SK Telecom, one of the nation’s top three mobile communications operators, aims at penetrating the “big data market,” or numerous online responses on market products, with a new analytic platform.“Smart Insight 2.0,” the new analytic IT platform, analyzes online reviews and SNS postings such as tweets, blog postings and online news reviews, which are then processed into management information, SK Telecom said Sunday. “Online ‘big data’ gives helpful implications in numbers that are incomparable

New opportunities abound for further political and economic cooperation between Europe and Asia, former French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin said in an economic forum hosted by the French Korean Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Wednesday.About 90 French and Korean business and government leadership, including French ambassador to Korea Fabrice Legerri, FKCCI chairman David-Pierre Jalicon, Incheon Free Economic Zone high officials and leading French entrepreneurs attended the forum entit

SK Telecom T.um, an exhibition center run by information technology company SK Telecom, said Monday that it launched an experience zone with devices using the latest technologies on display. Celebrating its fourth anniversary, the exhibition center went through a series of renovations to offer opportunities for its visitors to experience the latest long term evolution technologies and the newest solutions in education and medicine. The IT company also installed “Smart Robot,” one of the most pop

Embattled Woongjin Group disappointed many an eager intern when it retracted its promise to make regular employees of the majority of those who completed an 8-week internship. In June, months before it was forced to apply for court receivership due to financial difficulties, Woongjin accepted about 100 interns. About 80 percent of them were expected to become regular employees, but Woongjin said only 20 interns would be accepted, ChosunBiz.com reported on Friday. Remarking that the company had a

The smartphone application hits “KakaoStory” and “Anipang the Puzzle” have become the nation’s most popular sources of mobile entertainment, research has found.Launched on March 20 this year, KakaoStory provides a cyber forum for users to put up daily photos and add comments, similar to a personal blog. The application made a rapid expansion in seven months since launching, with about 650 million postings, 6 billion comments and 11 million daily hits. Kakao, the developer firm of social network

S-Oil Corp. has donated funds to the family of a firefighter who died on duty only a couple days before Chuseok, the Korean thanksgiving, the company said on Tuesday. The country’s third-largest oil refiner delivered 30 million won ($27,000) to the bereaved family of Kim Seong-eun, the deceased firefighter.Kim died after inhaling an excessive amount of toxic gas while extinguishing fire at a corporate warehouse in Namyangju, Gyeonggi Province, on Sept. 27. The firefighter was immediately transfe

Goods and drugs that were illegally imported online rose by more than one-quarter from last year to reach 541.1 billion won ($486 million) during the first eight months of this year, the Korea Customs Service announced on Tuesday.The state-run customs agency said there were 22 more cases than in the same period last year, while the sales volume climbed by 125.4 billion won. “These illegal goods usually enter the country through express mail services or courier services that are registered as les

S-Oil Science Prodigy and Culture Foundation has decided to support “International Knowledge Donation Program,” the oil company said Tuesday. The program is organized as an extension of “Encore Korea Project,” a project for transferring overseas the on-site experience and knowledge of retired Korean veteran scientists and technologists to developing countries. Founded in 2011, the non-profit foundation has donated about 300 million won ($270,000) so far to the Korea Technology and Research Insti

Korean tobacco farmers joined a worldwide anti-regulation protest Tuesday in Manila, the Philippines, voicing opposition to measures to curb tobacco farming expected to be announced at a tobacco control convention in Seoul in November. Titled “Save Our Farms” and led by the International Tobacco Growers Association, the global protest reflects millions of Asian tobacco growers’ fears of having their livelihoods destroyed upon the implementation of a series of “radical guidelines,” the Korea Toba

Blizzard Entertainment on Tuesday showcased its latest edition “World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria” at a press conference held in Seoul. Launched three years after its predecessor “World of Warcraft: Cataclysm,” "Mists of Pandaria" premiered in Korea as Blizzard’s the fourth expansion set. The game company will give the public a chance to try out the new "Mists of Pandaria" for free starting on Thursday. "Mists of Pandaria" will begin nationwide charged service on Oct. 1. The new game involves

KFS Minister Lee says AFoCO will be locomotive in global green growthHaving gained worldwide recognition through hosting the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification last year, Korea is hoping to make Korea Forest Service a future global hub for green growth. For KFS Minister Lee Don-koo, a key milestone in the drive for green growth was the establishment of the Asian Forestry Cooperation Organization early this month. The organization is the result of an agreement on forestry cooper

Korea-Latin America Economic Cooperation Week kicked off Monday in Seoul with a grand opening ceremony in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of their economic partnership. Hosted by the Ministry of Knowledge Economy and organized by the Korea International Trade Association, Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency, Korea Institute for International Economic Police and Korean Council on Latin America and the Caribbean, the seven-day convention takes place from Sept. 24-28 and from Oct. 4-5, an

Cultural understanding should be sought before doing business in Korea: French chamber chiefSome Korean branches of major French luxury goods companies have come under criticism from news media here when they reported an increase in sales or net profit. The Korean branch of the world’s best-selling luxury brand Louis Vuitton S.A. reportedly raked in about 497.4 billion won ($440 million) in sales and about 44.9 billion won in net profit between 2009 and 2010. The luxury giant received a cool res

A group of 96 U.S. congressmen helping children suffering from cancer presented the star-spangled banner which had been hung in the Capitol in Washington D.C. to Hyundai Motor Co., in appreciation of the Korean carmaker’s support for the campaign, company officials said on Friday.Hyundai Motor is currently the only private company that the U.S. organization Childhood Cancer Caucus has invited for two consecutive years as an official partner for the community service program, the officials said.

Excitement filled the air as thousands of participants surged in through the northern gate of COEX Convention Center, southeast Seoul, on Thursday, to attend the Herald Design Forum 2012. Diverse in age, occupation, social status and interest, guests convened at the grand auditorium of the beautifully designed building. Passion for design and creation became the common interest to hold together thousands of individuals.  Following the grand opening ceremony, three globally renowned designers ― T

Zhang Xiaogang, one of the best-selling artists in contemporary Chinese art, said he is not swayed by his tremendous success and still follows his heart,“Art is not about business but life. If art were business, I would have studied and followed the example of successful people ― but that just isn’t my way of doing art,” Zhang said in a lecture at the Herald Design Forum 2012 in COEX Auditorium, Seoul, on Thursday.“Whether I can succeed or not, I follow my heart. What really counts in art is how

SK Innovation completed on Tuesday its second plant for automobile batteries in Seosan, South Chungcheong Province, heralding fiercer competition in the automobile battery market, company officials said. About 250 billion won ($223 million) was invested in the construction of the plant, which has a production capacity to supply 10,000 electric cars, or about 20,000 hybrid cars, per year.Built on a 231,000 square-meter tract of land, the Seosan plant comprises three major parts, the battery, form

French economist and columnist Guy Sorman said Tuesday that the global economy was still optimistic despite its continued economic slowdown and the financial struggles in the eurozone. “The worst scenario in an (economic) crisis is to overreact to the crisis. Crises are bad, but they cannot be avoided,” the author of “Diary of an Optimist” said in a global business forum co-hosted by the Institute for Global Economics and Samsung Electronics. Sorman stressed that economic recovery requires a sta

Wolsung Unit-1 nuclear power plant in North Gyeongsang Province broke down on Sunday at 4:51 p.m., amplifying concern over old nuclear plants. The Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power Co. said that the plant stopped producing power as its power transformer failed, leading the power-generating turbine to grind to a halt. The KHNP said that it would take approximately three days to replace the parts. The accident took place amid the state assessment period of the unit’s suitability for continued operatio

Transparency in decision-making  process is vital to win residents’ supportOn March 11, 2011, the world witnessed how an ill-managed nuclear plant can affect people’s daily lives. The infamous Fukushima nuclear disaster has become a mark of shame for the entire nuclear power industry ever since.Experts agree that one of the toughest items on the agenda for pro-nuclear energy countries like Korea is safety. Nevertheless, the Korean Ministry of Knowledge Economy and nuclear-related institutions un