South Korea’s biggest video games company, Nexon, is seeking to launch its new mobile role-playing game “V4” later this month. 　According to Nexon, V4 is to be released to the public on Sep. 27 with a press event for journalists and influencers. More than 100 participants will gather to watch the game’s demonstration and discuss its user interfaces, the company said Sunday.　Short for Victory Four, “V4,” is one of Nexon’s most highly anticipated massivel

Technology Sept. 8, 2019

Last November, when a fire broke out in the basement of a KT building in the Ahyeon neighborhood of central Seoul, those living in the country’s most wired city discovered how fragile their telecommunication system could be. 　Not only did residents find themselves unable to make calls or access the internet, but they were also restricted from using credit cards. An emergency room at a major hospital had to close temporarily as diagnosis data was shut down. Full recovery works took about a

Technology Sept. 4, 2019

 With South Korea’s public and private sectors both looking to adopt cloud computing technologies more widely, an increasing number of global data management firms are making inroads here. US-based global data management service provider Equinix said last week that it had opened its first data center in Korea in the Digital Media City area of western Seoul. Dubbed the SL1 Seoul International Business Exchange, the facility will enable its customers to connect with local suppliers and

Technology Sept. 3, 2019

South Korea’s leading golf simulator maker, Golfzon, is seeking to enhance its business presence in Vietnam, riding on the sport’s growing popularity in the Southeast Asian country.By the end of the year, Golfzon plans to operate a total of 12 Vietnamese branches where people can play virtual golf at indoor facilities. Five branches have opened in the country since Golfzon began its business there last year. The company is also seeking to expand into the construction of outdoor golf

Technology Sept. 2, 2019

South Korean e-commerce firm Coupang was selected as the most preferred online shopping platform among Korean consumers for its speedy and accurate delivery, a survey showed Monday. According to the survey from the Korea Consumer Agency, Coupang scored the highest point total in overall consumer satisfaction, beating out its competitors. Some 1,200 consumers nationwide participated in the survey on the country’s six highest-earning e-commerce companies.In terms of consumer assessment about

Technology Sept. 2, 2019

About 9,000 YouTube contents distributed in South Korea have been accused of copyright infringement since January this year, a lawmaker said Sunday, amid growing calls for the government’s enhanced oversight over the global video-sharing service. Citing data from the Korea Copyright Protection Agency, Rep. Noh Woong-rae of Democratic Party said there were 8,833 copyright infringement cases in YouTube as of last month. It was similar to the number of violation cases last year when 8,880 con

Technology Sept. 1, 2019

Despite their efforts to compete with global video-sharing platforms, South Korea’s online video services are suffering from a drop in subscribers, while global rivals like Netflix and YouTube are enjoying persistent rises, data showed Thursday.According to a market research firm Nielson Koreanclick, some 29.98 million people here had subscribed to YouTube, Netflix and TikTok as of July. The number was an increase of about 15.5 percent from the same period a year earlier. In the meantime,

Technology Aug. 29, 2019

　With the effectuation on Wednesday of a Japanese government resolution effectively downgrading South Korea’s trade status, the Korean government pledged to spend 5 trillion won ($4.1 billion) to increase its own capabilities in the development of key industrial materials. 　President Moon Jae-in’s office, Moon’s governing Democratic Party and relevant government agencies announced a comprehensive research and development strategy to reduce the country’s reliance on Japane

Industry Aug. 28, 2019

　With a South Korean court overruling the media regulator’s decision to fine Facebook Korea for a network outage in 2017, content providers are raising pressure on the government to amend regulations on network usage fees.　Google, Facebook and Netflix have partnered with local tech companies including Naver and Kakao in ramping up criticism that the “network sharing” regulation has caused excessive financial burdens for content providers here and abroad.　The criticism intensifi

Technology Aug. 27, 2019

　South Korean information technology firm LG CNS is recruiting its former female workers as IT educators to provide them with opportunities after they left their jobs for childbirth and parenting. 　On Tuesday, LG CNS began a three-day recruiting session for such former employees. Those selected will work as coding program instructors for middle school students from next month.  　Candidates who will be given priority are those who left LG CNS between 2013 and 2015 after working as engineers

Technology Aug. 27, 2019

Despite the government’s efforts to create more jobs by mandating companies to cut their employees’ maximum weekly work hours to 52 hours, it has not contributed to creating more jobs, a report claimed Sunday. According to a survey by corporate research firm CEO Score, those who adopted the 52-hour workweek rule last year saw their annual hiring increase by up to 1.8 percent compared to a year earlier. But the growth was almost the same as the time when the policy was not implemented

Economy Aug. 25, 2019

　Facebook Korea has won a yearlong legal battle against the government’s decision to impose a financial penalty for a massive network cutoff in 2017.　The Seoul Administrative Court ruled Thursday that it was unlawful for the Korea Communication Commission to impose a 396 million won ($367,000) fine on Facebook for delaying access for those subscribed to SK Telecom, SK Broadband and LG Uplus by changing network connection routes.  　Facebook had denied the accusation, saying that the te

Technology Aug. 22, 2019

With tech companies and governments around the world stepping up efforts to curb false content online, the South Korean government is also waging a battle against “fake news” amid recent economic and security challenges. 　The Moon Jae-in administration has pledged to eradicate what it perceives as misleading news content that could undermine economic and security prospects. The country’s media regulator and internet companies have voiced similar concerns, pledging to enhance ov

Technology Aug. 21, 2019

Korea’s antitrust watchdog on Tuesday approved the integration of two popular video streaming businesses, giving the nod to the local companies’ ambition to establish a massive home-grown streaming platform to compete with Netflix. The Fair Trade Commission said it greenlighted the merger of SK Telecom and territorial broadcasters’ over-the-top video services. Combining SK Telecom’s Pooq and the broadcasters’ Oksusu, new OTT service Wavve will be launched next month

Technology Aug. 20, 2019

After a yearlong legal battle over the government’s decision to impose a financial penalty on Facebook Korea for a massive network cutoff in 2017, South Korea’s court will deliver a verdict this week to determine whether the punitive measure is excessive or not. The Seoul Administrative Court is scheduled to deliver its ruling on Thursday on the lawsuit filed by Facebook Korea in March last year, after the Korea Communication Commission imposed a 396 million won ($367,000) fine on Fa

Technology Aug. 19, 2019