Korean patients with cancer and dementia will soon be allowed to have genetic tests without going to hospitals by using direct-to-consumer (DTC) devices, which test using their saliva.DTC usually refers to the marketing of pharmaceutical products but also applies to the direct marketing of medical d
Samsung Electronics, which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year, is revving up a “super-gap” strategy to prepare for the next 50 years.“As we became a world-class IT company 10 years ago by overcoming the global economic crisis, let’s create momentum for growing into a 100 years old global ente
Chinese companies’ direct investment in South Korea surged 240 percent in 2018, boosting foreign direct investment in Korea to a new annual high, according to data released by the Korean government on Jan. 3.According to the "Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Trends in 2018" released by the Ministry o
Mobile carrier SK Telecom and Korea’s three terrestrial TV broadcasters will merge their over-the-top (OTT) video service platforms into one to better compete with Netflix and YouTube, the global leaders in OTT services. The new OTT platform with more than 13 million subscribers is expected to chall
About 4,500 companies from 155 countries across the world will gather at CES 2019, the world's largest consumer technology event to take place for four days from Jan. 8 in Las Vegas of the United States, to showcase new technologies that will shape our daily life in the future.Smart home, smart
Samsung Electronics Co. vice chairman Lee Jae-yong chose fifth-generation (5G) mobile technology as the first theme of management for the New Year. This is to show his will for the 5G business, one of Samsung Electronics’ new growth engines.On Jan. 3, Lee participated in the opening event for a new
The founder of South Korea’s largest gaming company Nexon Co. has put his entire stake in NXC Corp., the group’s holding company, up for sale.Gaming and investment banking (IB) industry sources said on Jan. 3 that NXC CEO Kim Jung-ju has offered to sell off NXC shares owned by him and his affiliated
The South Korean government will benchmark the United States and introduce an approval system for foreign companies’ attempts to acquire Korean companies to prevent technology leaks. It will also increase the penalties for those who leak core national technologies, including fines of up to three tim
As the competition for new customers has become severe in the domestic insurance market due to saturation, business expenses spent by non-life insurance companies, including marketing cost, last year is expected to reach a record high.Insurance industry and Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) source
Korean blockchain and cryptocurrency companies are entering the competition in the simple payment market.Dunamu, the company behind South Korea’s cryptocurrency exchange platform Upbit, plans to allow partner companies of its “Luniverse” blockchain platform to build a main net, or an independent blo
The composite investment index of major Korean companies for 2019 has fallen to the lowest level since the government began to calculate the index in 2008.The index is based on five indicators – the investment trend index, the investment sentiment index, the investment performance index, the entrepr
Korean gaming companies are incorporating blockchain technology into their games. They have released or are preparing to release new games where blockchain technology is applied.Hanbit Soft is carrying out an internal test with its overseas partner, Asia Soft in Thailand, to link the global version
SsangYong Motor Co., part of Mahindra Group of India, announced on Jan. 2 that it sold a total of 143,309 vehicles in 2018 – 109,140 units in domestic sales and 34,169 in exports including CKD kits.In 2018, SsangYong showed a similar sales performance to 2017, recording a growth for nine consecutive
South Korea’s semiconductor exports fell in December last year, the first negative growth in 26 months. The decline is a clear sign that the “super boom” of the semiconductor industry has come to an end.The nation’s semiconductor exports totaled US$126.71 billion (141.41 trillion won) last year, acc
Korea’s exports have switched to a downturn in three months.The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said on Jan. 1, exports totaled US$48.46 billion in December, a drop of 1.2 percent year on year.Korea’s exports surpassed US$50 billion for seven consecutive months from May to November before fal
Korean shipbuilders are pinning high hopes on LNG carriers this year as well. Demand for LNG tankers has been on a steady rise as major countries have toughened environmental regulations as part of their eco-friendly energy policies.Shipbuilding analysts say LNG tankers will continue to buoy the wor
SK Hynix has installed deep ultraviolet (DUV) photolithography equipment at its memory semiconductor plant in Wuxi, China, a move in line with its aggressive investment in semiconductor facilities despite a forecast that the ongoing semiconductor industry cycle would shift into a downturn in 2019.
Korean builders received overseas construction orders worth US$32.1 billion (662 contracts) in 2018, according to the International Contractors Association of Korea on Dec. 30.This year's total fell short of the records set in the early 2010s, but is meaningful in that it recorded double-digit g
While Samsung Electronics and Huawei are planning to launch foldable phones in the first half of next year, terminal makers are pouring out patents on next-generation smartphones, such as foldable and rollable phones.According to industry and foreign sources on Dec. 30, LG Electronics has recently a
The Korean auto industry is in shock from the scheduled implementation of a new minimum wage system. If weekly holidays are included as working hours when calculating the minimum wage, the burden of wage increases on five South Korean automakers is estimated at 700 billion won (US$626.68 million) a