Korean game companies are increasingly setting their eyes on projects centered on virtual human character development, aimed at carving out new endeavors in non-gaming areas such as music and marketing sponsorships. With the advancement in computing power and artificial intelligence (AI) technology, experts predict more projects will launch in the future in various commercial applications with dynamic characters. 

ICYMI: the Korean wave is real. Over the past few decades, the world has seen the global arts, culture, and technology spheres won over — nay, dominated — by Korean creativity and innovation. Korea: Cubically Imagined, an exhibition spotlighting the nation’s leading creatives in 17 tech-powered installations, is further boosting Korea’s presence on the cultural landscape. Read more here! 

Introducing the T-Money Card: the essential Korean transportation card! Whether you are a short-term tourist or long-term resident in Korea, this transportation card is a must-have purchase that will make traveling in Korea much more convenient, easier, and cheaper. Read more here. 

South Korea’s largest mobile carrier, SK Telecom, unveiled an open beta version of a virtual assistant the company said is aimed at providing an “intimate” and “emotional” experience for Android mobile phone users. Giving Google's language processing model IaMDA 2 stiff competition. The industry is eager to continue developing hyperscale AU engines and hopes that Korea can lead the charge on multimodal language-processing projects in the future. But what does this mean for privacy concerns?

In fact, he says “Matisse’s popularity has been growing here for some time”. Recently, a surge of websites are selling posters, postcards and canvases of works by Matisse. A quick search shows there are over 22,000 items currently being sold alongside keywords such as “cafe,” “interior design” and “living room.” This craze only heightened during COVID-19 and is now a global phenom.

South Korea's Hyundai Motor Group said Saturday it will invest US $5.54 billion to build a dedicated electric vehicle and car battery manufacturing plant in the United States to further solidify its electrification push in the world's most important automobile market. The announcement comes during US President Joe Biden visit to South Korea as part of his first trip to Asia amid ongoing tension with China and continued provocations from North Korea. 

The speed of the 5G network promises endless possibilities for both consumers and enterprises. Globally, countries that have already deployed 5G have noticed accelerated speed in downloads and connectivity. South Korea, which was the first country to adopt 5G on a large scale in April 2019 now dominates 5G speed globally.

Digital healthcare is core for the future of Korea. LG Electronics, KT, Naver, Kakao, and other Korean companies are foraying into the world of digital healthcare ― including telemedicine ― as the importance of healthcare has been highlighted by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

South Korean convenience stores are offering unique products and services in collaboration with sports, education and finance companies to attract more customers, according to industry officials. 

Doenjang-jjigae (fermented soybean paste stew) is a hearty, delicious, warm, and comforting everyday stew that Koreans never get tired of. Learn more about how to make this classic Korean soul food dish here. 

McDonald's Korea took some time to reflect on the importance of food safety, especially hygiene and quality control. A total of 2,100 people including head office employees participated in the town hall. But what makes this not a traditional meeting between employees is that this all took place in the Metaverse. 

One of the daily activities that COVID-19 has changed is the so-called home-cooked meal at home. As the demand for home-cooked food increases, a field that is attracting attention is the easy-to-eat meal kit market. The South Korean market of instant meals jumped more than 145% in 2020 from four years earlier on the increased number of convenience stores and the coronavirus pandemic.

The popularity of golf and tennis has reached new all-time highs due to Generation MZ excitement. Once seen as an exclusive sport only for the uber-wealthy—more young people enjoy outdoor leisure activities following COVID 19—leading to a full-on golf and tennis products and fashion craze. The Korea Leisure Industry Research Institute stated the number of golfers in Korea exceeded 5 million last year and that the size of the golf market will exceed 6 trillion won this year. 

Samsung has begun rolling out digital car keys starting in South Korea with the all-electric Genesis GV60. The feature allows Samsung smartphone users to lock their car and start it even if they don’t have the physical keys in hand. The digital car keys use ultra-wideband technology, a wireless protocol that transmits high-frequency radio waves; enabling highly accurate spatial awareness so the car and phone can communicate without any delays or issues. 

Cheers rose to deafening levels as a fully masked crowd of about 200 K-pop fans invited to “KCON 2022 Premier” packed into the CJ ENM Center in Sangam-dong, western Seoul, last Saturday celebrated the return of fan chants and screaming out loud. The first edition of the premiere shows leading up to the main event, “KCON 2022,” was significant as it not only marked the return of the annual global K-pop festival, but also the lifting of a noise ban imposed on audiences at concerts, as South Korea recently lifted all major social distancing rules for COVID-19.

South Korea’s homegrown app marketplace One Store aims to challenge Google and Apple, two US tech giants that enjoy a near-monopoly in the whopping 300 trillion won ($235 billion) app store market globally, with its forthcoming stock market debut here. One Store, the nation’s sole operator of an app store of the same name, is a merged entity of the nation’s four app stores that were previously operated separately by SK Telecom, KT, LG Uplus and Naver. Now it is an affiliate of SK Square, SK Group’s investment unit. 

The "My Data" initiative, part of the Korean Digital New Deal, allows people to exercise control over personal data and actively manage the data on healthcare, public services, and finance. Using a platform that combines and analyzes health-related data provided by hospitals, patients plan a proper diet and exercise regimen. Resulting in, a one-stop data platform streamlines the process, allowing people to get the registration done with just a few clicks on their device. The platform will analyze individuals' income and financial data to provide them with the best financial products tailored to their needs.

The number of South Koreans who are 19 and younger that hold shares in Samsung Electronics reached 358,257 teens in December last year, a record high, according to the Korea Securities Depository. This number accounts for 7% of all shareholders and 0.2% percent of the total shares the tech giant has issued. The shares the teenagers held at the time amounted to 1.1 trillion won ($891 million). The rise in the number of teen accounts in 2021, jumped three-fold from the previous year, is believed to be prompted by a retail rush emboldened by fiscal and monetary stimulus measures the government had rolled out to ride out the coronavirus pandemic.

A series-A funding round led by Coentry Investment and NH Investment saw the Korean metaverse company DoubleMe raise $25 million, with Samsung Electronics participating. DoubleMe is a metaverse startup focused on bringing the physical and virtual worlds together. It pushes the boundaries of what’s possible with 3D technology. Two-dimensional recordings are converted into three-dimensional visuals with the help of DoubleMe. Earlier this year, TwinWorld, a metaverse platform that allows individuals to construct an artificial reality (AR) encounter in any real-world location, was made available.

Braille is widely used by people with vision impairments, but despite widespread improvements to accessibility on the web and smart devices, innovation for braille-reader hardware has essentially been stalled. The Korean technology company, Dot has taken a huge step forward with a smart braille device that not only allows for easy display of text, but tactile representations of imagery, potentially opening an entirely new layer for education and accessible content. 

Heo Young-hoe, the founder of Withus, combines human capacity with mechanical motion to generate electrical energy with his innovative bicycle generators. Withus brings energy-harvesting technology to the street with non-contact bicycle generators. Such technologies have increased in popularity as eco-friendly living and cost-saving transportation options continue to develop in Korea and all around the world. Energy harvesting, the process of capturing regular human output and converting it into energy for practical use, is not only used in transportation but also in renewable energies. Could this be the future?

In February, the logistics service start-up Mesh Korea announced a partnership with California-based Bear Robotics to use self-driving robots for “last-mile delivery.” Mesh Korea's deliveries depend on a large fleet of motorcycles and trucks. But the company plans on using newer technologies such as drones and robots soon. Learn how drones and robots can help the delivery industry here! 

Rural Development Administration’s overseas official aid ‘KOPIA’ attracts global attention. KOPIA has established KOPIA offices in 22 countries where agricultural experts are dispatched and residents to aid developing countries and help an estimated 1 million overseas farms by 2030. Learn more about their work here.