The South Korean government plans to launch an innovation academy and a series of education programs next year to nurture at least 10,000 IT professionals and boost industries central to the “fourth industrial revolution.”The Ministry and Science and ICT said Wednesday that it will found a two-year innovation academy, modeled after the French programming school Ecole 42, to educate about 2,500 software experts over the course of five years.The government also plans to set aside 180.6 billion won

Technology Dec. 26, 2018

Despite experiencing delays and setbacks in the approval process this year, a number of South Korean biopharmaceutical companies will make another attempt to bring their new drugs to the US market in 2019.　Investors had been pinning hopes that SK Biopharmaceutical’s solriamfetol, an investigational drug to treat narcolepsy, would be approved by the US Food and Drug Administration by the year’s end. The US FDA was scheduled to make a decision on Dec. 20. However, the regulator recently decided to

Industry Dec. 24, 2018

The Korea Herald is publishing a series of articles highlighting South Korea’s promising startups in the emerging sectors of digital health care and next-generation medical devices. This is the 23rd installment. -- Ed.To find out if you’re carrying extra fat -- whether you’re trying to lose weight or manage a serious health challenge like diabetes -- there isn’t much you can do other than step on a scale. Granted, there are ways to get more detailed information. You could calculate your body mas

Technology Dec. 23, 2018

South Korean biopharmaceutical company Celltrion is on track for a major business expansion in the US, as it now has three biosimilars to compete against blockbuster original drugs in the US market.The US Food and Drug Administration on Friday approved Celltrion’s Herzuma, a biosimilar referencing blockbuster breast cancer drug Herceptin. The news came a month after the US regulator’s approval of Truxima, a Celltrion-developed biosimilar referencing Rituxan used for the treatment of non-Hodgkin’

Industry Dec. 17, 2018

KAIST, South Korea’s top science and technology university, on Friday decided to delay its decision on dismissing its incumbent President Shin Sung-chul, who has been accused by the government of mishandling public funds during his previous post at another university. KAIST’s board said it will reconsider the dismissal of the president at the next board meeting, given the gravity of the issue and continued dispute over the accusations by the Ministry of Science and ICT.The ministry alleges that

Technology Dec. 14, 2018

South Korea’s Hanmi Pharmaceutical said Friday that Sanofi has signaled the start of two new phase 3 clinical studies of the Type 2 diabetes drug candidate efpeglenatide by officially listing the plans on ClinicalTrials.gov, a US-based clinical trials registry site.By doing so, Sanofi has officially executed all five of its planned phase 3 clinical trial agenda for efpeglenatide, which Hanmi licensed out to Sanofi in 2015, according to the Korean drugmaker.So far, Sanofi has been carrying out th

Industry Dec. 14, 2018

Kakao Mobility said Thursday that it will delay the formal launch of its carpool service that was initially slated for Monday, citing a need to engage in continued discussions with taxi drivers, the government and other industry stakeholders on the issue.The move came after a 57-year-old taxi driver burned himself to death in protest of Kakao’s carpool service plans Monday, shocking the public and driving up tensions between the company and taxi unions that have been staging fierce protests agai

Technology Dec. 13, 2018

South Korea’s tax agency has launched an investigation into the local branch of US technology giant Google over allegations of tax evasion on the part of some local YouTubers, a move that signals stepped up government efforts to crack down on foreign tech firms long accused of taking a free ride on lax regulations.　The National Tax Service on Wednesday sent its auditors and investigators to the headquarters of Google Korea in Seoul to secure the company’s financial and accounting records.The NTS

Technology Dec. 13, 2018

Starting next July, global technology giants, such as Google, Amazon and Facebook, will be required to pay value-added tax on a wider range of services they provide in South Korea, as a new law stipulating the change was approved last week. The National Assembly passed a bill to amend the Value-Added Tax Act that enforces a 10 percent VAT on online advertisements, cloud computing services and forms of online-to-offline businesses provided by foreign information and communication technology compa

Technology Dec. 12, 2018

Shares of Samsung BioLogics surged by as much as 26 percent Tuesday, following the Korea Exchange’s decision on Monday to resume their trading after deliberating the weight of local financial regulators’ conclusion that the company had breached accounting rules. 　After rallying throughout the day, the shares closed at 394,000 won ($349), raising the company’s market cap to 26.69 trillion won and making it the fifth-largest company listed on South Korea’s main bourse Kospi.The development came af

Industry Dec. 11, 2018

LG CNS, the information technology services unit of South Korea’s LG Group, has partnered with Korean public cloud provider Megazone to expand the scope of its cloud business, the company said Tuesday.The two companies signed a memorandum of understanding in Seoul, agreeing to jointly research and commercialize cloud platforms, exchange resources and partner for global business expansion.(LG CNS)Under the partnership, LG CNS will combine its large-scale cloud service capabilities with the public

Technology Dec. 11, 2018

　South Korea’s presidential committee aimed at coordinating national strategies to boost the country’s competitiveness in the “fourth industrial revolution” will focus on next-generation health care and smart city development next year, its chief said Monday.　Chang Byung-gyu, who was reappointed to head the committee for a second term, said the committee will devote resources to supporting ongoing smart city initiatives, including those in Sejong and Busan, while narrowing its focus on health ca

Technology Dec. 10, 2018

Despite continued protests from taxi unions, Korean information technology giant Kakao has begun providing a trial of its carpool services, with plans to formally roll out the service for all users here on Dec. 17. Kakao Mobility, the transportation service arm of Kakao, launched a beta version of its carpool service on Friday involving a number of randomly selected users on the Kakao T app. Users can input a destination and place a ride request for drivers registered with Kakao’s “carpool crew.

Technology Dec. 9, 2018

South Korea, the world’s fourth-largest gaming market, now has legal grounds to punish actors providing commercial video game “boosting” services. “Boosting” is a practice whereby businesses are paid to increase the rank of a gamer’s account, impeding the possibility of a fair and competitive ecosystem. 　The National Assembly recently passed a revision to the Game Industry Promotion Act, prohibiting entities from offering paid services to level up a gamer’s account using methods unauthorized by

Technology Dec. 9, 2018

Today’s Home, a social network-based home interior information platform, and “Black Desert Mobile,” a hit mobile role-playing game from Pearl Abyss, were named the top mobile apps in South Korea for 2018 by Google Play on Thursday.　Every year, Google’s mobile app store operator recognizes outstanding apps in various categories ranging from lifestyle and commerce to social networking, finance and games.Among the apps considered by Google Play for the Korean market this year, Today’s Home develope

Technology Dec. 6, 2018