Blue chip Samsung Electronics, listed on South Korea’s main bourse Kospi, hit a record high last week pulling its market cap to the top 20 global list.The tech giant is expected to extend its winning streak on a widely optimistic forecast of its 2020 performance on the back of the recovering semiconductor market, according to industry sources.According to Bloomberg’s data, the total market valuation of Samsung as of Thursday last week came at $301.6 billion, the 18th-highest worldwid

An exhibit in Seoul until March 1 guides you through 2,000-year-old artifacts, ranging from iron armors and swords to pottery and accessories like gold crowns.The National Museum is holding an exhibition on Gaya, an ancient confederacy of small city-states in the central-southern region of the Korean Peninsula from AD 42-562.Under the title of “Gaya Spirit -- Iron and Tune,” the exhibition displays some 2,600 artifacts from 31 institutions here and abroad, including the Tokyo Nationa

SK Telecom CEO Park Jung-ho said the company will face major changes down the road including a name change, during a press conference on the sidelines of the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Wednesday. According to Park, the company is targeting initial public offerings for some of its affiliates in the near future. If possible, a name change could also be considered. The mobile carrier aims to expand its cooperation in the field of artificial intelligence with local and global businesses

South Korean mobile carrier SK Telecom said Tuesday it has signed a memorandum of agreement with Hong Kong-based all-electric vehicle brand Byton to cooperate on next-generation mobility. The two companies signed an MOU at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, the world’s largest annual tech show that is currently underway.Last year, Byton’s parent company, Future Mobility, signed a deal with Korea’s Myongshin to build electric sport utility vehicles in Korea -- with

Samsung Electronics is planning on commercializing a new robot in June or July this year, said Kim Hyun-suk, chief executive officer of Samsung’s consumer electronics division.  During a press conference held Tuesday at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Kim said the new robot would be the third or fourth Project Prism product. Project Prism is the company’s personalized electronics platform. For wider access, the price of the robot will be similar to that of a large washing machine f

SK hynix said Tuesday it will showcase its latest memory chip solutions at the world’s largest annual tech show in Las Vegas. The memory product lineup of SK hynix at the Consumer Electronics Show this year includes its next-generation DRAM products, as well as other memory solutions related to future businesses that utilize artificial intelligence, augmented reality, virtual reality, automotive, internet of things, big data and 5G.The company, whose business profile heavily relies on

Chief executives of Korean companies continue to stand at the Customer Electronics Show’s podium for keynote speeches, offering glimpses into ongoing global trends in the electronics industry. This year, Samsung’s Consumer Electronics division CEO Kim Hyun-suk will deliver his keynote address on enhanced applications of artificial intelligence-powered customer electronics on Tuesday. In 2019, LG’s chief technology officer opened CES 2019 with a speech also centered on consumer

LG Uplus said Friday it plans to establish a home internet service unit, with the aim of launching it on March 1. The subsidiary’s business will encompass home internet services and pay TV products. Its share structure has not been decided yet, said LG Uplus.  According to the company, the subsidiary will hire temporary workers from the company’s external partners as permanent employees. LG Uplus aims to offer full-time positions to some 800 temporary workers this year and 500 a

Samsung Electronics on Thursday vowed to strengthen its compliance to related laws and regulations by forming a committee that will supervise its internal structure across subsidiaries.Former Supreme Court Justice Kim Ji-hyung -- who previously chaired a committee to settle a long-standing dispute over work environment and employee issues at the firm -- will lead the in-house committee. While Samsung has been operating an internal compliance system, it decided to reinforce its functions followin

Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics said Wednesday they will showcase their new editions of refrigerators equipped with enhanced artificial intelligence capabilities at the upcoming Consumer Electronics Show, slated to kick off next Tuesday in Las Vegas, US.It is not the first time that they are displaying their smart fridges at the show. But this year, backed by improvements in AI technologies, some upgrades and more convenient features will be highlighted.The most notable change that they h

KakaoTalk, Korea’s most widely used messaging app, had a server slowdown around midnight on New Year’s Eve, with some of its users unable to send out New Year’s greetings, according to the app’s operator on Wednesday.  The system error in the KakaoTalk server lasted for some two hours from around midnight. Upon identifying the problem, the company immediately took recovery action, it said. The server was fully restored at 2:15 a.m.During the year-end period, the mess

The ICT Ministry on Monday approved the merger between SK Telecom’s SK Broadband and Tbroad, the second-largest cable operator in South Korea. If SK Telecom receives approval from the Korea Communications Commission next month, SK Telecom will hold a 74.37 percent stake in the new company formed from its subsidiary and Tbroad of Taekwang Group.The ministry said it has approved the merger, as well as Taekwang Group’s acquisition of a 16.79 percent stake in the new company, based on th

Cosmetics/ SD BiotechnologiesCosmetics and skin care brand Shining Nature Purity continues to succeed in the market with its latest sleeping pack series that comes in single-use packaging. SNP is SD Biotechnologies’ cosmetics line that has entered the skin care market with its sleeping mask products. In 2015, their sleeping masks contributed to an eightfold increase in the company’s sales from 2014. SNP’s latest sleeping pack series comprises three types: SNP Gold Collagen

South Korea’s telecom giant KT said Friday its board of directors has approved the appointment of current head of customer and media division Koo Hyun-mo as the new chairman.  Koo will be officially appointed as KT’s new leader following the final approval at a shareholders meeting scheduled in March. When Koo is appointed, he will be the first insider to take the helm at the formerly state-owned company in 12 years. Over the period, former CEOs -- Hwang Chang-gyu Hwang and Lee

While the market was anticipating another face-off between Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics at the upcoming Consumer Electronics Show 2020, it now seems highly unlikely.According to industry sources, the Consumer Technology Association, which organizes the world’s largest annual tech event in Las Vegas, has specific terms in the exhibit space contract that prevent companies from giving presentations on products of rival firms, as well as from displaying offensive and inappropriate co

South Korean mobile carriers SK Telecom and LG Uplus are ramping up efforts to find new business opportunities at the upcoming Consumer Electronics Show 2020 that kicks off in Las Vegas on Jan. 7.Their participation in the world’s largest annual tech event is largely in line with their parent groups’ involvement in the show. Yet, the growing importance of 5G network in the electronics and smart mobility sectors is also an important factor, according to industry sources.The capabiliti

South Korea’s largest retailer E-mart said Wednesday that it will open its second No Brand store in the Philippines this week.  No Brand is E-mart’s private brand promoting low-priced items ranging from food to daily necessities. The outlet is slated to open Friday on a 353 square-meters area in Robinsons Galleria South, a commercial establishment located in San Pedro City, Laguna province.The new branch plans to sell some 630 No Brand items, in addition to some 150 local items.

South Korea’s mobile carriers are busy preparing to counter an expected surge in data traffic during the year-end season, the companies said Wednesday.  Now is usually the time when mobile carriers experience a dramatic increase in data usage, including voice calls, particularly in locations where many people gather to celebrate.Whenever large numbers of people occupy the same space at the same time, data traffic tends to increase accordingly, said officials from the mobile carriers.T

The board of South Korea’s No. 3 wireless carrier LG Uplus on Tuesday approved its acquisition of CJ Hello, one of the nation’s biggest cable operators, which will be rebranded as LG Hellovision.The company’s shareholders and board of directors agreed to appoint Song Gu-Young, previous senior managing director at LG Uplus as CEO of the company. CJ ENM, the biggest shareholder of CJ Hello with a 53.92 percent stake, has handed its stake of 50 percent plus one share to LG Uplus f

Addressing the need to protect endangered animals, SK Telecom on Monday released its latest campaign to promote the concept of a zoo without animals using its advanced media technologies. Adopting “mixed reality” -- a combination of virtual reality and augmented reality -- the video campaign depicts a father of a family bringing a polar bear to life using 5G for his son. The images use realistic rendering to mimic the lifelike fluff of the animal and environmental rendering that refl