung, Naver team up for Korea’s first private 5G network

Samsung Electronics said Thursday it is teaming up with internet giant Naver to set up the nation’s first-ever private 5G network. The private wireless 5G network, designed to support secure and data-intensive communications of a specific entity within a specific area, will be deployed in Naver’s second headquarters building, called Naver 1784, in the tech hub Bundang district of Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province. The private network, alongside automated logistics technology by Hyundai

June 2, 2022

[Market Eye] Qualcomm reignites Arm consortium talks, SK hynix alliance

The latest open remarks by US tech giant Qualcomm’s CEO Cristiano Amon has reignited speculation that the firm would purchase a stake in SoftBank-backed chip designer Arm through a consortium with global chipmaking rivals including South Korean firm SK hynix. This highlights the growing cash pile-up of South Korea-based memory chip designer and manufacturer SK hynix, coupled with its parent SK Group’s 142.2 trillion won ($114.6 billion) spending pledge in semiconductors over the nex

June 1, 2022

Kakao’s ‘Metaverse Work System’ faces internal resistance

South Korean tech giant Kakao said Wednesday that it will revise its Metaverse Work System that would allow employees to work remotely but connect them online at all times, after it drew ire over excessive monitoring. Kakao CEO Namkoong Whon said in an announcement to staff that he will consider changing the ground rules, including those involving mandatory real-time voice calls among colleagues and set working hours. “After the beta test of the new work system, team members can vote on

June 1, 2022

Kakao to implement 'metaverse work'

All Kakao employees will be required to work remotely for at least four days a week from July as part of a new "metaverse work" system, the IT giant said Monday. During the testing period of the new working system, which will begin from July 1, employees are to work from outside the office for four days a week. For the remaining day, employees will have to meet offline but the meeting does not have to take place at the company office, a Kakao official said. All work-related items wil

May 30, 2022

Samsung, Intel chiefs meet in Seoul for chip collaboration

Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman and de facto leader Lee Jae-yong met Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger, the company said Monday, raising expectations over a possible collaboration amid an intensifying race for next-generation chip technology. The heads of the world’s No. 1 and No. 2 companies in the chip industry by revenue held a meeting during Gelsinger‘s visit to Seoul. He flew to Korea after attending the 2022 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Samsung’s $82.3 billion rev

May 30, 2022

Naver launches AI call service aimed at seniors

Tech giant Naver said Monday that it has officially launched an artificial intelligence-based call service for older people who live alone. The service, Clova AI Contact Center Solution, is operated by the company’s AI technology Hyperclova, which calls and checks up on users about their eating habits, sleeping patterns and potential health problems. The AI has adopted high-quality voice synthesis and voice recognition engines to allow for seamless conversation with users, as if they ar

May 30, 2022