It’s a cold day on your way home from work. However, minutes before your arrival, the heating system and lights at your apartment automatically turn on -- all through a simple voice command of “initiate return home mode” via your smartphone.　After you park your car, the front gate of the apartment building automatically opens as it recognizes you via the smartphone in your hand. With a simple touch, the door of your warm apartment opens as the pre-set rice cooker announces, “The rice is ready.”　

As public anger grows toward Choi Soon-sil, a confidante of President Park Geun-hye who allegedly meddled in key government affairs as a civilian, South Korean game developers have launched new mobile games mocking the woman at the center of the country’s roiling political scandal.Choi Soon-sil, 60, is a longtime friend of President Park who allegedly acted as the president’s secret adviser without holding a government title. She is accused of using her personal ties to the president to wield un

Asiana Airlines employees monitor aviation data via its newly deployed aviation safety management system named AASIS2, or Asiana Airlines Safety Information 2, at the company’s safety control tower in Gangnam, Seoul, Tuesday. (Yonhap)

South Korean cosmetics giant AmorePacific Group said Tuesday that its third-quarter operating profit rose 16.7 percent to 219.7 billion won ($192.5 million), led by the strong growth of its cosmetics businesses abroad. The group’s revenue also rose 22.9 percent on-year to reach 1.65 trillion won in the July-September period, according to the company’s regulatory filing.However, its net profit in the third quarter dropped 0.4 percent to 151.4 billion won, due to losses sustained by its biggest su

South Korean biopharma developer Celltrion said Monday that it has submitted its Herceptin biosimilar to the European Medicine Agency for approval, taking a step closer to commercializing the drug in European markets.　Celltrion submitted Herzuma to the EMA on Oct. 27. Herzuma is a biosimilar referencing Roche’s blockbuster breast cancer drug Herceptin (trastuzumab) which raked in a revenue of $6.8 billion worldwide in 2015. The Celltrion headquarters in Songdo, Incheon (Yonhap)Biosimilars refer

Shares of Samsung BioLogics will be offered for sale to interested investors on Wednesday and Thursday, as the South Korean contract drug manufacturer prepares to go public on Korea’s main bourse on Nov. 10.　The company has priced its shares at 136,000 won ($118.83) apiece. This pricing scheme values the share sale at 2.25 trillion won and sets Samsung BioLogics’ market value at 9 trillion won. Samsung BioLogics employees work inside a lab at the company`s headquarters in Songdo, Incheon (Samsun

South Korean mobile carrier SK Telecom said Monday that it has joined hands with US chipmaker Intel Corp. for the development of next-generation technologies for autonomous vehicles.　The two firms signed a memorandum of understanding in Seoul last Thursday, pledging to cooperate for the development of “Vehicle-to-Everything,” or V2X, technology as well as video recognition based on deep learning, a form of artificial intelligence, SKT said. The chief of SK Telecom’s Corporate R&D Center Choi Jin

The combined production volume of China’s top three smartphone makers - Huawei, Oppo and Vivo - in the third quarter surpassed that of South Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics for the first time, industry data showed.According to market research firm IDC, Samsung Electronics manufactured 72.5 million smartphones, giving it a 20 percent market share of the global smartphone market, during the July-September period.Meanwhile, the three Chinese firms together produced 80.1 million smartphone uni

LG Electronics‘ Wine 3G cellphone began sales in South Korea on Sunday via local carrier KT. LG’s new budget handset is designed for senior consumers who prefer cheap cellphones offering the most basic functions over high-end smartphones with complex features. The LG Wine 3G is priced at 143,000 won ($125), including tax, and is available in two colors -- brown and red. (KT)

LG Electronics said Sunday that it has begun selling its latest premium smartphone V20 in the US and Canada, with the aim of appealing to audiophiles, camera enthusiasts and content creators.LG is hoping to win over customers who are looking to purchase a large-size premium smartphone, including those seeking alternatives to the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 which was recently pulled from the market due to battery safety issues. A reporter looks at LG Electronics’ V20 smartphone during a media event hel

By Hwang Jai-gyuDirector of Marketing Public Relationship at Pigeon Pigeon Corporation is delighted to be recognized for its advertisement which emphasizes the firm’s dedication to creating products that protect the environment and ensure consumer safety.　As a pioneer in South Korea’s household products market, Pigeon developed the country’s first-ever fabric softener. It has also been engaged in continuous efforts to create products that prioritize nature as well as consumer safety.Hwang Jai-gy

South Korean game developer NCSOFT unveiled its new mobile game “Lineage Red Knights” in Seoul on Thursday, announcing plans to officially launch the game in 12 countries on Dec. 8.　The mobile game is based on “Lineage,” a pioneering multiplayer online role-playing game introduced in 1998 that rocketed NCSOFT to become one of Korea’s biggest game developers.NCSOFT plans to launch its new mobile RPG in 12 countries, including Korea, Taiwan and parts of Southeast Asia, on Dec. 8, with plans to int

South Korean internet giant Naver on Thursday reported that its third-quarter revenue surged 20.5 percent on-year to reach 1.01 trillion won ($890 million), led by growing sales from its overseas and mobile businesses. 　It is the first time ever that Naver’s quarterly earning has surpassed 1 trillion won, the company said in a regulatory filing. In the July-September period, Naver’s operating profit surged 27.6 percent from a year earlier to 282.3 billion won. Its consolidated net profit came in

As Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong becomes a board member, taking greater control of the South Korean tech giant, he shoulders a daunting task -- ensuring the future sustainability of Samsung Group.　The world’s biggest maker of smartphones and chips is seeking leadership in new, promising industries that could supplement -- or even replace -- its flagship electronics business which is facing tough market competition and stagnant growth.　Continuing along the path laid out by his ai

SK Networks recently unveiled plans to transform its flagship Walkerhill Hotel into a must-visit tourist location as the firm seeks to reclaim a government license to reopen its duty-free shop at the hotel.　Last May, SK was forced to close its duty-free shop after 24 years of business upon losing its operational license. Now, the firm is determined to reopen its tax-free outlet by winning a highly contested bid for a new business license.“We plan to make SK Walkerhill Duty Free into an irreplace

Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin on Tuesday pledged to improve the transparency of the group’s management and to restart processes for the public listing of its hotel unit which had been stalled due to a lengthy probe into irregularities at the Korean-Japanese retail giant.In his first official appearance since his indictment last week, the Lotte chief delivered a public apology for causing trouble and unveiled a major restructuring plan for building up a “new Lotte” rooted in transparency and

While environmental depletion has been a worldwide trend over the past decades, its consequences could not be more alarming than in South Korea -- a country with scarce, yet quickly depleting ecological reserves.　Nonetheless, Korea today has potential to significantly reduce its burden on nature by initiating big and small changes from both the top-down and bottom-up perspectives, said the Global Footprint Network, an international environmentalist think tank.Throughout the course of its rapid e

Sales of Apple’s iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus began in South Korea on Friday, amid high expectations that the US tech giant could reap added success here in the absence of Samsung Electronics’ Galaxy Note 7. 　　Apple officially launched its latest iPhone series through Korea’s three major mobile carriers SK Telecom, KT and LG Uplus as well as local Apple retailer Frisbee, with sales starting from 8 a.m. on Friday.　Korea has long been a tough market for Apple, as Samsung has maintained its undispute

The South Korean Ministry of Food and Drug Safety released improved guidelines for 3-D printed medical devices Friday, with aims to spur the growth of the emerging business segment.　The ministry’s new guidelines establish more concrete and detailed regulatory standards for conducting product efficacy, safety and biocompatibility testing for 3-D printed implants for bone fixtures and dental surgery.The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (Yonhap)In improving its guidelines, the ministry aims to enco

Three-dimensional printers have long been used to make plastic figurines and industrial parts, but soon, another material might become available through printing technology -- silk protein.South Korea’s Rural Development Administration said that it has successfully developed a new 3-D printing technology that uses protein extracted from silkworms -- a 25:75 combination of sericin and fibroin -- to print out customized surgical bone plates, screws and clips used to fix bone fractures.Silk protein