Samsung Electronics on Thursday officially denied a local news report alleging that it forced South Korea’s major portal website operators Naver and Kakao to remove negative news articles about its de-facto chief Lee Jae-yong.Samsung Electronics said in an official statement sent to Kakao and Naver that it “did not come into any form of (illicit) contact with the two firms” and that “the news report is groundless.”Earlier this week, the Hankyoreh newspaper reported that Samsung forced the two fi

South Korean internet giant Naver begun offering its artificial intelligence language translation program Papago as an official service this week, expanding the software’s functions and service range.　Naver introduced Papago in the form of a mobile app in August 2016 in beta testing to showcase its machine learning-based translation algorithms to users, collect more data and receive broader feedback.The translation program was initially offered only as a mobile application and could handle only

President Moon Jae-in’s plan to reduce conscripted soldiers’ mandatory military service sparked debate Thursday, amid growing concerns over a shortage of young draftees and North Korea’s escalating military threat. 　The government says the measure is part of a bigger plan to transform the Army into a more modernized force based on career military officers, but critics warn that it runs the risk of undermining the country’s fundamental military capability, if confronted by the 1.2 million-strong

Most fitness wearables typically come in the form of electronic watches or bands that measure physical activity or track biological signals. However, a US-based startup has come up with a new device that has a more active, stimulatory relationship with the wearer. 　Halo Neuroscience officially introduced its brain-stimulating fitness headphones in South Korea on Wednesday. Dubbed the Halo Sport, the device sends weak electrical pulses into the wearer’s brain to enhance the effectiveness of their

Line Friends, the character merchandising unit of Japan-based mobile messenger Line, will open its first store in the US at Times Square in New York City on July 21, the company announced on Twitter.According to Line Friends, July 21 will mark the store’s “pre-opening” ahead of the official grand opening day slated for August. This is so that the firm can have time to test operate and optimize the store in line with consumer needs before the official opening, a company spokesperson said Wednesda

 　CAMP CASEY, Dongducheon -- Despite the relocation of a major US military base from the inter-Korean border to the south of Seoul, the unit’s combat readiness will remain just as strong as before, its outgoing and incoming commanders stressed Tuesday. 　“The location of the division and various brigades ... (it) really does not matter where we are stationed,” Maj. Gen. Theodore D. Martin, who was the commander general of the 2nd Infantry Division for the past two years, said in an interview with

SEARCHING FOR JOBS – Prospective graduates of Korea’s vocational high schools line up at a career fair that saw the participation of more than 80 regional companies and was organized by Busan City. As part of the program, the participating firms are slated to hire around 2,000 graduates of the specialized high schools designed to provide students with vocational training to immediately join the workforce. (Yonhap)

Kakao Mobility is slated to begin official operation as an independent subsidiary of Kakao from next month, with aims to apply new profit-making business models to the firm’s key transportation services.Kakao, operator of South Korea’s most widely-used mobile messenger KakaoTalk, said Monday that Kakao Mobility, which it spun off in May, would officially take off from Aug. 1.　The new subsidiary will oversee the operations of Kakao’s mobility services including the taxi-hailing app Kakao Taxi, ch

Celltrion is slated to initiate the phase 1 clinical trials of its biosimilar referencing Roche’s blockbuster cancer drug Avastin in South Korea as the trials were officially approved by local regulators on Monday.　Korea’s Ministry of Food and Drug Safety has granted Celltrion approval to start phase 1 trials of its biosimilar referencing Avastin, developed by Roche-owned Genentech for the treatment of various cancers including colorectal cancer and lung cancer.Celltrion's headquarters in Songdo

South Korea’s LG Chem said Monday that it has completed its new plant designed to produce diagnostic reagents — drugs used to conduct tests using samples taken from the human body such as blood and hair strands to detect diseases, infections and other medical conditions.　Located in the city of Osong in North Chungcheong Province, the new drug production plant spans across 2,370 square meters, according to LG Chem’s life sciences business division.(LG Chem)The facility will produce 12 products, i

      TEHRAN -- The younger brother of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, Hossein Fereydoun, has been arrested on financial crime charges, the judiciary said on Sunday.   "Multiple investigations have been conducted regarding this person, also other people have been investigated, some of whom are in jail," deputy judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejeie said in a televised press conference.   "Yesterday, bail was issued for him but because he failed to secure it he was referred to prison," Eje

A US journalist kidnapped by a militia group in Democratic Republic of Congo was found safe and sound early Sunday, a senior official said, as another source said five people had been killed in clashes.   "The American journalist Lisa Dupuy was found safe and sound at around 3 am on Sunday" by government troops, Pacifique Keta, vice governor of Ituri province, told AFP.   The troops were deployed after Dupuy and 11 wardens working for the Okapi Wildlife Reserve (RFO) -- a vast conservation park

　South Korea’s chopper Surion has defects that make it “unreliable” for flight missions, Seoul’s audit agency said on Sunday, requesting a prosecutorial investigation into the helicopter’s local manufacturer and the nation’s arms procurement agencies.  　The Board of Audit and Inspection announced that the helicopter lacks lightening protection and anti-icing capability. It even has an engine leakage and malfunctions in its fuselage and windshield.   　The state-run audit body said Korea Aerospace

Celltrion Healthcare, the sales and marketing unit of Celltrion, said Friday that it would actively seek out new drug candidates to broaden its product portfolio as well as build stronger direct sales routes globally to boost profits.　The firm’s new direction was announced by its CEO Kim Man-hoon during a press conference held in Seoul ahead of the company’s scheduled public listing on Korea’s secondary bourse Kosdaq on July 28.According to Kim, Celltrion Healthcare is looking for overseas inves

Despite the emphasis on startups’ role as the country’s future, South Korea’s startup ecosystem currently lags behind the global competition, as it is weighed down by overregulation, according to a new report by McKinsey & Company on Thursday.　Excessive regulations make it difficult for startups to introduce new tech-driven services and products to the market, according to the “Startup Korea!” report by McKinsey Korea, commissioned by Google Campus Seoul and the Asan Nanum Foundation. The report

　North Korea’s long-range ballistic missile test-fired last week is thought to have a range capable of reaching Alaska and Hawaii, but not the main US continent, missile experts said Wednesday. 　Jang Young-geun, a professor of aerospace and mechanic engineering at Korea Aerospace University, said that if fired at a range-maximizing angle, the Hwasong 14 missile could fly 6,200 kilometers carrying a 900-kilogram nuclear warhead, or 8,100 kilometers with a 600-kilogram warhead. 　“If a standardized

US social networking giant Facebook said Wednesday it has partnered with South Korean business agencies to launch a new program to help Korean startups expand overseas with digital strategies leveraging its platform.Facebook Korea and the state-run Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency introduced the Made by Korea program designed to offer local startups export-related support.Korea’s e-commerce solution providers MakeShop and Cafe24 as well as digital business training institution Fast Campus

South Korean regulators approved Wednesday the country’s first-ever cell-mediated gene therapy for degenerative arthritis Invossa, developed by US-based TissueGene, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Korea’s Kolon Group.　Korea’s Ministry of Food and Drug Safety has granted approval to Invossa-K Inj., an injectable cell gene therapy for osteoarthritis, a joint disease common among the elderly in which the cartilage that cushions the ends of bones between joints breaks down.　Developed by TissueGene for

 　SEOUL/PYEONGTAEK, Gyeonggi Province -- The US’ 8th Army on Tuesday unveiled its new headquarters in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, putting an end to its 64-year deployment at the center of Seoul since the end of the Korean War. 　Straddling an area of 14.7 million square meters, Camp Humphreys is the US’ largest and most populated overseas military base, housing some 500 buildings and amenities such as schools, stores, banks and playgrounds. The US Forces Korea says that about 80 percent of the

Line Corp., the Japan-based mobile messaging company under South Korea’s Naver, has officially stepped into the global game publishing business with the formation of a new subsidiary, Line Games.The establishment of Line Games was announced Monday to broaden the scope of its game business, which had been limited to offering Line messenger as a platform for featuring new mobile games.Line Games will specialize in global game publishing services, which involve providing marketing and operations su