South Korea’s Ministry of Science and ICT plans to deploy 13,000 trash cans made with its proprietary paper recycling technology at the PyeongChang Olympics to spotlight the country’s efforts to promote environmental protection.It will also donate 6,000 boxes of A4 paper produced through its waste paper recycling technique for use at the International Broadcasting Center during the games, according to the ministry.The Korean government has been funding basic research for a number of fundamental

GANGNEUNG, Gangwon Province -- South Korea’s KT, an official telecommunications partner for the PyeongChang Olympic Winter Games, announced Wednesday that its ultra-fast 5G network is fully deployed and ready for use during the international sporting event.　　Over the past two years, KT has been working with its partners Intel and Samsung Electronics to deploy the world’s first large-scale 5G trial network at the PyeongChang Olympics, with aims to offer the public an early glimpse of the new tech

Alibaba Group Holdings, the official cloud services and e-commerce partner for the Olympics until 2028, said Tuesday that it wants to leverage its cloud-based technologies to make Olympic operations more efficient and cost effective.　And its vision will start with next month’s Winter Games in PyeongChang, which Alibaba believes will become a critical learning ground for figuring out what it can do to improve its cloud technologies so that it can do a better job at the next Olympics.“In PyeongCha

Athletes, staff and spectators making their way to PyeongChang this winter will have plenty to see in between the Olympic Games, with the latest robots from South Korea roaming the grounds to offer guidance, travel support and entertainment.　　Olympic observers got their first taste of the technology that will be on show at the Winter Games with the torch relay, which featured the world’s first sight of two robots carrying the iconic flame in Daejeon.　Thousands of spectators gathered in the city

At the upcoming Winter Games in PyeongChang, Gangwon Province, human athletes are not going to be the only ones vying for gold in the much-anticipated alpine skiing events.Humanoid robot skiers are going to be hitting the slopes of PyeongChang, as Korea is slated to host the world’s first robot ski tournament on the sidelines of the Winter Olympics. Korea’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and the Korea Institute for Robot Industry Advancement have organized a ski tournament in which self-

As strides in biotechnology propel the development of new therapeutics, big hospitals have become new hubs for R&D and clinical trial partners to aspiring drug developers, stepping up as important stakeholders in the biopharma business ecosystem.　Eyeing this integration, a South Korean medical doctor-entrepreneur with more than 20 years of hospital operations under his belt, has set out to capitalize on the hospital-pharma business ties and synergies to make new drug R&D a faster and more effici

Intel will host an international “StarCraft II” tournament in South Korea’s eastern county of PyeongChang in the lead up to the 2018 Winter Olympics that kicks off in the region next month.The Intel Extreme Masters PyeongChang tournament for Blizzard Entertainment’s real-time strategy game will take place Feb. 5-7 at the Olympic Village in PyeongChang. Intel has yet to confirm a venue. A total of 18 StarCraft II players who have passed the online qualifiers compete in the main tournament for a c

Global content streaming service Netflix is ready to step up as a platform that introduces South Korean TV dramas and films to new audiences worldwide as well as help Korea push the boundaries of its content genres, Netflix executives said at a press conference in Seoul on Thursday.　Netflix, which officially launched here in January 2016, offers an eclectic pool of films and TV shows from around the world, including those from Korea, to some 117 million subscribers in 190 countries worldwide. 　T

In most parts of the world, Google Maps is the go-to source for travelers in foreign countries, as it offers easy public transportation guidance as well as directions for driving, biking and walking.　However, South Korea is one of the few countries in the world where Google Maps is not offered in its full capacity, with critical features like driving navigation unavailable due to security restrictions.South Korea, still technically at war with North Korea, prohibits companies from exporting the

From athletes and support staff to reporters and spectators, millions of people from around the world are set to gather at the 2018 Winter Olympics, which will kick off in South Korea’s eastern county of PyeongChang on Feb. 9.At large-scale events like the Olympic Games, the risks of an infectious disease outbreak are expected to be higher. Though germs will always be in the air, event participants are advised to protect themselves against a particularly deadly infection called meningococcal dis

Though South Korea’s government has announced tougher measures to crack down on the country’s heated cryptocurrency trading, major internet technology companies here are showing continued interest in investing in digital currency trading platforms.From local mobile messenger giant Kakao to video game company Nexon, major businesses in Korea’s IT space have already made major investments in crypto exchanges where users can buy and sell digital assets like bitcoin, Ethereum and Litecoin. Kakao cur

GlaxoSmithKline has tapped Julien Samson, a vice president who has been leading the company‘s medicine commercialization for global respiratory franchise, as the new general manager of its South Korea office, the company said Sunday.Samson will replace outgoing GSK Korea general manager Hong Yoo-seok, who has been appointed as the new chief of GSK Canada. It is the first time that a Korean executive has been named the country head of a major North American market at a global pharmaceuticals comp

Google is adopting a more rigorous worldwide advertisement policy for content uploaded to YouTube, with aims to clean up its video-sharing site and address growing complaints from advertisers that their messages are being attached to inappropriate videos.YouTube will impose stricter criteria on the types of videos that can earn advertising revenue through the video-sharing site, and will manually review “top-tier” videos with high view counts and viewer engagement before attaching ads to them, G

South Korea’s recent craze for cryptocurrencies like bitcoin and Ether has thrust to the spotlight blockchain -- the foundational technology behind the virtual currencies being traded in large numbers here every day.　　While bitcoin is the most widely known application of blockchain, there is more to the distributed ledger system than just digital currencies. It’s a game-changing technology with wide potential to transform how different industries work.　Blockchain is already in use today to impro

Home to a tech-savvy population, South Korea is expected to see nearly one-third of its smartphone users making mobile payments this year, according to a report released Tuesday by global market analytics firm eMarketer.　According to the report, around 31.9 percent of smartphone users in South Korea will use their phones to pay for goods or services at a point of sale -- the “cash register” where a retail transaction is completed -- in 2018.A proximity mobile payment is defined as a transaction

MOTORCYCLE SAFETY PROMOTION -- Seoul Metropolitan Policy Agency Commissioner Lee Ju-min (center) hands a reflective sticker to a Barogo motorcycle rider (right) during a memorandum of understanding signing ceremony Tuesday in Seoul. Woowa Bros, the operator of delivery startups Baedal Minjok and Barogo, signed a memorandum with the Seoul Metropolitan Policy Agency and other state-led public safety agencies to jointly promote traffic safety among local motorcycle deliverymen. Under the partnershi

Samsung BioLogics said Monday that its plans to build a fourth biologics production plant are “still under review,” and that its main focus at present is securing sufficient orders for its third plant, which is slated to begin commercial production in 2020.　The company has yet to set a concrete timetable for its plant expansion and will have to review market conditions before confirming the construction of a new plant, the company said.The statements followed remarks made by Samsung BioLogics CE

KOREA-INDIA PHARMA PARTNERSHIP -- Indian Chamber of Commerce in Korea Chairman Vasudev Tumbe (left) and Korea Pharmaceutical and Bio-Pharma Manufacturers Association Vice President Lee Seoung-Kyou (center) pose after signing a Memorandum of Understanding. Under the MOU, the two entities plan to facilitate knowledge exchange, conduct market research, plan related policies, co-host workshops and exhibitions and create business and investment opportunities, the KPBMA said. (KPBMA)

South Korean biopharma company Celltrion will begin preparations to build its first overseas production plant this year and confirm a site for the biologics facility before June, its Chairman Seo Jeong-jin announced Thursday.　Celltrion will also expand the production capacity of its upcoming overseas plant -- its third facility -- to 360,000 liters, which is triple the capacity that the drugmaker had initially planned for the new plant. The upcoming facility, which Celltrion plans to start build

South Korean pharmaceutical company Dong-A ST said Friday that it has entered into a joint research agreement with AstraZeneca to develop new innovative immuno-oncology drug candidates. Under the agreement -- which was signed during the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco on Thursday -- the two drugmkers will collaborate on three oncology research projects under the lead of AstraZeneca. Details of the projects were not revealed, due to contract stipulations.Dong-A ST Vice President