Tech Brunch breaks down how complex technologies work. -- Ed. Quantum cryptography, the science of utilizing quantum mechanics to perform cryptographic tasks, is rising as an essential data security technology to replace existing security solutions in the upcoming era of 5G network and Internet of Things. In an interview with The Korea Herald last week, Cho Seok-beom, Ph.D manager at Quantum Tech. Lab of South Korean mobile carrier SK Telecom, said keys encrypted with photons are “highly sensiti

BARCELONA, Spain -- SK Telecom announced Monday it would acquire the world’s No. 1 quantum cryptographic business, based in Switzerland, as a move to strengthen data security in the next-generation network. The Swiss company acquired by SKT is IDQ, which announced the world’s first quantum random number generator in 2002 and launched the first quantum key distribution service in 2006. The South Korean mobile carrier announced the acquisition on the opening day of the Mobile World Congress 2018 i

BARCELONA, Spain -- At first sight, Samsung Electronics’ newest flagship Galaxy S9 and S9+ smartphones have few design or display features to amaze. But the ninth edition of its luxury Galaxy line has a handful of significant changes inside. The latest Samsung smartphones debuted Sunday in Barcelona, Spain, are more entertaining, immersive and personalized. The South Korean tech giant has applied augmented reality technology to emojis -- digital images used to express ideas and emotions -- for t

BARCELONA, Spain -- Instead of revealing a new flagship G series model for the first half of this year, LG Electronics unveiled Sunday an upgraded version of last year’s V30 smartphone with camera functions based on artificial intelligence. Named “V30S ThinQ,” the latest LG smartphone is the first mobile device to adopt the firm’s AI platform ThinQ, which was introduced at the Consumer Electronics Show in January, the company said on the eve of the opening of the Mobile World Congress 2018 in Ba

MWC DEBUT -- Models showcase LG Electronics’ premium smartphone V30S ThinQ enhanced with artificial intelligence-based camera functions in Barcelona, Spain, Sunday, ahead of the opening of the Mobile World Congress 2018. (LG Electronics)

The world’s top memory chip provider Samsung Electronics is set to break ground this week for a new foundry plant equipped with cutting-edge process technologies in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, in a bid to catch up with Taiwan’s foundry business TMSC. According to Samsung on Wednesday, the company is scheduled to hold a ceremony with around 100 local residents in Hwaseong on Friday to mark the ground-breaking of the new plant. “The new plant is so far planned to be used largely for foundry produ

LG Uplus said Tuesday the company had established a drone-based video system to monitor emergency situations in the Secho district in southern Seoul. The latest establishment tells the company has started to apply drones to social infrastructure that improves public safety, the mobile carrier said. A camera-equipped drone will record at emergency sites that are hard for rescue teams to approach and send the footage in real time to smartphones, PCs and internet protocol TVs via the company’s Long

The Korea Herald runs a series of articles titled ‘What‘s Happening,’ which looks into the culture and trends of companies operating in South Korea. -- Ed.A marketing official at a Samsung affiliate, surnamed Shin, recently received a warning via email from his team leader. The email read, “Your workhours surpassed 52 hours last week. Please clarify reasons for the overtime.”Shin had to reply right away, retracing his work in the past week, as excessive work hours would not only affect him, but

While growth of Samsung Electronics and Apple in the global smartphone market is expected to slow this year, Nokia is being forecast to resurface as a global smartphone brand, according to an analysis by US market researcher on Wednesday. Trendforce said in a report that Nokia, a Finnish firm once the world’s largest provider of cellular phones, is seeing a clear future growth this year. Nokia’s partnership with HMD and FIH Mobile that started in 2017, recorded a production volume of 11.5 millio

On Feb. 9 the world was impressed by a giant peace dove that lit up the night sky with around 1,200 LED candles held by performers at the opening ceremony of the 2018 Olympic Winter Games. The performance marked the very first in the Olympics’ history to use the fifth-generation wireless telecommunications network established by South Korean mobile carrier KT exclusively for the international sports event being held in a country ardently promoting ICT. As an official telecom partner of the Pyeon

Samsung Electronics’ is set to make an imminent final decision on another round of massive investment -- anticipated at some 30 trillion won ($27.7 billion) -- to expand one of its semiconductor factories into the world’s largest. Samsung’s new investment is at the center of attention in the global chip industry amid technological challenges and market forecasts of slowing growth this year. Samsung reportedly held a meeting of its top management on Wednesday last week to discuss the investment t

South Korea’s leading battery maker Samsung SDI has embarked on research and development of cobalt-less batteries as a strategy to hedge against rising cobalt prices in the long run, the company said Monday. Recent increases in the prices of cobalt have been a major headache for battery developers across the world, which is a core material for lithium-ion batteries, according to the firm. (Samsung Electronics)The international cobalt price soared $34,600 per ton in January 2017 to $81,360 this y

An employee introduces a tax refund service in front of KT IS' tax refund kiosks. (KT IS)KT IS, a subsidiary of South Korean mobile carrier KT, said Sunday it signed a partnership with China’s Tenpay to offer a tax refund service for foreigners starting later this month. The company will offer the tax refund service via WeChat for foreign tourists under the partnership with Tenpay, a mobile payment firm of Tencent Group, signed on Friday. The two companies are currently developing and testing th

Mid-size conglomerate Dayou Group is on track to become the third largest home appliance manufacturer in South Korea as it is going to acquire a majority stake in Dongbu Daewoo Electronics, according to the industry on Sunday.The group signed a stock purchase agreement with financial investors of Dongbu Daewoo on Friday after a heated competition with Turkey’s Vestel and Iran’s Entekhab for months to buy an 84.8 percent stake in the electronics firm. The acquisition price hasn’t been confirmed y

Major industrial facilities including Posco’s steel mill and Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power’s nuclear plants operated as normal, despite a 4.6 magnitutde earthquake in Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province, the companies said Sunday. Posco’s steel mill in Pohang is running without abnormal signs, the steelmaker said. The southeastern city, home to the country’s largest steelmaker, was hit by a 4.6 magnitude quake at 5:03 a.m., 5 kilometers northwest of the city’s northern district at a depth of 9 kilom

IT businesses around the world are facing a paradigm shift toward connectivity enabled by the next-generation telecommunications network. Among them, South Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics has set a strategy to enhance its end-to-end network business to provide fifth-generation technologies that will be fundamental to upcoming electronics powered by artificial intelligence. The 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics will offer an opportunity to look at Samsung’s preparations for the 5G era.Samsun

(SK Group)Since 2016, the growth mantra of SK Group has been “Deep Change,” and this year, the third-largest conglomerate in South Korea is taking it up a notch in newfound areas. The group is looking into new business models in the fields of semiconductors, oil refinery and information and communication technology in the face of a paradigm shift toward the “fourth industrial revolution.”SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won is spearheading the undertaking by leading talks with global business leaders

Samsung Electronics is gearing up for its entry into the car infotainment market by tapping into Southeast Asia’s largest on-demand transportation platform, the company announced Friday. Samsung signed a memorandum of understanding with Grab, a leading car sharing and mobile payment operator based in Singapore known as the Southeast Asian version of Uber, to drive digital inclusion in the region, it said. Under the memorandum, the South Korean tech titan will supply smartphone and tablet PCs for

Bolstered by an all-time high operating profit of 53 trillion won ($49.6 billion) in 2017, Samsung Electronics’ top management displayed an upbeat mood for the launches of new innovative products, including chips that support artificial intelligence and foldable organic light-emitting display smartphones, this year during a conference call on Wednesday. After announcing that it posted 239 trillion won in consolidated sales and 53 trillion won in operating profit last year, the South Korean tech

South Korean mobile carrier SK Telecom said Tuesday it will introduce a flexible work-hour system from the second quarter, joining moves by major conglomerates to shorten the workweek. The telecom firm will adopt a flexible system that allows employees to set their work hours based on a rule that limits maximum work hours to 80 hours per two weeks. For instance, during the last week of a month that usually requires more work to meet monthly deadlines, an employee could reflect his or her schedul