In the artificial intelligence (AI) market, Korean IT giants compete with global tech titans.

Naver, Kakao, LG, SK Telecom, KT, and other IT firms in South Korea are aggressively launching or planning to launch generative AI services to combat the growing influence of ChatGPT and other AI services introduced by global tech giants.

Local services can outperform those of ChatGPT p...

As a result of the fire, users of the popular Korean website Kakao saw their stock price drop.

After a fire at a data center on Saturday cut off electricity and caused many service faults, Kakao, a major player in South Korea's internet industry, saw its stock price plunge on Monday. Korea's two major internet businesses, Kakao and Never, both have their servers housed at the SK C&...

The founder of Kakao has been criticized for failing to take responsibility for a recent service disruption

Due to the recent service disruption after a data center fire, Kakao founder Kim Beom-leadership su's has come under fire.

Experts in the field stated on Thursday that the incident proved Kakao had been neglectful in operating its services steadily without constructing a proper cont...

The government will form a cybersecurity task team in response to the Kakao issues.

After Kakao's weekend outages crippled the country's messaging and settlement systems, the presidential office announced plans to form a cybersecurity task force team to prevent future attacks on the country's critical infrastructure.

Director of the National Security Office...

Kao Thailand Launches Campaign Against Dengue Fever

Thailand’s Kao Industrial Company Limited has been striving against dengue fever by subsidizing R&D projects by the country’s Ministry of Public Health with over 6.5 million baht.

Recently, the company launched the ‘Save Future Lives from Mosquitoes’ project ...

S. KOREAN STOCKS END LOW OVER DUMPING OF LOCAL SHARES

Highlights –

• S. Korean stocks end low over dumping of local shares.
• The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) dropped 47.77 points.
• Samsung Electronics stocks fell down 1.48 percent to 80,000 won.
• Naver stocks...

KAKAO ENT. ACQUIRES U.S COMIC APPS TAPAS AND RADISH

Highlights –

• Kakao Ent. acquires U.S comic apps Tapas and Radish.
• Kakao Ent. acquired Tapas for $510 million, and Radish for $440 million.
• The acquisitions are to strengthen its webtoon and other online novel business.
• Nave...

S. KOREAN STOCKS END UP OVER INVESTORS BUYING LOCAL STOCKS

Highlights –

• S. Korean stocks end up over investors buying local stocks.
• KOSPI stocks rose 8.58 points, or 0.27 percent.
• Samsung Electronics stocks added 0.49 percent to 828,000 won.
• Naver stocks fell 0.66 percent to 378,00...

JAPAN’S KAORI SAKAMOTO COMES 2ND IN WORLD TEAM TROPHY

Highlights –

• Japan’s Kaori Sakamoto comes 2nd in World Team Trophy.
• Russia on Saturday won its first World Team Trophy figure skating team competition.
• Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara from Japan's skating team were third in th...

FOUNDER OF KAKAO SOLD $447 MILLION WORTH OF STOCKS AS DONATION

Highlights –

• Founder of Kakao sold $447 million worth of stocks as donation.
• Kakao's chairman had pledged in February this year to donate more than half of his assets.
• He had joined the Giving Pledge, a global campaign created by ...

TAXI HAILING T MAP MOBILITY TO ISSUE NEW SHARES WORTH $357.3 MILLION

Highlights –

• Taxi hailing T Map Mobility to issue new shares worth $357.3 million.
• The shares will then be allocated to two private equity funds (PEFs).
• T Map Mobility’s move comes as it plans to compete with Kakao Mobility.

KAKAO CORP. AND SPOTIFY REACH AN AGREEMENT ON RENEWAL OF MUSIC LICENSING

Highlights –

• Kakao Corp. and Spotify reach an agreement on renewal of music licensing.
• The two companies had failed to reach an existing deal last month.
• Songs from popular artists such as IU had become unavailable for Spotify’s...

SPOTIFY - KAKAO M’S LICENSE DEAL EXPIRES; MAJOR K-POP ARTISTS’ SONGS REMOVED

Highlights –

• Spotify – Kakao M’s license deal expires; major k-pop artists’ songs removed.
• Major South Korean artists’ including IU and Apink songs removed.
• Spotify is said to have faced heated competition agai...

S. KOREA’S MELON MUSIC EX-CEO SENTENCED TO 3 12 YEARS IN PRISON

Highlights –

• S. Korea’s Melon music ex-CEO sentenced to 3 1/2 years in prison.
• The ex-CEO is accused of cashing billions of royalties from musicians.
• The Seoul Eastern District Court also sentenced the company’s former vic...

S. KOREA ASKS FOREIGN AND LOCAL ONLINE COMPANIES TO PROVIDE STABLE SERVICES

Highlights –

• S. Korea asks foreign and local online companies to provide stable services.
• Google, Facebook, Netflix, Naver, Kakao, and Wavve asked to comply with the country’s new law.
• The country will now hold service providers...

KOREAN REHASH OF CHINESE MUSHY ROMANTIC LOVE STORY ‘A LOVE SO BEAUTIFUL’ TO HIT THEATERS SOON

• “A Love So Beautiful," a Korean remake of an enchanting fairy-tale like Chinese drama with a similar title, is coming soon.
• Streaming giant Kakao TV introduced on Monday the 24-part episode teaser posters starring the two lead actors Kim Yo-han and So Ju-yeon. Kim is...

WILL KAKAO BANK’S IPO IN 2021 TURN THE MARKET AROUND?

• Kakao Bank, one among a small number of digital banks in Korea, became a profitable solution in 2019 after just 18 months of operation. The bank is all set to launch an initial public offering (IPO) in 2021. The process of selecting underwriters is underway.
• The key questions f...

SHINHAN BANK SET TO ROLL OUT WITH 3 UTILITIES-FINANCE, RETAIL AND TELECOM IN ONE DIGITAL PLATFORM

• Starting next year, consumers will be able to peruse their banking histories, shopping patterns at beauty stores and cellphone data usage, all via a single digital platform.
• Shinhan Bank said Wednesday it has signed a MoU with CJ Olive Networks, an online retail arm of CJ Group...

RETAIL STORES LOSING OUT TO ONLINE SHOPPING; LIVE COMMERCE TO THE FORE

• The digitization of retail here has been forcing more and more people to shop online.
• At first, people were uncomfortable with internet shopping because they were much scared of paying for the product and receiving it after a week and at times not receiving it at all.  

INTERNET GIANT KAKAO IN PURSUIT OF EXCHANGEABLE BONDS TO EFFECT M&A’S

• South Korea‘s internet giant Kakao is mulling on allotting $300 million worth of exchangeable bonds to gather the capital  for its future mergers and acquisitions activities, the company said in a filing Thursday.
• The US dollar-enriched exchangeable bonds will be iss...