The summer vacation season is traditionally a boon for the airline industry. But South Korea’s major airline companies are far from cruising, as their stocks have been plunging along with their brand power due to personal and business irregularities allegedly committed by the owner families.　Asiana Airlines, one of Korea’s two major air carriers run by the Kumho Asiana Group, has seen its shares plummet since the recent “no-meal” fiasco erupted, jeopardizing the firm’s standing and igniting prot

LG CNS, the information technology services unit of South Korea’s LG Group, announced Thursday the launch of a comprehensive smart city management platform that collects and analyzes data generated and sent by various city infrastructure via internet of things technology.Tentatively named “Cityhub,” the smart city platform collects data from IoT sensors attached on vehicles, buildings, transportation infrastructure and street lights. Such data can also be analyzed via LG CNS’ artificial intellig

South Korea’s government and the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification jointly hosted an inaugural forum this week to discuss how the international community can best cooperate to achieve land degradation neutrality.　Organized by the state-run Korea Forest Service, the Global LDN Forum took place in Seoul on Wednesday and Thursday, inviting officials from environment-focused international organizations, policymakers and academics to discuss ways to strengthen global LDN implementat

Samsung SDS, the information technology solutions unit of South Korea’s Samsung Group, said Wednesday that it has launched a new door lock that employs Internet of Things technology to connect to smartphones, for both Korean and global markets.　The device, named the SHP-DR900, is equipped with a power-efficient Wi-Fi chip that extends battery life by two times, compared to existing devices in the market, the company said. (Samsung SDS)It also informs users of their door status via a smartphone i

South Korea’s Ministry of Food and Drug Safety has set official approval guidelines for medical devices that use virtual reality and augmented reality technologies, setting a clearer development path for companies working to commercialize new products in this emerging space.　The Drug Ministry on Monday released a new regulatory guidebook laying down the definition and elements of VR and AR-based medical devices as well as approval standards, in the hope of expediting new related product developm

Faced with stiff competition in financial services, banks around the world have been striving to maximize their operational efficiency and customize services using digital analytics technologies.Capitalizing on this demand is SAS, a US analytics software firm that has been providing banks with high-powered analytics capabilities to help them provide more personalized services to their clients. One example is South Korea’s NongHyup Bank, one of the country’s largest lenders with more than $250 bi

An overwhelming majority of Google Play’s revenue in the South Korean market is generated by games provided on the mobile app marketplace, industry tracking data released Tuesday showed.According to local app analytics firm WiseApp, the games category took up 94.4 percent of revenue generated on Korea’s Google Play, the biggest app marketplace for mobile devices running on the Android operating system.Revenue on Google Play refers to tax-exclusive funds generated by app sales — where users have

South Korean video game giant NCSoft said Monday that it has invested 22 billion won ($19.67 million) in a local visual effects technology firm, 4th Creative Party, with aims to forge new synergies in the digital media space.Established in 2009, 4th Creative Party is one of Korea’s top visual effects tech companies. It has participated in the production of major Korean films including “Okja,” “The Handmaiden,” “Snowpiercer” and “Oldboy.” The firm also recently branched out into new areas of digi

SK Chemicals announced Monday that it has spun off its vaccine business division into a new unit called SK Bioscience. The spinoff was completed as of Sunday.　SK Bioscience has been established as a wholly-owned subsidiary of SK Chemicals.With the split, SK Chemicals will focus on the chemical materials and chemical combination drug business, while SK Bioscience will focus on the vaccine business with aims to maximize shareholder value. (SK Bioscience)The new subsidiary will be led by Ahn Jae-yo

South Korea’s Transport Ministry announced Friday that it will delay its decision on whether to revoke the business license held by Korean Air's budget affiliate Jin Air over the firm’s board appointment of a non-Korean member of the controlling family that violated local transport laws. 　The Ministry of Land Infrastructure and Transport said that it would initiate a formal hearing on the Jin Air case attended by company officials, before reaching a decision on the issue, a process which could t

Hongdae is a neighborhood in northeastern Seoul known for its youthful ambience, boutique cafes, live performances, nightclubs and restaurants. But if Hongdae were to be described in one word, it would have to be “busking.”Day and night, the streets of Hongdae, the area surrounding Korea’s Hongik University, bustle with young musicians and artists staging outdoor performances. If you see a crowd huddled somewhere, you know there’s a musician, indie band, or dancers showing off their talent.A bus

Samsung BioLogics said Friday that Biogen has exercised its call option to raise its stake in their joint venture Samsung Bioepis to 49.9 percent, putting its long-noted intent to increase its ownership in the biosimilars development company into formal action.The development is expected to be taken into consideration by South Korea’s financial regulators, who are currently investigating a change in Samsung BioLogics’ accounting standards in 2015 that had factored in Biogen’s right to the Bioepi

LG Electronics is leading the global premium TV market on the back of successful sales of its organic light-emitting diode, or OLED, TVs that have been gaining popularity for its top-notch quality and relative affordability.　　The Korean tech firm’s home electronics division recently set a milestone by logging a record-high operating margin of 14 percent in the first quarter of this year, riding on the successful sales of its premium OLED TVs.　LG Electronics’ OLED TV AI ThinQ (LG Electronics)　LG

　LG Chem, the chemicals and biopharma business unit of South Korea’s LG Group, said Thursday that it has officially begun selling its Enbrel-referencing biosimilar, Eucept, in Korea. 　　Eucept is the first monoclonal antibody drug developed by LG Chem. It was approved by Korea’s Ministry of Food and Drug Safety in March for the treatment of conditions including rheumatoid arthritis, axial spondyloarthritis and psoriasis. 　As marketing and sales activities are now kicking off, LG Chem said it hope

Samsung Electronics announced Thursday that it will unveil its new Galaxy Note 9 premium smartphone at 11 a.m. in New York on Aug. 9, confirming the official debut date for its latest device. 　The Korean tech giant sent out invitations to journalists and partners to join its flagship “Samsung Galaxy Unpacked” showcase event, which will take place at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. The event will be livestreamed on Samsung.com. 　In the invite, Samsung unveiled a close-up photo of what

The 2018 Global Bio Conference kicked off in Seoul on Wednesday, bringing together biotech regulators and industry experts from around the world to support the growth and overseas expansion of South Korea’s biopharmaceuticals businesses.　　In its fourth edition, the GBC has invited 126 speakers from 32 countries and has drawn more than 3,000 participants including government officials, pharma industry experts and academics. This year’s GBC, which continues through Friday, featured renowned speake

PINKFONG ON FLIGHT -- Korean children’s content producer SmartStudy unveils a Jeju Air plane decorated with its character Pinkfong on Wednesday. The project was launched as part of a joint marketing agreement signed between Korean low-cost carrier Jeju Air and SmartStudy in April. (SmartStudy)

German chemical and life sciences giant Merck KGaA has restructured its performance materials business with aims to strengthen its growth this year — a move that hints at Merck’s renewed attention to its key customers in the space including South Korean display makers Samsung and LG. 　Merck recently initiated a major restructuring of its performance materials business division. Previously broken down into smaller sub-units by material type, Merck’s materials business is now divided into three ar

South Korea’s biopharmaceutical industry is seeking leniency in implementing the country’s revised labor law that mandates companies with 300 or more employees to reduce maximum weekly work hours to 52 hours per week, from the current 68 hours.As the law is set to take effect from July 1, with a six-month grace period, Korea’s big biopharma companies are hoping to work around the new limit by asking the government to permit wider leniency in introducing flexible work hours for the industry, whos

South Korea ranks No. 1 worldwide in terms of smartphone ownership and internet usage, as nine in 10 Korean adults use the internet and own a smartphone, according to a new report released this month by the US-based Pew Research Center.　The research center conducted a survey on 40,448 respondents in 37 countries from Feb. 16 to May 8, 2017, on their internet and social media usage patterns as well as smartphone ownership. And in the survey, South Korea recorded the highest smartphone ownership r