Samsung C&T Corp. and Elliott Associates started their legal battle on Friday over the proposed merger between Samsung Group’s construction and trading subsidiary and the U.S. hedge fund.In the first hearing at the Seoul Central District Court on two injunctions the fund company filed last month to block the merger plan, the two sides reiterated their positions.Lawyers representing the U.S. fund claimed that the proposed merger between Cheil Industries, a theme park operator and Samsung’s de fac

South Korea’s top mobile carrier SK Telecom is stepping up its efforts to develop future-oriented technologies utilizing the firm’s advanced telecommunications networks.As part of the initiatives to secure a new growth momentum, SKT signed a memorandum of understanding Thursday with Korean robot-maker Robobuilder to develop emergency response and life care robots that support the next-generation 5G telecommunications technology.The two companies agreed to develop remote control systems running o

Hanwha Group, South Korea’s leading defense conglomerate, is working on using unmanned aircrafts, or drones, for the fireworks festival it holds every year near its landmark 63 City building in Yeouido, Seoul, industry sources said Wednesday. “Hanwha is a powerhouse of the domestic fireworks industry, and has worked for the past couple of years to add more aesthetic effects to the Seoul International Fireworks Festival with its own drone technology,” said a source close to the matter on conditio

Tech giant Samsung Electronics said Wednesday that sales of the firm’s high-end super-ultrahigh definition TV lineup surpassed 10,000 units in the first three months following its launch in February. (Samsung)

South Korea’s largest mobile carrier SK Telecom said Tuesday it would work with Ericsson to conduct joint research and development projects for the “Internet of Small Things,” a network that processes small amounts of data. Holding a signing ceremony of a memorandum of understanding in Stockholm Monday, top executives from both firms agreed to develop machine-type communication technologies that allow small devices and sensors to communicate without glitches on a large scale.Since the existing L

LG CNS, South Korea’s leading systems integration developer, said Sunday it would beef up its efforts to increase its footing in the U.S. energy market with its capabilities in information technology solutions.The energy storage system market has emerged as a future-promising energy business segment as more corporations begin to pay attention to how to save on energy bills and run their businesses more efficiently. As companies need different energy storage systems to meet their needs, the deman

Facing saturation in the domestic wireless market, South Korean mobile carriers are turning their eyes to the business-to-business market in a bid to find a new growth engine.KT Corp., the country’s second largest wireless carrier, launched a Web portal that allows resellers of its cloud-based business management solution Ucloud Biz to efficiently manage their sales channels.The portal enables the dealers of Ucloud Biz to manage memberships, collect fees and adjust details of offerings on the cl

A senior executive of SK C&C, a leading system integration developer in South Korea, said that the company would open the nation’s first online-only Internet bank as early as next year.“SK C&C is currently considering participating in projects to set up Internet banks together with financial institutes, local governments and ICT firms,” said Lee Ki-yeol, executive vice president of the company in a press meeting Tuesday in Seoul.“The Korean market will likely see the first Internet bank next yea

Online comic strips, or webtoons, nowadays play a pivotal role in the creation of media content, serving as a reservoir of new ideas for TV shows and movies. Featuring gripping stories with twists and turns and witty, but satirical punchlines, they allow people of all ages and genders to let their hair down while reading.Stories and genres are diverse, ranging from office life and heart-wrenching stories of people having suffered under Japan’s colonial rule to the sweet romance of an elderly cou

South Korea’s tech giant Samsung Electronics is stepping up its efforts to increase its foothold in the Chinese health care market.The firm has reportedly inked a partnership deal with China’s second-largest insurer Pin Ang Insurance to develop mobile health care solutions and platforms, which enable Samsung devices ― such as the Galaxy smartphones and smart watches equipped with heart rate sensors ― to be used for medical purposes.The two companies reportedly plan to combine Samsung’s mobile he

South Korea’s leading chip manufacturer SK hynix said Monday it would run programs to beef up ties with its small- and medium-sized enterprise partners. Among the initiatives to support partner firms and their employees was the so-called “wage sharing,” program, through which SK hynix employees chip in 10 percent of the increased rate of their wages to improve the welfare of employees at the partner companies. The chip maker also doles out the same amount to support its partners. SK hynix employ

A model poses with Samsung Electronics’ newly released SUHD TV, 82S9W, which features an 82-inch curved display with a 21:9 aspect ratio, in Seoul on Monday. The electronics giant teamed up with world-renowned industrial designer Yves Behar for the design and packaging of the TV. (Samsung Electronics)

Apple said Friday that it would launch its first wearable gadget, Apple Watch, in seven more countries including South Korea on June 26 after it began rolling out the smart watch last April in some global markets.According to the Cupertino, California-based tech giant, among the group of new markets where the Apple Watch will be additionally available are Italy, Mexico, Singapore, Korea, Spain, Switzerland and Taiwan.The digital timepiece was previously only available in nine nations including t

Samsung Electronics claimed the No. 1 spot in the premium smartphone market in India, beating its arch rival Apple, according to a report compiled by research institute Counterpoint Research on Friday.The Seoul-headquartered smartphone-maker captured 46 percent of the country’s luxury smartphone market during the January-April period, buoyed by robust sales of the Galaxy S6 and its variant S6 Edge, the Note 4 Edge, and the A7, according to the report. Apple ranked second with a 42 percent share.

LG Display chief executive and president Han Sang-beom will take the stage at IFA 2015 ― the world’s largest electronics trade show to be held in Berlin from Sept. 4 to 9 ― to share his vision on future display technologies, according to the company Thursday.The CEO will deliver a keynote speech themed “How display technologies will change our lives” on the first day of the event, and talk about what comes next after current high-end displays such as 4K and curved screens.He will introduce cutti

South Korea’s three largest mobile carriers SK Telecom, KT and LG Uplus opened their joint mobile application market One Store on Wednesday in a bid to grow the local app market and join forces against Apple and Google, two dominant players in the global app market. With its launch, subscribers of the three mobile network operators can use all mobile applications and digital content, which were previously available only on each individual app store run by them, without a glitch. South Korea’s th

A legal battle between Software giant Microsoft and Korea Electric Power Corp. is looming large over the alleged violation of license agreements by the Korean public corporation.The nation’s largest power firm KEPCO has been revamping power supply systems with MS’ solutions since 1998.MS reportedly claimed that KEPCO illegally deployed a total of 80,000 MS SQL servers, which are a database management software, and related products for the state-run company’s power supply systems since it bought

South Korean tech giant LG Electronics released the 270-gram portable projector Mini Beam in the Korean market Wednesday. The handheld projector with 854-by-480-pixel resolution and 100 ANSI lumens is priced at 399,000 won ($360). (LGE)

LG Innotek, the world’s top smartphone camera module manufacturer, said Tuesday it has set a milestone with cumulative sales of its camera modules crossing the 1-billion-unit threshold.The Korean camera module-maker said it sold around 1.4 billion units of camera modules as of May.The record sales figure came around two years after LG Innotek, which began shipping camera modules in 2005, hit the 50 million sales mark in 2013.The 1.4 billion camera modules, if lined up, are tantamount to 28,000 k

SK Holdings, the holding company of SK Group, announced plans Monday to commence enrollment of a phase 3 clinical trial of its new medication for sleep disorders developed by its affiliate SK Biopharmaceuticals. The third step of the clinical trial, which will be led by Jazz Pharmaceuticals, U.S. drugmaker and SK Biopharmaceuticals’ partner, will take place in the U.S. and Europe with patients suffering from narcolepsy and sleep apnea, the Korean company said.The Korean drugmaker exported the gl