Business - The Korea Times

Arirang 7 multipurpose satellite successfully put into orbit

Arirang 7, Korea's multipurpose satellite, has successfully entered orbit after lifting off from a space center in South America, the country's space agency said Tuesday. Also known as the Korea Multipurpose Satellite 7, the satellite was deployed from the Vega-C rocket 44 minutes after launching from the Guiana Space Centre in French Guiana at 2:21 p.m. Monday (French Guiana time), or 2:21 a.m. Tuesday (Korean time), according to the Korea AeroSpace Administration (KASA). The rocket is operated by France-based Arianespace. The Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI), the developer of Arirang 7, confirmed the satellite's status when it made its first contact with Russia's Antarctic ground station at 3:30 a.m. (Korean time). KARI also verified its successful orbital insertion through data from Arianespace. Arirang 7, equipped with an ultra-high-resolution electro-optical camera and an infrared sensor, is expected to provide high-quality imagery for environmental and disaster monitoring, and urban heat island analysis. The satellite is expected to begin transmitting observation data in th

Dec 2, 2025By Yonhap

Arirang 7 multipurpose satellite successfully put into orbit

Arirang 7 multipurpose satellite establishes initial contact after launch

Arirang 7, Korea's multipurpose satellite, has successfully communicated with a ground station after lifting off from a space center in South America, the country's space agency said Tuesday. Also known as the Korea Multipurpose Satellite 7, the satellite made contact with Russia's Antarctic ground station at 3:30 a.m. (Korean time) after launching from the Guiana Space Centre in French Guiana aboard the Vega-C rocket operated by France-based Arianespace at 2:21 a.m. Tuesday, or 2:21 p.m. Monday (French Guiana time), according to the Korea AeroSpace Administration (KASA). KASA said it plans to announce the final results of the satellite deployment later in the day. Arirang 7, equipped with an ultra-high-resolution electro-optical camera and an infrared sensor, is expected to provide high-quality imagery for environmental and disaster monitoring, and urban heat island analysis.

Dec 2, 2025By Yonhap

Arirang 7 multipurpose satellite establishes initial contact after launch

Korea accepts 1st batch of Nvidia GPUs under large-scale AI infrastructure plan

The Korean government has received the first batch of Nvidia's graphics processing units (GPUs) as part of the company's plan to deploy 260,000 units to the country, government sources said Monday. The government executed 1.4 trillion won ($952.7 million) in budget to bring in 13,000 GPUs from Nvidia, according to the Ministry of Science and ICT and other sources. The shipment reportedly contains multiple GPU models, including Nvidia's latest B200. A GPU is a high-performance semiconductor chip designed to handle many calculations simultaneously and is widely used to train and run AI models. The government plans to allocate the GPUs to universities, research institutes, startups and public-sector organizations. The project follows Nvidia Chief Executive Officer Jensen Huang's announcement in late October that the company would deploy 260,000 GPUs to Korea in partnership with the government and major companies, including Samsung Electronics, to build large-scale AI factories in the country. Under the plan, the government will use 50,000 GPUs to build a national sovereign AI platform, while

Dec 1, 2025By Yonhap

Korea accepts 1st batch of Nvidia GPUs under large-scale AI infrastructure plan

Daum splits from Kakao, aims to reclaim market share

Internet portal Daum completed its split from Kakao on Monday, becoming an independent business run by AXZ, a new subsidiary that spun off from Kakao’s in-house content company-in-company (CIC) in May. After 11 years under the tech giant, Daum now faces the challenge of reversing its declining market share and revitalizing its struggling portal business, which is dominated by Naver and Google. Daum’s service operations have officially shifted from Kakao to AXZ, following the companies’ full separation at both legal and business-operation levels, including privacy policies and terms of service. AXZ now manages core services such as email, the community platform Cafe, search, news, shopping, games and the blog-hosting service Tistory. The company is led by Yang Joo-il, former head of Kakao’s content CIC, who previously held positions at Naver and NHN affiliates. Kakao said the separation is intended to enable faster, independent decision‑making and a sharper business focus at Daum, while Kakao concentrates on its own artificial intelligence (AI) strategy and KakaoTalk‑centered

Dec 1, 2025By Lee Gyu-lee

Daum splits from Kakao, aims to reclaim market share

FuturePlay teams up with Saudi ministry for Korean startups’ Middle East entry

Tech-oriented investment firm FuturePlay said Monday it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Investment to support Korean startups’ entry into the regional market and encourage joint investments into promising firms. This is the first MOU between a Korean venture capital and the ministry, creating the potential for it to serve as a stepping stone for further cooperation between the two countries in the startup and venture capital ecosystem. Under the agreement, the two sides will cooperate to support firms invested in by FuturePlay and other Korean startups entering Saudi Arabia; make joint investments in health care, fintech, logistics, artificial intelligence and advanced manufacturing; and for joint development of Saudi Stars and jointly develop Saudi Stars, a program designed to nurture promising entrepreneurs in the kingdom. The ministry was established in 2020 to drive the kingdom’s Vision 2030 agenda. It oversees global investment attraction, serving as the gateway and control tower for businesses entering the Saudi market. FuturePl

Dec 1, 2025By Nam Hyun-woo

FuturePlay teams up with Saudi ministry for Korean startups’ Middle East entry

UNIST professor enables AI to study summarized 3D data

A professor at the Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST) has developed a new technology that allows artificial intelligence (AI) models to study 3D data in a “summarized” form while still achieving a high level of accuracy, reducing both time and cost in 3D data analysis. Shim Jae-young and his team at the UNIST AI Graduate School in Ulsan said Monday that they have developed a “dataset distillation” technology for large-scale 3D data. The technology extracts the core of a given dataset and compares it with the original to retain completeness, enabling effective compression of a 3D point cloud — data composed of randomly distributed dots representing an object — without sacrificing accuracy during analysis. Shim developed the technology after finding that summarizing a 3D point cloud for AI training is particularly difficult. Because the dots in a point cloud are arranged in a random, orderless manner and often represent objects rotated at various angles, AI systems struggle to extract a reliable 3D summary and frequently mismatch it with the original d

Dec 1, 2025By Ko Dong-hwan

UNIST professor enables AI to study summarized 3D data

What challenges lie ahead after Naver's acquisition of Dunamu?

Naver’s decision to acquire crypto giant Dunamu through its fintech arm Naver Financial marks an unprecedented convergence of Big Tech and virtual assets. But the deal, announced last week, faces significant hurdles, including shareholder approval and lingering regulatory uncertainty, industry officials said Sunday. Naver Financial said Wednesday it plans to acquire Dunamu as a wholly owned subsidiary through a stock swap deal, offering 2.54 shares of Naver Financial for each Dunamu share. Executives say the aim is to build a global infrastructure that spans payments, finance and everyday services based on artificial intelligence and Web3. To complete the stock swap, slated for June 30 next year, the two companies must pass a special shareholder resolution scheduled for May 22 in that year. Approval requires participation from at least one-third of all issued shares and a two-thirds majority of those in attendance. While Naver Financial is effectively under Naver's control, Dunamu must secure additional shareholder support beyond the 41.7 percent of its shares held by management, incl

Nov 30, 2025By Lee Yeon-woo

What challenges lie ahead after Naver's acquisition of Dunamu?

Naver Financial-Dunamu acquisition: Naver to merge AI with fintech, focus on global expansion

Naver’s fintech arm Naver Financial’s acquisition of Dunamu, the operator of Korea’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Upbit, signals the tech powerhouse’s aggressive push to converge artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain-based Web3 finance to reshape the global digital finance landscape. “Naver has built and continues to build unparalleled AI capabilities for financial services, leveraging its high-quality data and technical expertise across the digital space. And Dunamu has developed competitiveness through its experience operating a world-class digital asset exchange, as well as in token economics, on-chain services and the broader Web3 sector. And now, Web3 is added to Naver’s capabilities,” Naver CEO Choi Soo-yeon said during a press conference to announce the acquisition at its headquarters in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, on Thursday. “Sharing a common vision to pursue innovation on the global stage, Naver and Dunamu aim to combine our user bases, data technology, services and capital to create a full line-up and take a bold step forward into the global Web3

Nov 27, 2025By Lee Gyu-lee

Naver Financial-Dunamu acquisition: Naver to merge AI with fintech, focus on global expansion

Private sector plays key role in Nuri rocket’s successful launch

The successful launch of Korea’s domestically developed Nuri space rocket on Thursday brought private companies’ technologies into the spotlight, signaling the emergence of space development as a commercial industry in Korea. The Nuri successfully lifted off from the Naro Space Center in Goheung, South Jeolla Province, at 1:13 a.m., reaching its target altitude of 600 kilometers after 18 minutes and 25 seconds of flight. It deployed 13 payloads, including its main payload, the CAS500-3 satellite, and 12 cube satellites. The Korea Aerospace Administration (KASA) said Thursday that the CAS500-3 satellite successfully established communication with ground stations and five cube satellites also completed initial contact. Communication attempts with the remaining satellites were scheduled to follow. The latest mission, marking the fourth launch of a Nuri rocket, signals a major transition in Korea’s space ecosystem. Private companies Hanwha Aerospace and Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) built the launch vehicle and main satellite, respectively, roles that were previously handled by the

Nov 27, 2025By Nam Hyun-woo

Private sector plays key role in Nuri rocket’s successful launch

PHOTO Exploring application of Nvidia GPU

Executives from companies participating in a government working group on Nvidia's planned supply of 260,000 graphics processing units to Korean firms pose during the group's launch ceremony in Jongno District, Seoul, Thursday. From front row left are SK Telecom AI CIC Head Yu Kyung-sang, Naver Cloud CEO Kim Yu-won, Second Vice Minister of Science and ICT Ryu Je-myung, Nvidia Korea Enterprise Business Lead Jeong So-young, Hyundai Motor Company Executive Vice President Jin Eun-sook and Samsung SDS Executive Vice President Lee Ho-joon. Courtesy of Ministry of Science and ICT