The Korea Internet & Security Agency said Wednesday that it would reorganize its key divisions by the end of the month to better handle emerging technologies related to the Internet of Things and online security.KISA CEO Baik Kee-seung, who took helm of the agency that promotes cybersecurity and Web-based businesses last September, said the new technology environment requires the organization to dump old mindsets and tackle problems through collaboration.“We have asked ourselves whether KISA and

Mobile technology has brought profound changes to the way people consume digital goods, with life cycles of products and services getting shorter.As people are constantly exposed to a slew of new information, their tastes change every minute, making it harder to predict their future spending patterns.This is why companies today need the assistance of artificial intelligence that can help them analyze a massive amount of data in real time and implement advertising and marketing strategies customi

The South Korean government has set forth a new vision for enabling the country to achieve sustainability through information technology amid the dawning of the Internet of Things era.In an event commemorating the country’s achievement of connecting the society through IT since 1984 in Pangyo, Gyeonggi Province, Friday, the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning unveiled a road map for the future of Korea’s technology.The five strategic visions are: developing a digital market where everyo

South Korean entrepreneurs prefer launching an initial public offering of their start-ups rather than selling them to buyers to achieve growth, the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry said Wednesday.In a KCCI survey of some 300 tech venture firms and 50 venture capital funds, more than half of the respondents said that they would choose being listed on the stock market over seeking a merger and acquisition deal with conglomerates. About 63 percent said they would opt for an IPO in order to bo

Daum Games said Tuesday that together with its developing partner Pearl Abyss, it will launch the long-awaited massively multiplayer online role-playing game “Black Desert” on Dec. 17.After developing what many expect to be a blockbuster PC MMORPG for more than four years, Daum Games and Pearl Abyss said they are putting the finishing touches on the game to make its fantasy world and characters more realistic.Their priority is to provide new gaming experiences to players in Korea by making sure

Google’s YouTube is about to lose its luster in South Korea as it failed to seal a deal with domestic broadcasting companies to provide Korean content.The two sides were unable to narrow their differences over profit-sharing and content management. Smart Media Rep, a broadcasters’ alliance launched by TV networks MBC and SBS, demanded that Google share more value generated from the group’s content on YouTube, given that they were pouring more resources into creating videos amid rising production

The shaky economic recovery around the world is eroding profitability for Asian insurers, prompting them to take on more investment risk, particularly in private asset classes, to improve yield. This transition requires insurers to step outside their comfort zone at a time when resources are already stretched by increasingly demanding regulatory requirements.BlackRock commissioned the Economist Intelligence Unit to gauge how insurers were responding to the pressure on their fixed income portfoli

Heads of South Korea’s leading economic think tanks predicted Sunday the country will have a hard time pulling off growth reaching the upper 3 percent range in 2015 mainly due to weak domestic consumption and sluggish export conditions.The leading economists said in a poll that the South Korean economy will be weighed down by expectations of interest rates going up in the United States, a slowdown of growth in China and India, and deflation concerns in Japan and the eurozone.Such conditions will

LG Group, the nation’s fourth-largest conglomerate, said Thursday that it had conducted its annual executive reshuffle and appointed LG Electronics home entertainment president Ha Hyun-hwoi as LG Corp. president.Ha’s new role at LG Corp., the holding company of the group, will include serving as deputy for LG Group chairman Koo Bon-moo. Ha has headed LG Electronics’ home entertainment unit since early this year, and has been credited with launching the tech giant’s strategic products such as nex

Hanwha Group’s acquisition of Samsung Group’s petrochemical and defense units will further boost Hanwha’s core businesses as it will be able to generate synergy with the purchased assets, industry sources and analysts said.The 2 trillion won ($1.8 billion) deal, which is said to be a “win-win,” has enabled Samsung to move forward in realigning its units to focus on technology, finance, infrastructure and content businesses under the future leadership of Lee Jay-yong and his two sisters.Analysts

The wind of change is about to blow through Samsung Electronics, especially its once vital but now lackluster mobile unit, early next month as it seeks to revitalize its ailing tech business.Restructuring has become inevitable for South Korea’s largest company, which has been facing falling profitability amid increased competition from Chinese manufacturers.Some industry watchers forecast the reshuffling could come as early as next week. The company appears to be considering not only downsizing

UPS Korea said Monday that together with Korea Post, the country’s state-run postal service, it will offer a premium international mail service for those applying to overseas universities until Feb. 27 next year.UPS and Korea Post, which have provided a premium express mail service for college applicants for the past two years, said they will use the global logistics network of UPS to ensure rapid deliveries of Koreans’ admission applications to some 220 countries, including the U.S. and the U.K

BUSAN ― Blueside, a South Korean game company, said that its next strategic move would be developing games for mobile devices next year after the anticipated release of “Kingdom Under Fire 2” for Sony PlayStation 4 and PCs.Lee Sang-youn, CEO and producer of Blueside, said that the company ultimately seeks to make games that can be played on multiple platforms such as consoles, PCs and mobiles.Given its strength in developing games for consoles and PCs, the company has the capability to create “u

BUSAN ― South Korea used to be a playground exclusively for domestic game developers and publishers, with little room for outsiders to penetrate the heavily-fortified industry.But this year, foreign enterprises ― big and small ― are taking a crack at the market hoping to attract the sophisticated Korean players with their unique game content and hardware.Facebook’s Oculus VR, a virtual reality headset maker, which is participating at the G-Star game convention, said Korea offers an opportunity f

BUSAN ― This year’s G-Star, South Korea’s biggest game convention, will be all about mobile games specifically targeting players overseas.With the domestic market facing saturation as smartphones and network capacity have reached their current limits, a slew of both traditional PC online and start-up game developers and publishers are expected to promote their content, especially for users in emerging markets, industry sources said.New concept virtual reality games and games from China will be a

Korea’s productivity from state-funded research and development projects is the lowest among advanced economies, despite high investment and budget allocation, according to data from the National Assembly and the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning.Researchers and scientists say this is because the country does not have a sound platform or infrastructure enabling transfer of technology developed through state-run R&D programs to the private sector. The low rate of technology transfer le

Lee Jay-yong, vice chairman of Samsung Electronics, became the richest third-generation business tycoon in South Korea in terms of stock value, thanks to the initial public offering of Samsung SDS last Friday.The Samsung heir apparent Lee’s equities were valued at almost 3.9 trillion won after taking his 11.25 percent ownership in Samsung SDS into account, according to Chaebul.com, an online information provider of Korea’s family-run conglomerates.Samsung SDS, the group’s IT solutions developer,

Samsung Gear VRTop handset maker Samsung Electronics said Thursday it plans to roll out its first virtual reality headset in the U.S. market in December, gradually expanding into other countries.The device, first showcased in August, provides 360 degree rotating view, creating a lifelike experience for users. It is currently linked to the Galaxy Note 4 through a micro-USB. “Not only will Gear VR provide a vivid entertainment experience for users, it can also be applied to automobile or aircraft

Hankook Tire, South Korea’s largest tire-maker, said Thursday it will be supplying two different rubbers for Atego trucks made by Mercedes-Benz.Under the original equipment tire arrangement, Hankook will supply eight types of its AH11 and DH05+ products for the light-to-medium trucks made by the German automotive company.The latest deal comes after Hankook started supplying tires for Freightliner brand trucks in North America in 2012. Freightliner is a marque of Stuttgart-based Daimler AG that c

The Supreme Court ordered an appeals court Thursday to reconsider its ruling that annulled the massive layoffs of Ssangyong Motor employees in 2009.In the lawsuit filed by 153 dismissed workers of the automaker, the Supreme Court sent the case back to the Seoul High Court with an opinion that the layoffs were legitimate.“There was an urgent management need to carry out the layoffs,” the court said in its ruling, citing that the global financial crisis of 2008 seriously hurt the automaker’s sales