The Internet industry is expected to see fierce competition next year in the market of Online to Offline (O2O) that connects things on the Internet to things in the real world.According to the Internet service providers including Naver and Daum Kakao on Dec. 16, these companies are planning or prepa
The Ministry of Science, ICT & Future Planning held an inauguration ceremony for the Open Alliance for Internet of Things Standards (OCEAN) on Dec. 16 at the COEX convention center, Seoul, aiming to foster the IoT industry.The purpose of creating the OCEAN is to share open source and software produc
An increasing number of global IT companies are entering the mobile payment market. Industry analysts are saying that the phenomenon is due to their anticipation that the mobile payment sector will become the foundation of all industries in the future, rather than their desire to get profits from mo
Emerging China’s second-generation smartphone manufacturers, including Xiaomi and OPPO, have recently been caught up in patent wars. Global communications service provider Ericsson already took legal action against Chinese companies including Xiaomi for patent infringement. But local first-generatio
Univera’s aloe was chosen as one of their World-class Goods by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE). It has been chosen for 12 years in a row since 2003.To qualify, World-class Goods should have annual exports over US$5 million, a market rank within 5th, and have over a five percent sh
The Korean government’s financial policy for next year focuses on deregulation, laying the groundwork for future growth and risk management.The government is going to relax financial regulations for the promotion of fintech, or financial technology, while allowing the establishment of Internet banks
The Bank of Korea announced on Dec. 15 that Korea’s per-capita GNI increased 394-fold from US$67 to US$26,205, the eighth-highest in the world, and its nominal GNI increased 29,833-fold from 48.3 billion won (US$44.1 million) to 1.441 quadrillion won (US$1.314 trillion) between 1953 and last year.Du
Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering (DSME) maintains its good performance in the liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier market. It is continuously making successes in getting orders in LNG carrier market, which has become a niche market, while orders of offshore plant are slowing down due to glo
Japan is expanding its investment in the fast-growing service sectors of the ASEAN countries, in an attempt to outdo Korea.According to the Institute for International Trade of the Korea International Trade Association (KITA), the ASEAN region is emerging as a major consumption market based on its e
Talk about the Korean Air scandal surrounding its former vice president Cho Hyun-ah is spreading like wildfire. The company tried to calm the controversy by means of a public apology by Hanjin Group Chairman Cho Yang-ho. But the victimized cabin manager and a passenger have testified about Cho Hyun-
Global IT giants like Google and Facebook, which already dominate major Internet markets around the world, are accelerating the launch of new offensives to dominate the Korean market too.With Chinese Internet companies like Alibaba and Tencent joining the trend, there are increasing concerns that th
According to a report on the 2015 retail industry published by Kiwoom Securities on Dec. 14, local mobile shopping transactions are expected to reach 6.9 trillion won (US$6.3 billion) in the third quarter of next year, surpassing the 6.4 trillion won (US$5.8 billion) of PC-based e-commerce.The numbe
Shinhan Bank (CEO Suh Jin-won) was chosen as number one in all of the customer satisfaction ratings carried out by five organizations this year.Shinhan Bank received high public confidence in satisfaction ratings done directly by bank customers from KS-SQI led by the Korean Standard Association, GCS
A report shows that the labor productivity of service industry in Korea is merely 46 percent of that of the manufacturing sector, with productivity of intermediate industries such as the IT, finance, and insurance sector on the lowest spot among member states of the Organization of Economic Developm
The Laneige Water Sleeping Pack of Amore Pacific was chosen as a world-class good.World-class goods are chosen by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy among those that rank within 5th in global market share or have over a five percent share. Their annual global market should also have a volume
Xiaomi Technology, which has rapidly grown to be the third-largest smartphone vendor in three years by imitating Apple, is likely to be dragged down by patent violations. The Chinese handset maker was ordered to stop selling smartphones in India, which is considered to be a strategic market.Accordin
In May 2010, the social commerce market was created by TMON, and with the participation of Coupang and Wemakeprice in the same year, a full-scale competition has started in the market. Four years after the creation of the market, three companies are still operating at a loss while fiercely competing
The government announced that it would relax its regulations on new industries such as financial technology (fintech) and the Internet of Things (IoT), while maintaining those for Internet user protection and the prevention of the abuse of market dominance.At a policy discussion meeting held on Dec.
Korea and ASEAN entrepreneurs visiting Busan City for the Korea-ASEAN CEO Summit signed a number of contracts for closer cooperation and exchange between the two regions.On Dec. 11, a total of 323 companies attended the Korea-ASEAN Business Plaza hosted by the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency
President Park Geun-hye announced the conclusion of a bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) between Korea and Vietnam at a press conference in Busan on Dec. 10, after a summit with Prime Minister Nguyen Tan, which was held as part of the ASEAN-Korea Commemorative Summit.The deal makes Vietnam the nat