Chat GPT is gaining popularity because it can quickly respond to all types of questions.

Attempts to introduce artificial intelligence are being made in all fields. The medical field is no exception, with Chat GPT already providing medical counseling. In particular, Chat GPT is gaining popularity because it can quickly respond to all types of questions.

But there is not only a rosy future. There are also many concerns that the rapid application of artificial intelligence technology can cause risks in the medical field. According to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA Oncology), serious defects were found in the medical advice presented by Chat GPT for cancer treatment. In a study jointly conducted by Boston Children’s Hospital and others, the researchers created 104 questionnaires related to lung cancer, prostate cancer, and breast cancer and asked Chat GPT to recommend a treatment. The answers presented by Chat GPT were reviewed by four oncologists according to five criteria and scored. To measure the quality of advice given by Chat GPT to patients, we compared it with cancer treatment guidelines from the U.S. Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN). As a result of the review, as many as 34.3% of Chat GPT presented one or more treatment recommendations that did not match NCCN. In addition, about 13% of the responses presented by Chat GPT showed “welcome.” This may sound true, but it means that it is completely inaccurate or unrelated to the question. Dr. Harvey Castro, an emergency medical specialist and AI expert, pointed out, “It is an important concern because incorrect information can lead to harmful decisions by patients.” “The Chat GPT’s response can sound very human-like and quite convincing,” said Daniel Bitterman, co-author of the study and assistant professor of radiation oncology at Harvard Medical School. “The problem is that there are subtle differences between patients in clinical decisions.” “The answer can be very subtle, so ChatGPT or other large-scale language models are not yet available,” Bitterman stressed.

JULIE KIM

US ASIA JOURNAL

Korea has attracted attention for launching the world’s first 5G commercial service and has urged high telecommunication fees.
“20 times faster than LTE” is an advertisement that comes to mind when it comes to 5G mobile communication service that started four years ago.

The actual service is being provided at 4% of this speed.The Fair Trade Commission imposed a 30 billion won fine along with a correction order for the three mobile carriers to make false advertisements.”20x faster”, “up to 20Gbps”.

This is an advertisement for three telecommunication companies (SK, LG U+, KT) released around the world’s first commercialization of 5G in 2019.’20Gbps’ is not a possible speed in real life, but a goal according to the technical standard of 28GHz frequency range.

Commercialization of 5G took place in the 3.5GHz frequency range, which allows less base stations to be built, and even progress was slow, resulting in consumer inconvenience.
5G Service Subscribers (February 2020 interview): I trusted and bought a carrier ad because I was so into it, but these obstacles occurred right after I signed up.) When I asked the carrier, the ad was abstract…. It was very absurd.]
The Fair Trade Commission judged that it was a false exaggerated advertisement that misunderstood the technological target speed as if it could be used by consumers.
The average speed of 5G in 2021 was 0.8Gbps, which was 25 times exaggerated, and only 5 times faster than the previous generation.

The actual speed was only about 30% compared to what the three companies advertised as their highest speed in the 2Gbps range.

In the end, the Fair Trade Commission imposed a fine of about $30 million on the three telecommunications companies along with corrective orders.

It is the second largest amount ever related to the violation of the Display Advertising Act. Han Ki-jung / Chairman of the Fair Trade Commission: It is expected that the three mobile telecommunication companies, which are allocated to spread public goods, will escape from overheated competition using unfair advertising and move toward fair competition based on quality.
The carriers faithfully explained the theoretical speed, but it was very regrettable that it was not accepted, and said they would discuss the response after receiving the resolution.

The three telecommunication companies are planning to quit after SK Telecom at the end of this month, saying that it is difficult to commercialize 28GHz frequencies, which is expected to be a policy responsibility battle.

In other words, it will withdraw its claimed 5G service. It ended up being a lie that the fare was expensive but fast.

The claim was to download a two-gigabyte movie in one second, but the experiment actually took about 4 minutes and 30 seconds.

Telecommunications companies say that they are talking about the speed that is possible in theory, not lying or deceiving consumers.

Telecommunications has an annual operating profit of 1 billion. And looking at the bare face of Korea, the world’s best IT powerhouse, is it a reliable technology and company? It is hard to believe that the three super-large companies (SK, LG U+) and KT (government’s private conversion companies) have already carried out technologies that have not been commercialized to consumers.

KS CHOI

US ASIA JOURNAL

(Source from Reuters/Alamy)

In Western cooking, sauce means liquid seasoning, and etymology means salt, derived from the Latin word Sal. Sauce plays an important role in enhancing appetite and combining ingredients in the cooking process by giving nutrients, taste, and color to the dish. It is no exaggeration to say that the life of a dish is determined by the taste of the sauce. In Western cuisine, meat is the center of the meal, so you should prepare a recipe and a sauce that goes well with it. In addition, in recent years, Western culture has developed called ‘dipping sauce’. Dipping potato chips and taco chips is a typical example, but you should be very careful about “double dipping” (dipping the sauce back into your mouthful). Although there may be individual differences, there are more people who think it negatively than in the East due to hygiene reasons. If you look at the sauce, it can be largely divided into two types: French and Anglo-American. The French style uses broth, milk, and cream to enhance the taste of the ingredients by harmonizing with the main ingredients and compensating for the shortcomings of the ingredients, while the British American style usually adds spices to vinegar to create a stronger taste. Examples include Worcester sauce, ketchup, and Tabasco sauce. These vinegar base sauces are also called seasonings. In the Anglo-American world, the broth-based sauce without vinegar is called gravy sauce. The French sauce is divided into five types: Beshamel, Belute, Espanyol, Hollandaise, and Tomato, which are used in traditional Western and light Western restaurants and are soft but thick and thick in classical French style.
In Japan, soy sauce and Japanese soybean paste are representative sauces. Traditionally, because of the hot and humid climate, storage methods using salt, soybean paste, soy sauce, and vinegar have developed. The frequency of cooking and eating food is lower than that of Korea and China, and because of the food culture, Japanese food generally contains a lot of soy sauce and salt. In addition, there is a culture of enjoying raw food, which is good to eat while maintaining the original taste of the ingredients as much as possible, and it is known that vinegar was used a lot to avoid food poisoning. In addition, after the creation of pork cutlet during the Meiji period, viscous and sweetened pork cutlet sauce made based on Worcester sauce appeared, and yakisoba sauce, okonomiyaki sauce, and takoyaki sauce were born. Oyster sauce is known in China and Hong Kong, and in China, there are a series of Chinese red pepper paste, chunjang, red pepper oil, and Chinese-style red pepper paste. In 1888, Lee Geum-sang of Zhuhai, Guangdong Province, adjacent to Macau, invented oyster sauce based on the rich taste of the soup that comes from salted and dried oysters used as condiments in Guangdong. In 1902, Igeumgi Co., Ltd. was established in Macau, and in 1932, a branch was established in Hong Kong, and oyster sauce became popular. This oyster sauce has the advantage that it goes well with any food.

(Source from Reuters/Alamy)
Korea’s representative sauces are red pepper paste, soybean paste, and soy sauce. Red pepper paste is made by adding chapsal powder to the malt-sliced water to make jangbap, then adding red pepper powder and fermented soybean lump powder, sealing it, and fermenting it naturally in the shade. In addition, the taste varies depending on taste, region, and ingredients, and Sunchang-gun, Jeollabuk-do is famous. The derived sauces include red pepper paste mixed with vinegar, sugar, and cider, and ssamjang made by mixing red pepper paste, soybean paste, sesame oil, and garlic with honey, starch syrup, cider, and sugar water.
The main uses of red pepper paste are stir-fried, soup, soup, bibimbap, and tteokbokki. If you put it in soup or soup, the soup becomes sweet. Korean food is characterized by a preference for hot dishes as opposed to Japanese food. Examples include hot pot bibimbap and kimchi stew. Also, there is an ingredient that cannot be left out in Korean cuisine: garlic. Korea competes for 1`2nd place in per capita garlic consumption in the world. That’s how much garlic is added to almost all foods. Recently, red pepper paste rose sauce has become a hot trend as a combination of red pepper paste and cream cheese, and is mainly used in tteokbokki, fusion dishes, and pasta. Originally called rosé sauce, it is a combination of cream sauce and tomato sauce in Italy, and in Italy, the mixture of sauce is not desirable, so there are not many foods called rosé in the country. The way to create another source by combining various sources from each country is very vast, and it can be seen that there is an infinite possibility of which source will bring about a craze.

Chang Young Choi

ASIA JOURNAL

Recently, in Japan, a progenitor word called Taipa came out. “Taipa” is an abbreviation for “time performance”. It is a word that expresses the degree of efficiency and satisfaction with the time spent on something.
Taipa wants to use time efficiently. People who value Taipa do not participate in meetings or party dinners that they are not interested in. If the running time of a movie or drama that you want to watch is long, you watch the video twice as fast as you want, and skip the parts that you think are not important while watching the movie or drama. And while watching the video, I do other things at the same time, and it is judged that I use my time more efficiently by cleaning or reading books with the movie on.
In particular, if about half of generation z is consuming video content at a faster speed than normal speed, more than 80% of them are also multitasking.
As this situation continues, the length of time for videos uploaded on the video platform is also shortened. Using this psychology, YouTubers and others are also increasing their number of videos that upload shorts to produce videos that flow into their channels by making them finish all parts of the highlights. However, people are expressing concern because most of these videos contain a lot of stimulating elements.
This is because there are still many minors among the main users of the platform TikTok, YouTube Shorts, Instagram Reels, and LINEVOOM, where shorts videos are uploaded.
This is because many people are wary of the growing exposure to provocative, violent, and sadistic videos, and because they are simply watching short videos, they are increasingly making judgments after simply watching short videos without checking the source of the videos.
Various people think positively about using time efficiently. However, they are worried that information will be distorted. Therefore, there are voices calling for good judgment on the accuracy of information.

SOPHIA KIM
Asia Journal

GB SOFT is a company that executes everything in daily life with the goal of making it convenient for anyone with non-face-to-face contact, so it can be more helpful at a time when all companies and countries are still in a situation where they cannot be relieved by the pandemic.

At this time of year, contact and face-to-face contact between people is at great risk, whether for businesses or national institutions, such non-face-to-face technologies are now in the spotlight, so many companies are ignoring accuracy.

However,

GB SOFT is overwhelmingly high compared to those companies that offer similar solutions.

The accuracy of GB SOFT’s solution is 95.3%, and the measuring techniques can function  at night and low-light environments. It can measured for blood pressure, pulse, fever, oxygen saturation, and whether or not alcohol is present within 10 seconds. It took about two minutes for one company in the United States to measure the same body signal, about one and a half minutes for the other company and about 30 minutes for the Japanese company. It is very important for users to measure quickly in a short time while using this equipment.

In addition, GB SOFT’s solutions are not just measuring these simple body signals, so they can provide a variety of solution services.

As mentioned above, it is possible to locate workers outside the site and in the building based on non-contact bio-signal measurement and geofencing.

It does not just show that you are in a building, but it can be managed by a wide range of floors, so you can manage the site, manage workers in large businesses, access unauthorized people, and quickly identify and take action against accidents.

The real-time monitoring safety system is used with the Geofencing location system to help workers and collaborators respond quickly to emergencies and accidents in many businesses. All-in-one safety management is possible based on the three technologiesIt’s a stem.

That’s why I’d like to recommend a solution for GB SOFT.

GB SOFT has already been introduced and used in a variety of business sites, not just in one field, but in your field. As a company with experience in manufacturing civil engineering, medical, and vehicle production, it is possible to quickly monitor the situation by using video monitoring.

As described above, the excellence and stability of GB SOFT’s technology and solutions are already applied and used in various fields, and it can be seen that they are solutions and technologies for workers, people, and society, not just for workplaces.

It can be seen that GB SOFT is not just a company with technology, but a company that thinks about people and society.

▲ GB Soft Co., Ltd.

▲ CEO : Ki-bum Park

▲ http://gb-soft.co.kr

▲ gbsoft@gb-soft.co.kr

▲ +82-53-716-4884

SOPHIA KIM
ASIA JOURNAL

In September 1894, missionaries from the U.S. Presbyterian Church, including Oliver R. Avison and Underwood, who ran Jejungwon (Gwanghyewon), brought Jejungwon’s right to operate from the government to the mission. Missionaries were now able to run hospitals autonomously, but government support was cut off instead.

There was a huge shortage of manpower and poor facilities. In response, Avison and Underwood traveled back and forth to the United States to get donations for the operation of the Jejungwon, and as a result in 1899, Louis Severance (1838-1913), one of the most famous businessmen in the United States, donated a large amount of subsidies to Jejungwon. Accordingly, Jejungwon completed a new hospital in front of Seoul Station on September 23, 1904, and named it Severance Hospital after its sponsor.

Severance Hospital was the first modern general hospital in Joseon. Severance Hospital could take the form of a modern general hospital because of the expansion through Severance’s donation. In addition, since the first medical education was conducted by Allen and Underwood in Jejungwon in 1886, apprenticeship medical education has been conducted in Jejungwon by Avison and others, and in 1899, university-style medical education began in earnest. In 1909, Jejungwon Medical Center was renamed Severance School, and the Japanese colonial days operated Severance Medical School. Meanwhile, a new university course was established in 1915 at the Kyungshin Academy established by Underwood, and the University of Korean Christianity (English Munmyeong) was established, and Underwood was the principal, and Severance Hospital director Evison was the vice principal. In 1917, the Japanese approved the school as a “Yeonhee College.”

Severance Hospital and Yeonhee College, where the core management was the same, have been aiming for integration since its establishment. However, the integration was slow because it was difficult to reach an agreement between various professors and directors. Meanwhile, with the establishment of Kyungsung Imperial University in 1924, the integration of Severance’ exhibition and performance specialists took a rapid rise, and a proposal for the integration of both schools came out in 1926. However, the integration failed due to Japanese interference.

After liberation, in 1946, the Severance Exhibition was Severance Medical School, and Yeonhee College became Yeonhee University, and integrated discussions between the two schools resumed. On the premise of the integration of both schools, freshmen from Severance Medical School completed the preliminary course at Yeonhee University from 1949. However, due to the outbreak of the Korean War, the integration of the two schools was stopped. After the ceasefire, the launch of the integrated Yonsei University was formalized in 1955, and the foundation was established in 1956, followed by the official opening of Yonsei University from the new semester on January 5, 1957. Severance Medical School has become a new Yonsei University medical school named after Yeon-hee and Severance.

Since then, construction has begun to expand and relocate the saturated Severance Hospital from a narrow site at Seoul Station to Sinchon, and in 1962, the new hospital and medical school building were completed and relocated. The Yonsei Foundation Severance Building was built in 1993 at the site of an old hospital in front of Seoul Station. The building itself is not a hospital, but a general office building or a health check-up center called Severance Check-up.

Hospital buildings are now divided into quite a large area by continuing to add wards and hospital buildings around the old main building (Jejunggwan), which was built in 1962.

Around 1990, new hospitals boasting state-of-the-art facilities such as Asan Hospital and Samsung Hospital were opened in Seoul, causing some changes in the positions of Seoul National University Hospital, Severance Hospital, and St. Mary’s Hospital, which were the big three in Seoul in the past. Outpatient treatment was still conducted around the main building built in 1962, but the problem of aging facilities and lack of space was serious, so a separate “Ophthalmology Hospital” building was built next to the main building in 1996.

Severance Hospital built a new main building to replace the old main building and completed it in 2005. Since then, old buildings have been sequentially demolished and new buildings have been built there.

Severance Hospital signed a contract in January 2022 to introduce artificial intelligence solution programs to 150 wards with Infomining’s Hatti Hearti Solution Health Watch Device (blood pressure/electrocardiogram/blood sugar/body temperature). Severance said it will gradually push for 2,000 wards and 1,500 wards newly built on Songdo, Incheon, following 150 wards. Now that non-face-to-face treatment and patient care around the world have become an inevitable reality, it is thought that this solution is used because the efficiency and accuracy of infomining are comparable to those of general medical devices.Currently, Infomining’s health watch device is about to be reviewed as a medical grade device in Korea, and is being introduced and promoted by large university hospitals such as Yeungnam University Medical Center and Chungnam National University Hospital.

Telemedicine allows patients to use video call equipment at home without going directly to the hospital, or to connect to a doctor at a uniformly installed telemedicine facility to conduct face-to-face examinations such as interviews. Diagnosis and prescription are made without facilitation. If an imaging test was performed or a blood test was performed, all of them must be available to the doctor at the same time for complete remote treatment.

The original purpose is to first receive telemedicine if a patient occurs in remote areas, and to avoid the hassle of having to go to the hospital every time in managing chronic diseases, even if it is not a wallpaper.

If medicine develops and imaging technology develops as it is now and leads to the world, you can see a foreign doctor remotely, or if you use robotic surgery, you can have a foreign renowned doctor undergo surgery in another country. In fact, the reading of the Department of Radiology can be read by a doctor in any country in the world by sending only pictures. In the case of hospitalization, it is thought that it will be an intensive patient, urgent treatment due to an acute disease, or surgery.

This telemedicine is likely to be activated indefinitely in the future. Almost all hospitals are connected to each other by electronic systems, so anyone can see their personal medical experience anywhere, and no matter which hospital they treat, the records will remain in the national health care institution. In this case, how to manage personal privacy will emerge as a big problem.

No matter what illness you receive at home, you will be able to install a medical monitoring device provided by the company at home, observe the patient on video at all times in the hospital, or check the details of the monitor instrument.

Unlike the above, recently referred to untact medical treatment is a telephone treatment that simply asks over the phone and administers drugs, and is generally difficult to change and especially issues prescriptions for additional medication or informs the test results over the phone.

A typical non-face-to-face treatment is to stay at home and treat people with mild symptoms during the recent implementation of With Corona. It would be possible for a doctor to regularly check the patient over the phone, but it would not be easy to talk to the doctor when the patient suddenly changes or has doubts. I think there will be many difficulties.

Now, in many countries, individual life and individual health are being transformed into a system managed by the state. These telemedicine systems are required to be gradually implemented as national research institutes are established to establish the system. Mammoth research is needed that requires joint participation of medical institutions, doctors, governments, electronic companies, medical insurance organizations, and patients.

Sam Kim

Asia Journal

Infomining in South Korea has currently registered five domestic patents related to medical AI, including single measurement systems, emergency monitoring, hospital control systems, smart quarantine systems, and information provision technologies and systems for disease diagnosis and medical institutions. Two solutions, including natural language processing using artificial intelligence and an electrocardiogram measurement system, have been recently applied for domestic patients.

Natural language processing technology enables natural conversations for patients’ self-diagnosis through AI. For example, if a patient asks, “I coughed a lot. Why do I cough?” and the AI illogically replies back, “Did you cough?”, we should conclude that the solution is useless. At least, the fully-fledged AI has to chat to ask you questions like “Do you have pain in your stomach, too?”, “Which part of your lower or upper stomach hurts?” or so on. The accuracy of natural language processing AI developed by Infomining is 90%. In other words, 9 out of 10 answers are appropriate for the situation. This is far above the accuracy of the widely known GPT or BERT-based natural language processing AI model (50-72%).

Recently, Infomining’s AI electrocardiogram measurement system has surpassed the level of Google and IBM. The disease was predicted with about 84% accuracy in the F1 score, a medical indicator related to ECG. Google and IBM had this value of 83%. This technology was selected as the best prize in the “Echocardiogram/Echocardiogram AI Model Dataton 2021″ on the 15th. Currently, it is preparing related papers to submit them to the world’s most prestigious AI conference, NeurIPS (Nips).

Smart Healthcare (Digital Healthcare) is an industrial field that deals with information, devices, systems, and platforms on personal health and medical care, and is a comprehensive medical service that combines health-related services with medical ICT (Information and Communication Technology). It is growing rapidly around the world, and is emerging as the most influential convergence field in the era of the 4th industrial revolution.

According to a report released by the Information and Communication Industry Promotion Agency, the global artificial intelligence healthcare market is expected to reach $754.7 million (about 847.5 billion won) in 2020 from $1.79 billion won in 2015 to 25.6 billion won in 2020.

As artificial intelligence technology is expected to create innovative value in the healthcare industry, global companies are competitively investing in the field of artificial intelligence healthcare, and Korea is considered competitive in the global smart healthcare market as it has the world’s best ICT technology.

CEO Lee said, “We have implemented the performance of global AI or exceeded that level in a certain area. Based on this, we have developed integrated medical solutions and are upgrading technology.”

Kyobo Life Insurance announced on Jan 5th that it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with MyData-based startups to expand financial MyData services.

Kyobo Life Insurance plans to expand its MyData service area with this MOU and accelerate the launch of its upcoming official service. Kyobo Life Insurance aims to launch an official service within this month after obtaining the MyData business license from the Financial Services Commission for the first time in the insurance industry in July last year.

According to Kyobo Life Insurance, the two companies that signed the MOU this time are “Infomining” and “Enable Daon Soft,” promising startups that are recognized for their innovation in different areas.

Infomining is a company specialized in smart healthcare services. It is a startup that has proven its excellence through certification as a technology-specific venture company and winning the AI (Artificial Intelligence) Championship. Kyobo Life Insurance plans to jointly discover and commercialize ideas so that it can motivate customers to promote health and provide customized health solutions through information mining and health data utilization and analysis.

“Enable Daon Soft” is a startup that is developing and operating a military service called “The Camp.” Through this business partnership, Kyobo Life Insurance will promote the development of financial education contents for military soldiers and the development of customized financial products for soldiers.

The company, which won the grand prize in the public sector of the Korea Mobile Awards, provides military enlistment information and community functions for military families through applications. The cumulative number of subscribers is 3.6 million and the number of monthly users (MAU) is 700,000.

Kyobo Life Insurance’s goal is to help people live a healthy and proper financial life. Kyobo Life Insurance said officially, “We plan to create and provide MyData services that revive Kyobo Life’s identity so that customers can understand and take the lead in financial life.

It specializes in AI solutions that patients plan in advance or medical staff use to improve work efficiency. It has developed ‘Hearty Hearty’, a solution with world-class performance in natural language processing and bio-signal analysis. We are currently conducting clinical trials in collaboration with various hospitals and institutions.”

▲ INFOMINING CO., LTD

▲ CEO : Jae-yong Lee

▲ http://infomining.co.kr

▲ worldconsult@infomining.co.kr

▲ +82-70-4914-2970

Sam Kim

Asia Jounal

As the pandemic makes people avoid going to the salon and feel comfortable for online sales of hair-styling products, the expenditure in hair grooming and styling has risen globally and the market for hair-styling tools has witnessed significant growth. According to Allied Market Research, a global research firm, the global personal care electrical appliances market is expected to garner $28,007 million by this new year and hair care appliances, such as hair stylers or straighteners, is the strongest market in the current scenario. Asia Pacific is considered as the fastest growing region, which was propelled by the innovation in terms of product design and implementation of social media marketing.

VODANA Inc. in South Korea became one of the major players, contributing to the growth of the electric hair-styling gadget market. The company introduced novel and fresh hair-styling products – from hair straighteners, hair curling irons, to triple flow hair waver – that enable individual consumers to create new looks easily. VODANA Inc. tipped for stardom in a short time and became a trendsetter for the new hair-styling product market. The company launched a 40mm-sized curling tong, which was the largest one ever produced in Korea. The product, VODANA Glam Wave Curling Iron, is known as ‘a curling tong sold once a second’.

VODANA’s pastel-tone colors such as mint, pink and lavender served as an important factor in the visual appearance and brand recognition of the brand. It broke away from chromatic colors such as black and gray, by adding cachet to its branding. Portable products also accurately targeted the design and size of the hair tool that consumers want. VODANA’s unique designs also provide ergonomics advantage and instigate ease for consumers by providing consumers its intimate brand experience.

CEO Choi built up its own brand image to lead people to aspire to buy and possess the product, which makes the product recognized as a personal or daily product rather than a professional equipment in a hair salon. As the company threw off hesitation to work in collaboration with other brands, its marketing clout achieved clever market positioning. The company also interacted more deeply with customers so as to build a strong and sustainable foundation for the brand. New product planning is all based on consumer’s feedback and demands. After launching a hair-dryer this January, the company is also in the process of launching additional hair care products. Consumers, in order to replicate the hairdo followed by professional salons, are expected to push the demand for different types of products with the advanced technology.

Craze on VODANA swept across China and Hong Kong, which was a big hit. VODANA’s products are being sold on Amazon, too. The company is preparing to make inroads into Japan, which has one of the biggest global beauty markets including Don Quijote. CEO Choi said expectedly, “Can’t wait to meet global consumers.” She will put her full efforts for strong growth and global expansion.

Kayla Hong

Asia Journal

Despite the Chinese government’s tightening of regulations on the information technology (IT) industry last year, venture capital investment in China was the largest ever at $130.6 billion (about 157 trillion won), Bloomberg reported on the 9th (local time). According to Preqin, a global research firm, this is an increase of about 50% from $86.7 billion a year ago.

Venture capital investors stopped investing in startups when China imposed extensive regulations in the technology sector last summer, but the startup ecosystem resumed operation in a few weeks, Bloomberg said. The news agency pointed out that it is surprising, considering that leading companies such as Alibaba, Tencent, Byte Dance, and vehicle caller Didi have been hit hard. According to this, Chinese founders and venture capital moved rapidly to find new opportunities. It turned its head from the Internet business and moved to state-of-the-art core technologies such as semiconductors, robotics, and corporate software. Last year, funds flowing into the biotechnology sector amounted to $14.1 billion, up 10 times from 2016. “Investors’ desire for the Chinese technology sector is still active,” said Zhang Jingjing, a lawyer at KWM, a law firm in Hong Kong. “More and more funds are flowing into high-tech startups.”

China is still far behind Silicon Valley in the U.S. in overall venture investment. The investment in Silicon Valley was $296.6 billion, a record high last year, more than double that of China. However, in certain basic technologies, China has already overtaken the United States. For example, according to Preqin, China’s semiconductor sector attracted $8.8 billion in investment last year, which was more than six times the $1.3 billion U.S. companies received. The Chinese government said it will allocate more resources to basic research in its five-year economic plan. This change is aimed at achieving the priority of reducing dependence on U.S. technology amid the US-China conflict.

“The Chinese government is very aware of the importance of innovation for China’s future,” said Alicia Garcia Herrero, chief economist at Natixis, an investment bank. “Investment in deep technology is key.” Deep Tech, which is the base technology and original technology, is a comprehensive term for technologies that do not focus on services to end users, including artificial intelligence, robotics, blockchain, biotechnology, and quantum computing.

Some point out that there is a risk of overheating as funds flock to these areas at a time when areas considered safe investment destinations have been reduced due to regulations from the Chinese authorities.

Angelo Wi, founder of startup Fix Moving, struggled to attract investors to the capital-intensive and time-consuming self-driving technology business, but the situation has changed completely since authorities regulated Internet companies last year. “There has been a breakthrough change in investors’ move to deep-tech,” he said adding, “If it was a question mark whether they would succeed in raising funds in 2020, this year is not a problem. The question is how much value will be evaluated when raising funds”, he said.

Founded by Li Kaifu, a former Google executive, Technology Venture Capital Synovation Ventures plans to invest all of its investment in deep tech and biotechnology this year. The company’s investment in the sector was only 10% of the total in 2010.

Gary Liskel, who founded Chiming Venture Partners, also said deep-tech startups accounted for 40% of the company’s total investment, up from 10% in 2010. “All venture companies do this now”, he said.

Starting this year, large companies are moving rapidly as the holding company’s corporate venture capital (CVC) system has been implemented. As the establishment of CVC begins in earnest, it is predicted that venture and startup investments and mergers and acquisitions (M&A) will increase significantly, especially among large companies that are active in open innovation.

According to related industries and others on the 11th, GS Group recently established “GS Ventures,” the first CVC among holding companies in South Korea.  It is in the form of a subsidiary in which GS, a holding company, fully invested 10 billion won in capital and owns a 100% stake.

Until now, general holding companies in Korea have not been able to have CVC, a financial investment company, as an affiliate in accordance with the principle of separation of financial and industrial capital. All existing CVCs were created by companies without holding companies or were established separately by affiliates other than holding companies. Samsung Venture Investment, POSCO Technology Investment, Naver Spring Camp, and Kakao Ventures are CVC operated by large companies that do not have holding companies.

CVC, which was established separately by affiliates other than holding companies, is representative of Lotte Ventures (Hotel Lotte), Kolon Investment (Kolon China (HK) Company), Timewise Investment (C&I Leisure Industry), and Signite Partners (Shinsegae International). Among the financial holding companies, Nonghyup and Korea Investment Finance have NH Venture Investment and Korea Investment Partners, respectively.

GS Group Korea held a general meeting of promoters at GS Tower in Gangnam-gu, Seoul on the 7th to establish a CVC company called “GS Ventures” and appointed Vice President Joon-nyeong Huh as the first CEO of GS Ventures. Holding companies in Korea have not been able to be affiliated with companies for financial purposes, but the implementation of the revised Fair Trade Act on December 30 last year enabled the establishment of financial companies for venture investment.

GS Ventures plans to invest mainly in domestic startups in new growth fields such as bio-climate change response, resource circulation and distribution, and new energy. First of all, the company plans to focus on investing in startups in the initial establishment and attracting funds, and to cooperate with GS and its affiliates in the subsequent stages.

GS Ventures plans to form an investment and risk management professional manpower and form a fund after obtaining permission from the Financial Services Commission to become a financial company specializing in new technology businesses. The fund created by GS Ventures will also create synergy by participating as investors by group holding companies and affiliates.

The new CEO Huh is considered an investment expert in charge of mergers and acquisitions at Mirae Asset Global Investment Division and UBS New York headquarters. Recently, he served as a native “unicorn” hyperconnect CFO and succeeded in selling it at a value of 1.9 trillion won.

GS is also investing in overseas innovative startups, such as launching GS Futures, a CVC overseas subsidiary in San Francisco in July 2020. With the establishment of GS Ventures, GS Group will be able to engage in professional investment activities with CVC subsidiaries in Korea and abroad, respectively.

Starting with the establishment of GS Ventures, the establishment of CVC by domestic holding companies is expected to accelerate the revitalization of the domestic venture ecosystem and cooperation of new growth of large companies.

Sam Kim

Asia Journal

The local government of North Jeolla-Province (also known as Jeonbuk), located in the southwest of the Korean Peninsula, has been provided with a governmental project to foster its regional industries and companies and to overcome existing business systems by adapting the information technologies such as big data, networking and artificial intelligence. Jeonbuk Digital Convergence Center, as an affiliated center of Jeonbuk TechnoPark, serves as a mainstay for digital transformation of the province. One of its support programs for digitalization of the farming industry – Software Convergence Cluster Project – led to an astounding leap of participant companies. Following are three of the best companies which achieved great performances.

Poultry-specialized Data Management Solution: EMOTION Co., Ltd.

The South Korean poultry industry is moving forward with digitization. A challenging environment with a tough climate control for poultry production and a decrease in farming population led companies to seek technology to increase their production efficiency.

More companies realised that digital tools to bring this efficient and competitive edge are not only the fabric of the buildings, the concrete and the stainless-steel equipment but specialized data management technology and systems can also provide them a cutting edge.

By applying Big Data and IT technology, EMOTION Co., Ltd developed a solution that enables poultry husbandries to monitor the environment, bird behaviours and growth rate supporting more efficient farm performance. KOKOfarm, which started its development in 2017, provides basic operation programs based on big data analysis for average weight, environmental monitoring, and remote control for each farmhouse.

KOKOfarm can be customized for the best growth environment by analyzing and predicting the average weight of the animals in the relay in real time to determine the optimal release date. The electronic device developed by the company collects Qthe weight data 24 hours a day, analyzes it, and calculates the release date through the average weight forecast and prediction. It also has a four-step alarming system for growth-sensitive factors such as temperature, humidity, carbon dioxide, and ammonia level, which will establish a more decent environment for the animal’s growth. IoT systems can enable remote-control of operation devices, such as ventilation fan, feeding system, water supply system and light, in the henhouse with a smartphone.

The collected data is also  easily available through each farm’s website or mobile application with visualized graphs so that anyone can grasp the change in average weight, death rate, output statistics and environment at a glance. Having access to this level of data and using this to make informed decisions will allow producers to improve performance as well as help the sector to become more transparent. Quality improvement and labor reduction can be realized by establishing big data according to the growth of the chicken and sharing optimal growth information through analysis and statistics.

This technology when utilised along with poultry husbandry expertise provides a powerful combination. The KOKO farm system has secured reliability through the operation of three private farms and test beds, and is being installed and finally, in 2019, was operated in 52 breeding buildings of Harim Co., Ltd. which is one of the largest companies engaged in the processing of chicken products. The solution has been successfully distributed in 30 farms in different 150 towns in connection with Jeollabuk-do, a metropolitan government, Iksan, Jeongeup, Gimje, and Buan local governments in 2020. The company is gradually upgrading its technology based on the public project, with the help of related support organizations in the region including Jeonbuk TechnoPark.

The Automated Equipment and System for Easier Beekeeping : DAESUNG Co., Ltd.

Bee is one of the main players not only in producing honey but also in enriching the natural ecosystem. Bees are needed to pollinate plants, which results in reproducing plants such as trees and flowers. Therefore, beekeeping (also known as apiculture) is an industry that contributes to nature and the environment. However, the industry was relatively shunned compared to other agricultural industries such as farming, livestock, and fisheries. Of course, there were less investments, further R&D, or little startups.

DAESUNG Co., Ltd in South Korea has stepped foot on this apiculture business with highly-developed technology. The company launched the automated equipment and system, named SMARTHIVE,  for taking out the honeycomb from the beehive, brushing, and stacking.

When a person collects honey, generally three people are required. When one takes out the honeycomb in the hive, the other brushes the honey and collects it. Another person organizes the hive and puts it back in the hive. Honeycombs full of honey weigh from 3kg to 5kg. It is a burdensome weight for an elderly beekeeper to carry, organize, and put it back in. As agriculture workforces are becoming older, the whole working process is becoming more burdensome.

Using the Hive Controller developed by DAESUNG enables workers to easily take out honeycombs from beehives, to brush bees and to stack honeycombs outside beehives in approximately a minute. As it helps simplify complex work steps and is compatible with various sizes of beehives around the world, even a novice can use it alone to extract honey. Its weight is as light as lifted with one hand. With this automated hive controller, beekeeping farms in Korea could reduce working time by 50% compared to the existing products and also cut back the labor cost. The first version of the SMARTHIVE proved its excellence globally by being honored with the Innovation Awards at the CES 2021.

DAESUNG prepares the future for a better life through the development of apiculture with consistent efforts to beekeeping research and development under the brand SMARTHIVE. To that end, the company does not shirk a challenge by providing additional equipment such as a Hornet Trap and Hornet Guard for effective and easy maintenance. It is expected that systematic management developed by DAESUNG will help improve the quality and quantity of the apiculture industry.

Digitalization Made a Milestone for Growth: NJ Company 

NJ Company manufactures and sells disinfectant, deodorizing and peracetic acid products with its own ingredients. By producing alkaline ionized water of the highest quality, the company is leading the disinfectant chemical industry in South Korea.The company continues to research and develop our unique ingredients such as ixeris polycephala extract and alkaline ionized water. The pure alkaline ionized water of pH12.5 is a highly effective cleanser with antibacterial properties. Furthermore, the ixeris polycephala extract is a safe and effective ingredient which is extracted from wild ixeris polycephala and can be used in cosmetics and soap.

The COVID-19 pandemic made global demand for disinfectant soar, which was good news for the company. Unfortunately, the supply could not meet the demand. At that moment, the company posted record monthly production of 5 tons. By adopting digital technology, its monthly production increased by 10 times. This achievement lies in the collaboration with Samsung Electronics and the South Korean Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS). The public support program designed by MSS helped link SMEs with conglomerates. Thanks to the collaboration, the NJ company could make a phenomenal transformation from manufacture to distribution. Now the company is expected to pave the way for even greater growth at the expense of digitalization.