Daum Kakao, a leading Web portal and mobile messenger service in South Korea, said Tuesday it would make a foray into the Chinese mobile game publishing market.Established in 2012, Daum Kakao’s mobile platform, Kakao Game, has published more than 600 games developed by 300 game companies, becoming one of the largest mobile game platforms in Korea. Some of the mega-hit mobile games launched through Kakao Game include puzzle game “Anipang” and “Cookie Run,” which features a gingerbread man running

LG Display, a leading global panel-maker, is pushing its drive for organic light-emitting diode panels as it plans to invest in constructing additional factory lines at its Paju, Gyeonggi Province, plant this year, according to news reports Wednesday. “LG Display will newly invest around 800 billion won ($729 million) in the E4 production lines for OLED panels in Paju,” Han Sang-beom, chief executive of LG Group’s display business unit, told reporters at a conference held by the Korean governmen

SK Telecom, South Korea’s largest mobile carrier, said Tuesday it has completed the development of core technology to be deployed for nationwide emergency networks based on Long Term Evolution.For starters, the mobile network firm said it has secured technology to design and efficiently operate the Public Safety-LTE, which will enable government agencies and rescue responders to communicate with each other during natural and man-made disasters.“SK Telecom, the leading mobile network operator, ha

CrucialTec, a leading biometric sensor developer in South Korea, said Tuesday it has patented technology to install fingerprint sensors under smartphone display panels, increasing options for smartphone-makers.The announcement came a few days after reports that Apple had filed a patent for technology to move its fingerprint sensors from the home button of its products to underneath the touch screen.The Korean tech firm said it had filed a patent in 2012 and registration was completed recently.Th

SK hynix, a world-leading semiconductor firm, said Monday it had successfully commercialized its latest 8-gigabit mobile memory chip based on 20-nanometer class technology for the first time ever, posing a challenge to its local rival Samsung Electronics.The low power double data rate 4 (LPDDR4) mobile dynamic random access memory, which boasts an input-output data rate of more than 3,200 Mbps, is twice as fast as the LPDDR3. The latest mobile DRAM is also 30 percent more energy-efficient than i

Samsung Electronics, the world’s largest smartphone-maker by sales volume, announced Friday that the Galaxy S6 and its “dual-edge” variant are on their way as the firm has filed patents for them in South Korea.Samsung named the upcoming flagship models the Galaxy S6 and the S6 edge at the Korean Intellectual Property Office, according to the patent applications. The exact names for the marquee smartphones, however, could change any time before their launch, scheduled in March, as seen in the pre

A Samsung Electronics top official said Friday that the company would consider increasing share dividends this year in an apparent move to attract investors amid fierce competition and global economic woes. Co-CEO Kwon Oh-hyun“Samsung Electronics actively executed strategies to enhance value for investors despite the stagnant stock prices in 2014,” co-CEO Kwon Oh-hyun said in a letter sent to investors of the tech giant Thursday. He added that “Samsung would consider increasing share dividends t

Samsung Electronics, the world’s largest electronics company, said Thursday it was not targeting high-end consumers, but the mass market.“Samsung is not a luxury brand, but one that is trying to deliver affordable premium values to the masses,” said Kim Hyun-seok, president of Samsung’s TV business unit, at a media conference in Seoul for the launch of the 2015 super-ultrahigh-definition TV lineup.  Kim Hyun-seok, head of Samsung Electronics’ TV business unit, poses with the 2015 SUHD TV lineup

LG Group, the fourth-largest conglomerate in South Korea, said Wednesday it would provide about 29,000 of its patents to small companies in an effort to help them find new business opportunities.The conglomerate revealed the plan during the opening of its Creative Economy Innovation Center in Cheongju, North Chuncheong Province, which group officials said will conduct research and development in a broad range of sectors including in cosmetics, biotechnology and energy.The company said it would o

There are no permanent friends or enemies in business. This maxim seems to hold true in relations between South Korean game developer NCSoft and its largest shareholder Nexon, which are at odds over management control.Market analysts said the escalating tug of war between the two game firms would benefit foreign investors.“Since most of the foreign investors of NCSoft are fund trustees and hold around a 2 percent share or less, there are few chances for them to take any concerted action in regar

Cree, a leading U.S. light-emitting diode-maker, said Wednesday it has launched sales of its LED lighting products in Korea, showing its confidence to take on other competitors including Osram and Philips.  San Francisco International Airport is one of Cree’s biggest customers. (Cree)Established in 1987 in the U.S., the company now operates in 12 global markets including Canada, Germany and Hong Kong and holds 4,000 patents related to LED technology.Some of its business-to-business or business-t

Samsung Electronics said Tuesday it would unveil its Galaxy S6 in Spain on March 1, hoping the latest model of the smartphone will boost sales in the face of intense competition from Xiaomi’s budget phones and Apple’s iPhone 6. Samsung Electronics’ invitation to the press, analysts and developers for the Samsung Galaxy Unpacked 2014 event in Barcelona on March 1. (Samsung Electronics)The unveiling will come one day before the Mobile World Congress, the world’s largest festival of telecommunicati

Korea’s largest telecommunications firm, KT, has signed a deal with Chinese media titan Hengdian Group to jointly build a smart theme park in China, which will incorporate information technology and cultural content. Xu Wenrong (third from right), chairman of Hedingan Group, watches a live 3-D show with Yun Kyoung-lim (second from right), senior vice president of KT’s future convergence strategy office, at the Dongdaemun Design Plaza in Seoul on Monday. (KT)At a signing ceremony for a memorandum

South Korea’s current account surplus extended its record for the 34th consecutive month in December, but the accumulated annual amount fell below the central bank’s initial forecast last year, according to preliminary data by the Bank of Korea on Monday.The current account surplus, the broadest measure of trade, hit a record high of $89.4 billion last year, up from $81.1 billion a year before ― but slightly short of the central bank’s forecast of $90 billion.In December, the current account sur

DAEJEON ― The Daejeon Creative Economy Innovation Center, an institute run by SK Group to support start-ups, has become a hotbed of business creativity. Housed at KAIST, one of Korea’s most prestigious tech and science universities, the creative economy center was jointly established by Daejeon Metropolitan City, KAIST, and SK Group last October with an aim to nurture entrepreneurs and help fledgling businesses conduct research and development and commercialize their technology at home and abroa

LG Electronics said it would invest around 160 billion won ($145 million) to beef up its solar power business until mid-2015. “LG has issued corporate bonds to invest in lines for n-type solar modules and infrastructure maintenance at the firm’s Gumi plants,” the company said in its financial report filed at Korea Exchange last week. LG said it would execute a series of investment plans by the end of July this year. At its meeting with analysts and reporters last Thursday, Chung Do-hyun, LG’s ch

Strong sales of Apple’s iPhone 6 and Xiaomi’s low-end smartphones pushed Samsung Electronics, the world’s largest smartphone maker by sales volume, to record its weakest annual earnings in three years.The Korean tech giant said Thursday it posted an annual revenue of 206.2 trillion won with its operating profit standing at 25 trillion won, down by 10 percent and 11.8 percent respectively, from a year earlier. The sluggish sales of Samsung’s flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S5 which was released l

A battle has begun for control of NCSoft, the nation’s second-biggest game developer, as Nexon, its largest shareholder, has officially vowed to participate in its management. Nexon, the largest online game firm in South Korea, said Tuesday that it would shift from merely investing in NCSoft, the runner-up in the domestic market, to taking part in its management.“The company made the decision since it has found it difficult to swiftly respond to the rapidly changing IT industry with the previous

LG CNS employees pose at the firm’s mentoring program for new workers. (LG CNS)LG CNS, one of Korea’s information technology solutions developers, said Wednesday that it has launched this year’s mentoring program between senior and junior employees. First started in 2006, the corporate mentoring programs have helped fresh employees adjust to their new workplace and build bonds with colleagues. “In order to become an IT expert, one should quickly adapt to the fast changing work environment,” said

Google’s super-fast Internet service ― up to 100 times quicker than basic broadband ― is heading for four more U.S. metropolitan areas as the technology titan ramps up pressure on cable service giants.A Google Fiber program launched nearly five years ago will expand to 18 cities in the Atlanta, Charlotte, Nashville and Raleigh-Durham areas.“We can’t wait to see what people and businesses across the southeast U.S. do with gigabit speeds,” Google Fiber vice president Dennis Kish said in a blog pos