Rescale, San Francisco-based company specializing in high performance computing applications for cloud systems, said Monday that the company will beef up efforts to expand operations in Korea, including increasing cooperation with the country‘s largest tech giant Samsung Electronics. Rescale entered the Korean market last year. The company currently has several Korean customers that use different types of cloud computing solutions, including LS Electric, Hyundai Electric and Energy and

The Ministry of Science and ICT announced Friday that the ministry’s research and development budget for 2021 is set at 21.6 trillion won ($18 billion), up 9.7 percent from 19.7 trillion won in 2020. The ICT Ministry said the additional funds would be spent on high-priority areas such as disease research and cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence, fifth-generation wireless networks, self-driving vehicles and next-generation semiconductors. The budget for infectious

An increasing number of IT companies in South Korea are developing artificial intelligence-based software to counter abusive online comments. The AI-based profanity filters help them to improve user experience by hiding unpalatable comments on their platforms, according to industry sources. One of them is the nation’s top game company Nexon, which in 2017 created an in-house AI research and development team called Intelligence Labs. The team of around 200 engineers has developed its ow

South Korea‘s Trade Minister Yoo Myung-hee on Wednesday officially announced her bid to become the next general director of the World Trade Organization (WTO). Yoo, 53, is the third South Korean to run for the top post of the Geneva-based trade body, currently facing challenges over confusions in global trade rules and shaky cooperation among the member countries. If elected, Yoo would be the first Korean to lead the organization. “South Korea can become a bridge, connecting deve

The future of Cyworld, a social media platform that was very popular years ago, depends on a final court ruling on CEO Jeon Jae-wan, according to industry sources Tuesday. Jeon has been indicted on charges of failing to pay a total of 1 billion won ($830 million) to his former employees after the company suffered financial difficulties. The trial is scheduled on July 25 at Seoul Eastern District Court. If the court next month rules that Jeon is largely responsible for the payment delays, it

Kakao, the operator of South Korea’s top mobile messenger, is expected to roll out a new artificial intelligence-based speaker brand in the second half of this year, according to industry sources Monday. The company’s AI subsidiary Kakao Enterprise has trademarked a new product called Mini Hexa. However, further details have not yet been revealed. It is reportedly reviewing details, including when it would officially showcase the voice-enabled speaker. The new model is likely t

South Korean telecommunications firm KT’s CEO Koo Hyun-mo on Friday held a video conference with Global System for Mobile Association Director General Mats Granryd to share ideas on future of ICT industry in post-coronavirus era, the company said Sunday. During their first official one-on-one meeting between the two, Koo stressed the increasing importance of telecommunications firms in the ICT sectors. Koo said 5G network and artificial intelligence technology will be the key factors tha

Sitting on the northeastern side of Changgyeonggung is a Joseon-era complex where people carried out ancestral rites and nurtured the country’s leaders. “It may be difficult to believe, but there were students who actually lived and studied here around 600 years ago,” said Son Chin-woo, the 33rd director of Sungkyunkwan -- the highest educational institution of the Joseon era. Sungkyunkwan and Confucian shrine Munmyo were built in 1398 and renovated in 1869 to repair war-t

The South Korean government is carrying out a nationwide quality inspection of its 5G networks amid growing dissatisfaction among people using the service, which came out last year. According to an ICT Ministry announcement Tuesday, the government has started assessing 5G networks and service in the nation’s major cities -- Seoul, Busan, Incheon, Daegu, Daejeon, Gwangju and Ulsan. The government has sampled around 100 locations in those cities, checking call quality and 5G network recept

The day will soon come when artificial intelligence provides a full-length explanation for all math problems and even inspire the students to do better, at least according Lee Yong-jae and Lee Jong-heun, the founding CEOs of South Korea’s up-and-coming educational technology startup Mathpresso. Mathpresso is a startup that operates AI-powered edtech platform Qanda, through which the company raised a total of around 70 billion won of investment since its establishment five years ago. Mat

Hyundai Rotem delivered a donation to the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs’ regional office in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, Friday, the company said. The donation will be used to assist people who have been recognized for meritorious service to the country but who are having financial difficulties. The latest donation was made by Hyundai Rotem’s executives and employees to commemorate people who died serving the country. South Korea celebrated Memorial Day on June 6. Sin

The ICT Ministry of South Korea has approved SK Telecom’s request to end its 2G service, putting an end to the 25-year-old service that helped the country take the lead in the mobile phone industry. The ministry held a media briefing in Seoul on Friday, saying it had approved the termination of the 2G service, citing outdated servers and mechanical failures due to the lack of up-to-date equipment. Upon receiving the approval, SK Telecom said it would wrap up the service s

SK Telecom said Thursday it has signed deals with major tech firms to develop security products for self-driving vehicles, internet of things-devices and smartphones using its new quantum-powered security chipset. Names of the partners were not disclosed. Since 2018, SKT and Switzerland-based ID Quantique have been developing the quantum random number generator (QRNG) chipset for Samsung Electronics’ Galaxy A Quantum, together with fabless Korean company Btree, which specializes in des

Mark Lippert, former US ambassador to South Korea, was appointed last month as YouTube Asia-Pacific’s public policy chief, Google said Tuesday. Google said Lippert would represent YouTube in the Asia-Pacific region, curate public policy strategy and coordinate communications with local governments, based on his knowledge of the region and years of experience in public policy. Lippert served as ambassador from 2014 to 2017. After surviving a knife attack in Seoul in 2015, he drew praise

LG Uplus announced Sunday that it has renewed its contracts with Ubiquoss and Dasan Network Solutions to supply 5G equipment. South Korea’s third-largest mobile carrier will purchase 271 billion won ($224 million) of 5G equipment by May 2023 -- revised from the initial 155 billion-won deal set to expire on November 2021. It will buy about 90 billion won of 5G equipment a year. LG Uplus said the this will increase supplies of equipment for its 10 Gigabits per second 5G network service.

US Ambassador to South Korea Harry Harris said Thursday that he supports peaceful protests against racism in the United States but opposes those who condemn his country. Harris posted on his Twitter a photo of a group of Korean protestors carrying a placard, reading "US imperialism means 'I can't breathe!'" "I disagree with these protestors, but respect their right to peacefully protest here in democratic Republic of Korea," he tweeted. "The USA. will investigate full

The National Tax Service terminated the business registration of homegrown social networking service Cyworld on May 26, according to industry sources on Thursday. Meanwhile, the ICT Ministry said that Cyworld has not made a report to the NTS of a business termination and that it had expressed willingness to continue the business to the ministry. According to the Telecommunications Business Act, such an internet business is required to report to the ICT Ministry at least 30 days before perman

The South Korean government on Tuesday announced that it would resume a complaint filed with the World Trade Organization over Japan’s trade curbs placed on exports to South Korea last year, deeming the bilateral dialouge to resolve the issue is not seeing progress. “The Japanese government is not showing willingness to resolve the current issue and the discussion has not seen progress. The government deemed that it was difficult to say normal dialogue was taking place, which was

South Korea’s exports continued to fall in May, marking a double-digit percentage decline for the second consecutive month, according to a government report on Monday. The extended decline was largely due to the global economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, the ministry explained. Shipments of semiconductor products, however, bounced back, which alleviated the extended decline, it added. The nation’s outbound shipments in May dropped by 23.7 percent on-year to $34.8 bill

SK Telecom said Friday it plans to develop an artificial intelligence-based post-production platform to help local firms to export cultural content products abroad. The South Korean telecommunications firm said it has signed a memorandum of understanding with local post-production firm New ID to collaborate on the project. “The latest partnership deal will meet increased foreign demand for Korea’s cultural productions,” the company said. “The two companies expect the