Naver, the largest Web portal operator in South Korea, said Wednesday it would put in great efforts to transform Gangwon Province into an innovation hub. Holding an event to mark the 100th day of its Creative Economy and Innovation Center, a start-up incubator, in the province Tuesday, Naver vowed to utilize state-of-the-art information and communications technology to grow small and medium-sized businesses in the region and help local enterprises overcome challenges caused by the geological hur

SAMSUNG ATTRACTS TOURIST SHOPPERS-- Tech giant Samsung Electronics said Tuesday that it would hold promotional events to give gifts to foreign customers who purchase Samsung products at the firm’s retail stores at duty free shops during the “Korea Grand Sale,” a nationwide shopping event for foreign tourists held from August throughout October.　(Samsung)

Dozens of Korean and foreign suppliers of Samsung Electro-Mechanics are seeking legal action against the electronics parts manufacturing unit of Samsung Group for its alleged mishandling of production contracts.BeCom, a local manufacturer, said Tuesday that the company, together with its 14 subcontractors in Korea and overseas, were suffering from combined financial losses of 46 billion won ($39 million) due to Samsung’s unilateral breach of contract. In June, BeCom inked a deal with Samsung Ele

South Korea’s leading mobile carrier KT and its financial business unit BC Card released a “versatile” smart wallet, which allows users to easily manage options for payment and rewards, from credit cards to digital coupons. Utilizing beacon, GPS and Wi-Fi technologies, the new smart mobile wallet, dubbed CLiP, automatically provides users the information of credit, debit and membership cards available at nearby coffeehouses, restaurants and retail stores. The digital wallet also suggests the bes

　삼성그룹의 전자부품 계열사인 삼성전기가 국내 중소기업 업체와의 계약을 일방적으로 위반하여 피해를 가했다는 주장이 제기되어 논란이 되고 있다.　BeCom이라는 광고기획 및 브랜드컨설팅 회사는 올해 3월 삼성전기와 갤럭시 S6용 무선충전패드(모델명:SWP-TT100)을 공급, 영업 및 판매 계약을 맺었다. 계약에 따르면 샘플제품 2만2천여개를 6월 말까지 우선 공급한 뒤 한달에 약 100만개씩 생산한다는 내용이다.　하지만 BeCom사가 6월 협력업체들과 함께 본격적인 생산에 들어가자마자 삼성전기 측은 생산 중단을 요청했다. 결과적으로 이미 구매한 자재와 새로 확충한 설비가 제대로 사용되지 않았기 때문에 비용부담만 전가했다는 설명이다.삼성전기 측이 BeCom사에게 발급한 삼성전자 갤럭시 S6용 무선충전패드 인증서.　갑작스러운 계약파기의 배경에는 삼성전자가 진행하고 있는 모바일 무선충전사업과 삼성전기가 독자적으로 진행하는 무선충전사업이 겹치면서 생긴 내부 갈등 때문일 것이라는 추측이 있다

CARD ISSUERS GET SMART -- Samsung Electronics said Tuesday that it would collaborate with 10 credit card companies to nurture the Samsung Pay mobile payment service. Executives from the tech giant and the card firms, including KB Kookmin Card, Woori Card and Samsung Card, pose at a meeting to map out ways to work together on the mobile payment system in Seoul, Tuesday. (Samsung Electronics)

SK Group is considering pouring about 46 trillion won ($38 billion) over the next few years to expand the production facilities of its chipmaking unit SK hynix, officials said Monday.The large-scale investment move came after group chairman Chey Tae-won returned to management after being released from jail following a special presidential pardon last week.Before presiding over a meeting with CEOs across group affiliates on Monday, Chey said, “I will have to move quickly and make on-site visits.”

South Korea’s top display-maker LG Display said Monday it would invest 10 trillion won ($8.5 billion) in OLED production by 2018, pledging a strategic shift to focus on the still nascent but lucrative display technology.The new investment plan was announced as part of the 20th anniversary of its LCD production at its plant in Paju, Gyeonggi Province. During the ceremony, LG Display CEO Han Sang-beom hinted at pouring considerable resources into OLED in the coming years, pinpointing the latest di

South Korea’s largest conglomerate, Samsung Group, said Monday it would create about 30,000 new jobs for young workers over the next two years.For this, Samsung will make investments worth around 100 billion won ($84.5 million) to provide vocational and educational opportunities, the officials said. Samsung Group`s headquarters in Seoul. (Yonhap)Samsung’s move is in line with the government’s efforts to improve the youth job market.“Samsung will fulfill its responsibility to society by contribut

South Korea’s leading fingerprint scanner maker CrucialTec said Monday that its fingerprint module business would continue to gain traction during the rest of this year thanks mainly to the burgeoning Chinese biometrics market. The Pangyo-headquartered firm said in its regulatory filing it would rake in around 285 billion won ($240 million) in revenue in the latter half of this year, up 280 percent compared to the same period last year. CrucialTec CEO Charles Ahn poses with fingerprint modules a

LG EYES MIDDLE EAST MARKET -- South Korean tech giant LG Electronics said Monday it would step up its marketing efforts, targeting the high-end segment of the Middle Eastern market. The company has recently opened a premium retail store in Jordan following those in Iran and Lebanon, which were launched in the first half this year. (LGE) LG EYES MIDDLE EAST MARKET -- South Korean tech giant LG Electronics said Monday it would step up its marketing efforts, targeting the high-end segment of the Mi

KT RUNS PROMOTION FOR NEW GALAXYS -- South Korea’s leading mobile carrier KT launches experience zones for Samsung Electronics’ new phablets -- Galaxy Note 5 and Galaxy S6 Edge Plus -- at its retail stores across the nation on Monday. (KT)

The nation's top two battery-makers LG Chem and Samsung SDI said Thursday that they would work together with German luxury carmaker Audi to develop battery-powered sports utility vehicles that could travel up to 500 kilometers on a single charge. Releasing separate announcements on the day, the two firms said they would supply batteries for Audi’s next-generation electric cars.“The partnership on Audi’s new project for EVs indicates the firm’s leadership in the EV battery market has been recogni

　Leading IT solutions developer SAP Korea said Thursday it would step up efforts to develop systems that can bring positive changes to sports and health care industries.　Holding the “Hyper Connected Healthcare Conference in Seoul,” the company offered visions to deploy big data and cloud technologies in the two sectors.　“The advancement in Internet of Things technologies has brought innovations in multiple industries and fields,” said Hyoung Won-joon, managing director of the Korean office of SA

　President Park Geun-hye granted special pardons Thursday to 14 convicted businessmen including SK Group chairman Chey Tae-won and some 6,500 people to mark the 70th anniversary of Korea’s Liberation Day on Aug. 15.　The Liberation Day pardons for the high-profile business tycoons are aimed at propping up the sagging economy, hit hard by the outbreak of the Middle East respiratory syndrome, and a protracted slump in exports.　“I have decided to grant special pardons in order to help forge national

    A number of trade shows, festivals, and conferences are held every year in a wide range of business sectors in South Korea. However, not a single event brings music, film and tech industries all together under one roof. That is going to change soon.　The +822 Summit conference -- to be held from Oct. 28 to 30 at Dongdaemun Design Plaza, an exhibition and cultural center in Seoul -- will serve not only as a cross-industry networking platform, but also as a bridge that links global investors an

From electronics makers to automotive manufacturers, businesses from more diverse backgrounds are jumping in the Internet of Things sector utilizing the fast network infrastructure. Hans Vestberg, president and chief executive of ICT infrastructure developer Ericsson, said that such increasing participation of different market players would create a bigger “opportunity” down the road. Ericsson CEO Hans Vestberg (right) and Arun Bansal, head of the Swedish firm’s business unit radio division atte

Payment system developer Pocket Mobile has won an award at this year’s Red Dot Award for its mobile ordering system Pocket Order.The Red Dot Award is one of the world’s most influential design product competitions, along with the iF Design Award and the IDEA awards. Mobile ordering solution Pocket Order. 　(Pocket Mobile)The start-up won a prize in the Communication Design segment, which recognizes innovative product designs and concepts in a wide range of fields including game design, online com

Tech giant Samsung Electronics said Tuesday it has successfully mass-produced a 256Gb vertical NAND flash memory for the first time in the world.The new vertical NAND, or V-NAND, flash chip stacks 48 layers of memory cells and is used for solid state drives, an advanced storage system for laptops and data servers. Samsung Electronics` 48-layer 256Gb vertical NAND flash memory. (Samsung)“With the introduction of our third generation V-NAND flash memory to the global market, we can now provide the

IT solutions developer SK Planet’s online payment service Syrup Pay is gaining traction as it saw transactions executed through the system increase fourfold since its launch in April.The total amount of transactions processed on Syrup Pay crossed the 60 billion won ($51.4 million) mark this month, up from 5 billion won recorded during the first month of its operations, according to SK Planet on Monday. IT solutions developer SK Planet said Monday that transactions processed on online payment sys