LG OVEN RANGE RECOGNIZED FOR INNOVATION --LG Electronics said Monday its premium oven range, dubbed the LG Studio, had been picked as the 2015 Product of the Year in the kitchen and bath category by leading U.S. monthly magazine Architectural Record. (LGE)

　The number of subscribers for Facebook-owned social-networking service Instagram in Korea grew at the fastest pace in the world this year, according to Facebook Korea on Monday. 　Benjamin Joe, the country manager of Facebook Korea, announced this during a press meeting at the firm’s head office in Seoul. 　Although he refused to reveal the exact number of users here, he said the entire number of users worldwide crossed 400 million and is on the rise. Facebook Korea country manager Benjamin Joe s

TOKYO/SEOUL--A suspicious-looking box with possible links to an anti-Korean group was found at the South Korean consulate general in Yokohoma Saturday, officials said.The box, which is 35 centimeters long, 15 centimeters wide and 5 centimeters tall, was discovered by a consulate official in the parking area outside the building, according to the consulate officials.A note on the box read, "This is revenge for the blast in Yasukuni," together with the name of a Japanese organization that has led

South and North Korea resumed high-level talks on Saturday after an adjournment as they are seeking to explore ways of mending ties following heightened cross-border tension in August. Officials from the two Koreas talk at a meeting held in Kaeseong, North Korea on Friday. (Yonhap)The two Koreas reopened vice-ministerial talks at a joint industrial complex in the North's border city of Kaesong Saturday morning as they failed to conclude the meeting a day earlier.The rival Koreas appeared to have

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un inspected a catfish farm, calling it a "model and standard farm" for the country's pisciculture, the North's state media said Saturday.It was his first visit to the May 9 Catfish Farm since December last year, when he named it after the day his father and late leader Kim Jong-il visited the farm for the first time. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. (Yonhap)"Kim Jong-un, first secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea, first chairman of the DPRK National Defense Comm

South Korean stocks are expected to enjoy a short-term rebound next week as uncertainty could be reduced after the Federal Reserve's rate-setting meeting, analysts said Saturday.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) closed at 1,948.62 on Friday, down 1.3 percent from a week earlier. This marked the second straight week of declines. (123rf)The heightened possibility of a U.S. rate hike and worries over the low crude oil prices weighed on investor sentiment. Foreign investors led

LG’S UNESCO CAMPAIGN -- Participants of the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference COP21 watch LG Electronics’ organic light-emitting display TV featuring royal penguins on Macquarie Island, Australia. The South Korean tech giant ran a campaign with UNESCO to raise awareness of natural assets and endangered species at the conference held from Nov. 30 to Friday.(LGE)

SKT OPENS LAB FOR VR -- SK Telecom launched a research and development center Thursday for virtual reality technology called the OpenNFV Lab together with network equipment firm Hewlett Packard Enterprise in Bundang, Gyeonggi Province. In the photo, Park Jin-hyo (fifth from left), head of SKT’s network technology research and development center, poses with officials from both firms at the opening ceremony of the lab.(SKT)

SAMSUNG UHD TV SWEEPS AWARD -- Samsung Electronics’ ultrahigh-definition TV lineup, the JS9500, has received the Best of What’s New award, the tech giant said Thursday. U.S. science magazine Popular Science picks the greatest innovations every year in different industrial categories including aerospace, auto and entertainment for the accolade. (Samsung Electronics) SAMSUNG UHD TV SWEEPS AWARD -- Samsung Electronics’ ultrahigh-definition TV lineup, the JS9500, has received the Best of What’s New

Busan’s posh seaside district of Haeundae is getting a hi-tech makeover, with smart streetlamps, GPS trackers for kids, smart parking solutions and traffic lights, and smart energy controllers for buildings and shops. The transformation is being led by Korea’s mobile network operator SK Telecom, which is set to showcase its smart-city technologies and services already up and running in the southern port city on Friday.  Busan city government staffers work at a smart search center for missing chi

Online game developer NCSoft plans to spend a whopping 60 billion won ($51 million) for dividend payouts to shareholders.The company said in its regulatory filing Wednesday that it would pay its shareholders a cash dividend of 2,747 won per share, which amounts to 60 billion won. Around 219 million shares are eligible for dividend payment. Kim Taek-jin, CEO of NCSoft, speaks on the firm`s plan for mobile games next year in Seoul on Wednesday. (Yonhap)The firm’s dividend payout this year is 12 pe

In the global tech scene, Chinese upstarts armed with price competitiveness and aggressive marketing are a growing force, often posing a challenge to the traditional, bigger and more technologically advanced players. And in their push to go global, these companies are not shying away from Korea, the home turf of Samsung and LG. Xiaomi, the Chinese smartphone-maker often mocked as a copycat of U.S.-based Apple, has recently joined hands with Qualcomm to share patented mobile network technologies,

COMMUNICATION BETWEEN OBJECTS -- SK Telecom said Wednesday that it has signed a memorandum of understanding with network equipment maker Nokia to jointly research and develop a network technology, called the narrow band Long-Term Evolution, which allows low power machine-to-machine communication. (SKT) COMMUNICATION BETWEEN OBJECTS -- SK Telecom said Wednesday that it has signed a memorandum of understanding with network equipment maker Nokia to jointly research and develop a network technology,

Chinese network equipment firm Huawei launched its budget smartphone, dubbed the X3, in Korea more than a year ago, but has struggled to secure customers in a market dominated by Samsung, Apple and LG.Huawei Korea chief executive Kelvin Ding, however, is “not disappointed.” At a press conference in Seoul on Tuesday, he stressed that the company was “doing great in other sectors,” in particular, in its strategic focus segment of the business-to-business market. “Our main focus is the B2B segment,

EXPANDING MOBILE PAYMENT SYSTEM -- Samsung Electronics said Tuesday that rechargeable public transportation cards T-Money and Cashbee are now available on its mobile payment solution Samsung Pay. (Samsung Electronics)

As part of its Internet of Things drive in China, SK Telecom, the nation’s largest telecommunications company, has formed a partnership with WASU Digital TV Media Group, one of China’s largest media businesses Monday, aimed at developing smart devices and conducting joint marketing activities for smart robots and video projectors, the company said in a press release. WASU operates media platforms for mobile and traditional paid-TV services. The state-run Chinese firm has around 1.5 billion subsc

LG Uplus, Korea’s third-largest mobile network operator, said Monday it has developed a smart monitoring system for parking lots that deploys the company’s Long-Term Evolution technology.The parking lot monitoring system utilizing the “narrow band LTE” technology allows long-distance communications between sensors installed in parking lots, smartphones and digital devices, with which users can check vacant spots and find their cars. LG Uplus staffers pose with a smart parking solution utilizing

Mobile carrier SK Telecom’s desire to increase its presence beyond the mobile network industry into the media content platform segment has sparked a backlash from its rival network operators KT and LG Uplus.SKT, which has Internet Protocol TV operator SK Broadband under its wing, has been pushing to acquire Korea’s top cable TV operator CJ Hellovision. Park Hyung-il, an executive of LG Uplus, gives a speech at a press conference last week in Seoul, opposing to SK Telecom’s proposed plan to acqui

Leading mattress-maker Simmons Bedding Company has launched a new luxury bed dubbed the Four Seasons Bed exclusively designed in collaboration with six-star hotel Four Seasons in Korea. 　The special beds, launched under so-called private brands, were designed to offer users three levels of softness to reflect the hotel’s aim to “offer customers the best sleeping experience possible,” according to Simmons.　These “private brand” beds are featured at other high-end hotels in Seoul, including the We

Noon Square, a shopping mall in the heart of Myeong-dong, Seoul’s main shopping district, is holding a holiday sales event this month.　　Discounts of up to 70 percent are offered at most global brands in the mall, including H&M, which is offering up to 50 percent off various goods until Dec. 13.　Foot Locker is presenting discounts of up to 70 percent until Dec. 31 while Charles & Keith, Raum Edition and Waylon Shop are offering 30-50 percent discounts on select items.　Meanwhile, Shoespa is handin