South Korea continues its drive to promote and expand uses for blockchain, announcing a hackathon to bring new ideas from the public Monday, August 27. The brainchild of the Korea Internet & Security Agency (KISA) and Korea IT Industry Promotion Agency (KIPA), the event is now accepting applications and will run in late November as part of the state-sponsored ‘Blockchain Promotion Week.’ Also supporting the scheme is the Korean Ministry of Science and ICT, which has begun a comprehensive blockchain awareness program stretching into 2019. According to local news outlet Money Today, the hackathon will focus on “solving social problems …

South Korea’s largest crypto exchange, Upbit — a crypto-only platform run by a subsidiary of Korean tech giant Kakao — has posted a $100 million profit in the third quarter (Q3) of 2018, Yonhap News reported August 23. As Yonhap reports, Kakao’s recent Semiannual Report indicates that the net profit of Upbit operator Dunamoo was 19,330 million won ($17.35 million), with total assets adding up to around 1.25 trillion won (around $1.1 billion). Last year, the company posted a net income of 190.31 billion won ($170 million), while its total assets were at 1.257 trillion won (around $1.1 billion). Dunamoo …

North Korean hackers have infected a cryptocurrency exchange with malware for both Windows and macOS for reportedly the first time, Russian internet security company Kaspersky Lab announced Thursday, August 23. In Kaspersky’s report, the company reveals the malware — dubbed “AppleJeus” — made its way into the systems of an unnamed exchange after an employee downloaded a “tainted” app. Kaspersky now believes the app came from a fake developer with fake security certificates in a major operation by North Korean hacker collective Lazarus Group. The malware aimed to steal cryptocurrency funds, Kaspersky claims, in what marks the latest in a …

Lawmakers in South Korea began discussing cryptocurrency once more Monday, August 20, in a meeting focusing on ending the country’s ICO ban, as well as other topics, Business Korea reports. Coming amid considerable attention on both cryptocurrency and blockchain propagation from Seoul, the National Assembly meeting saw participation from government ministries including the Ministry of Science and Information and Communications Technology (ICT). In addition to debating reallowing initial coin offerings (ICOs) to operate in the country, the parties involved are also keen to press ahead with the creation of South Korea’s own ‘Blockchain island.’ Centered on the Jeju Island resort, …

A group of South Korean blockchain experts will set up a law-based agency to explore the technology and apply it in various areas of society, local news outlet Yonhap News reports August 20. According to the announcement, the association, dubbed the “Blockchain Law Society,” is set to be officially launched in South Korea this Friday, August 24. The blockchain-focused organization aims to develop a legal framework for applications of distributed ledger technology (DLT), as well as to establish cooperation between various fields such as “economics, computer engineering,” and business. The Blockchain Law Society will utilize the efforts of experts from …

The government of South Korea announced it had excluded cryptocurrency exchanges from legislation governing venture businesses in a press release issued Monday, August 13. The brief document from the country’s Ministry of Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and Startups (MSS) explained that contrary to previous decisions, it would now place exchanges alongside bars and nightclubs as businesses that it would “not encourage as a venture enterprise.” A rough translation of part of the press release explains: “The Small and Medium Venture Business Department [of the MSS] has no intention to regulate cryptocurrency trading and disclosures (ICOs), but as problems such …

South Korea announced it would “nurture” eight sectors of the domestic economy, including blockchain, by investing 5 trillion won (about $4.4 billion) next year, local media outlet Yonhap reports Monday, August 13. According to the results of a meeting involving the country’s finance ministry, the government opted to increase the amount spent on areas such as blockchain, big data and artificial intelligence (AI) by 65 percent from 2018 estimates. “The measures will help facilitate the platform economy, which in turn will help speed up innovative growth,” the publication quotes the ministry as saying. Over the next five years, the figure …

The South Korean government is set to launch a program dedicated to fostering young talent in emerging areas including blockchain on August 10, a press release confirmed today, August 9. The 2018 Innovative Growing Youth Talent Concentration Project is the second installment of the initiative following a successful inaugural round, which ran June 11 through July 10. It is hosted by the Korean Ministry of Science and ICT and the Institute for Information and Communications Technology Promotion. Participants will receive a six-month training course covering applications of blockchain and other technologies in various sectors, with instruction beginning mid-September. The ultimate …

South Korean police have raided the office of a local firm whose alleged crypto scam promised investors the spoils of a sunken Russian warship, The Korea Herald reported August 7. The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency reportedly sent 27 investigators from its white collar unit to to collect evidence from the premises of Shinil Group in Yeouido, western Seoul, and seven other locations on Tuesday. In mid-July, Shinil had released submarine footage of what it claimed was the wreckage of the Dmitrii Donskoi, an armored Russian cruiser that sank in 1905 in the midst of the Russo-Japanese war, alleging it had …

The recently launched Korea Blockchain Enterprise Promotion Association has called on the state to adopt crypto and blockchain technology, local news agency Korea Joongang Daily reports Aug. 8. According to the report, the blockchain association has filed a demand with the government to regulate the new technology to benefit from its opportunities instead of focusing on its negative “short-term side effects.” The association stressed that it demands the government’s regulatory action on both blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies, including Initial Coin Offerings (ICO), Korea Joongang Daily reports. The move aims to assist in generating employment, as well as to “pave the …

South Korean financial holding company KB Financial Group Inc. has released an Aug. 6 report on crypto investments in 2018, finding the majority of domestic respondents revealed no intention to invest in crypto. KB Financial Group Inc. is headquartered in Seoul, South Korea and focuses on a range of banking and related financial services. Their survey involved 600 households that had financial assets of more than KRW 500 million (around $447,000) from April to May, as well as 400 respondents with over KRW 1 billion in financial assets (around $894,000). According to their latest publication, 74.8 percent of domestic respondents …

Public South Korean biotech enterprise Macrogen, the country’s leading gene sequencing service provider, is developing a genomic big data blockchain-based platform together with local tech firm Bigster, according to an August 6 press release. The new partnership will leverage blockchain tech to create a medical big data ecosystem that would allow for both the secure and private storage and the transfer of large amounts of sensitive genomic and personal information. As the press release notes, advances in genomics are reshaping the global medical landscape, allowing for individually customized diagnoses, treatment and prevention. Medical big data, which integrates individuals’ genomic, health …