Researchers visualize floral scent in real time for first time

Researchers at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology said they succeeded in real-time visualization and measurement of floral scent emission for the first time in the world. Using optical interferometry, research teams led by mechanical engineering professor Kim Hyoung-soo and biological sciences professor Kim Sang-gyu measured the frequency with which lily flowers emit scents. Floral scent sampling methods using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry have been used to measure t

May 10, 2022

One Store out to challenge Google, Apple app store monopolies with IPO

South Korea’s homegrown app marketplace One Store aims to challenge Google and Apple, two US tech giants that enjoy a near-monopoly in the whopping 300 trillion won ($235 billion) app store market globally, with its forthcoming stock market debut here. One Store, the nation’s sole operator of an app store of the same name, is a merged entity of the nation’s four app stores that was previously operated separately by SK Telecom, KT, LG Uplus and Naver. Now it is an affiliate of

May 9, 2022

LG Chem, KIST develop tech for efficient carbon dioxide conversion

LG Chem and the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) have developed a technology that efficiently turns carbon dioxide into carbon monoxide, which is used to produce alternative fuels and plastic. The two parties have developed an electrochemical reactor for converting carbon dioxide into carbon monoxide at the highest level of efficiency through joint research, the company said. Carbon monoxide is needed to produce alternative fuel sources such as synthesis gas and methanol, as we

May 9, 2022

[Market Eye] Will Lee Jae-yong’s return revitalize Samsung?

 Even as it reported record revenue over the last three quarters, shares in Samsung Electronics have fallen over the past year, indicating weak market confidence in the tech giant’s prospects as inflation and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine threaten the general economy. Not all is well at the company, despite the strong bottom line. The memory chip business is suffering from weak pricing, and its chip foundry investments are lagging behind rivals TSMC and Intel. Meanwhile it is s

May 8, 2022

SK Telecom, Deutsche Telekom forge metaverse alliance

South Korea’s No. 1 mobile carrier SK Telecom said Sunday it has inked a strategic alliance with German counterpart Deutsche Telekom to bring its metaverse platform to European market. SK Telecom said in a statement the two companies will carry out a field test for metaverse operation in Europe before the end of 2022, create contents that work on the virtual world and implement a marketing for metaverse migration in Europe. SK Telecom premiered an international version of its own ifland m

May 8, 2022

SK Shieldus withdraws IPO on jittery market sentiment

SK Shieldus, the South Korean security service subsidiary of SK Group’s ICT arm SK Square, said on Friday that it has scrapped its plans for market debut, citing dampened investor sentiment. “We have submitted a delisting notice to the Financial Supervisory Service because the recent demand forecasting, which decides initial public offering prices, showed that our corporate value may not be well received,” the company said. Stressing that market sentiment has turned sour fol

May 6, 2022

[Photo News] May the fourth be with you

A man stares at a life-sized Darth Vader made of lego cubes on display at E-Mart Wangshimri branch in Seoul in collaboration with Walt Disney Korea on Wednesday, celebrated as Star Wars Day among fans.

May 4, 2022

Battery, K-pop, virtual currency firms rise on top 500 list

The list of South Korea’s 500 biggest companies by sales saw significant changes last year, with the rise of battery, K-pop and virtual currency firms, a corporate tracker said Wednesday. Battery maker LG Energy Solution jumped from No. 343 in 2020 to No. 44 last year on the annual list released by CEO Score as its shipments of pouch- and cylinder-type batteries surged on growing global demand for electric cars. Camera module supplier LG Innotek went from No. 68 to No. 48 in the same per

May 4, 2022

Cha Biotech’s US subsidiary opens CGT production facility

Cha Biotech’s US subsidiary Matica Biotechnology has opened a new cell and gene therapy production facility to boost its contract development and manufacturing organization business on the global stage, officials said Wednesday. With a 500-liter bioreactor, the new CDMO facility, based in College Station, Texas, will produce various types of viral vectors that are the essential basis of cell and gene therapy, according to Cha Biotech. The company said that Matica Biotechnology is curre

May 4, 2022

Samsung unveils memory card that records video for 16 years non-stop

Samsung Electronics unveiled Wednesday a long-lasting nonvolatile micro SD card for surveillance cameras that can deliver up to 16 years of continuous recording time without replacement. The product, branded as “Pro Endurance,” can last up to 33 times longer than typical speed-focused SD cards, for its largest 256-gigabyte capacity variant, according to the South Korean tech giant. The micro SD card can be used for surveillance cameras like closed circuit televisions, dashboard ca

May 4, 2022

Samsung to back Dish’s 5G rollout in US

Samsung Electronics said Wednesday it was selected by Dish Wireless, the fourth-largest telecom carrier in the United States, to jointly deploy a commercial fifth-generational network across the country. Samsung said it would become the second-largest network equipment supply deal in the US if signed, following a $6.6 billion contract with Verizon announced in 2020. The size of the deal was not disclosed, but local reports speculate the deal to be as large as 1 trillion won ($794 million). The

May 4, 2022

New tech, new war: Naver, Kakao race for AI dominance

With digital technology becoming the key drivers for growth across industries, South Korea’s tech behemoths Naver and Kakao are going all-in to win the tech war using artificial intelligence through AI-powered search engines and logistics solutions businesses. Naver announced Tuesday it has made upgrades to its AI search engine, called “Airsearch,” now offering more optimized search results for users. “Since the Naver mobile app has access to users’ personal info

May 3, 2022

Korean scientists develop world’s 1st photothermal filters that kill coronavirus

South Korean scientists have developed the world’s first photothermal-effect-based high efficiency particulate air filter -- also known as HEPA filter -- that can take out 99.9 percent of influenza and COVID-19 viruses, the Korea Institute of Energy Research said Tuesday. The photothermal effect, which refers to the mechanism of how a substance absorbs light energy and turns it into heat energy, is used in various areas such as drug delivery, cell death, sensor and solar battery. The re

May 3, 2022

NFTs: Korean companies' latest marketing tool

Non-fungible tokens have become the latest marketing tool by South Korean companies, as many of them are issuing the digital asset to garner attention from young customers. Hyundai Motor said Tuesday it will launch a new collection of 10,000 Shooting Star NFTs on May 9 through its NFT marketplace. The collection is a sequel to a short film released last month by the carmaker and Meta Kongz, a local blockchain technology platform company and the creator of an NFT brand of the same name. The la

May 3, 2022

Korea to tighten measures for ESS safety as batteries catch fire

The Energy Ministry on Tuesday proposed a new set of tightened measures to prevent lithium-ion batteries mounted on energy storage systems in South Korea from catching fire. The government will seek to revise the law to force battery vendors in Korea to make sure that the ESS field has ground-fault detectors to prevent current flow from running on the ground, a fire extinguishing system and devices to mitigate the internal pressure of a battery cell, in the event of a thermal runaway where the

May 3, 2022

Experts, businesses discuss building new reality, opportunity in metaverse

Experts and entrepreneurs got together in Seoul Monday to discuss the ways industries in South Korea and the US are enthusiastically embracing emerging technologies required for the metaverse, and the legal framework that is adapting to the new ecosystem in Korea. Taglined “The Rise of Metaverse and What It Holds for the Future,” the Metaverse Forum 2022, co-hosted by The Korea Herald, the nation’s largest English-language newspaper, and the American Chamber of Commerce in Ko

May 2, 2022

AMAXG begins DAO project to foster musical talents, pursue shared values

An affiliate of blockchain company AMAXG has begun a project to protect music copyrights, and find and foster musical talent through a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO). A DAO is a member-owned community without centralized leadership and represented by transparent rules fixed in computer code. DAO’s financial transaction records and program rules are maintained on a blockchain. AMAXG IX, AMAXG Group’s affiliate specializing in DAOs, said it has begun the BIZA M DAO proje

May 2, 2022

The Korea Herald, AmCham Korea to hold Metaverse Forum 2022

With the growing buzz around the metaverse driven by every sector of industry around the world, The Korea Herald and the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) in Korea are co-hosting a forum on Monday to discuss what the hyper-interactive virtual world holds for the future. The two-hour forum, held from 1 p.m. at Four Seasons Seoul, has invited a number of business leaders and experts, who are leading the rise of the metaverse to share their insights on the recent frenzy and how it will shape

May 1, 2022

Samsung under fire for controversial ad of women running at night

Samsung Electronics is under fire for being “tone deaf” over women‘s safety, as the South Korean tech giant issued an apology Friday for an advertisement of a woman running down a street after midnight. The advertisement was meant to promote health and wellness as part of its “Night Owls” campaign, as well as a multidevice experience using Samsung’s wearable devices such as wireless earbuds and a smart watch. The advertisement, created by Ogilvy, had over 15

April 29, 2022

LG reports record quarterly earnings on upbeat TV, appliance sales

LG Electronics on Thursday reported its best quarterly earnings in the first quarter this year, largely driven by the pent-up demand for TVs and home appliances amid the protracted coronavirus pandemic. For the January-March period, the firm posted 21.11 trillion won ($16.6 billion) in sales and 1.88 trillion won in operating profits, up 18.5 percent and 6.4 percent, respectively, from a year ago. Both were the highest quarterly figures for the South Korean tech giant. Its home appliance and

April 28, 2022