This is a list of South Korean inventions and discoveries; Koreans have made contributions to science and technology from ancient to modern times. In the contemporary era, South Korea plays an active role in the ongoing Digital Revolution, with one of the largest electronics industries and most innovative economies in the world. The Koreans have made contributions across a number of scientific and technological domains. In particular, the country has played a role in the modern Digital Revolution through its large electronics industry with a number of modern revolutionary and widespread technologies in fields such as electronics and robotics introduced by Korean engineers, entrepreneurs, inventors, and scientists.
Aquaculture Pollock farming In 2016, the National Institute of Fisheries Science of South Korea succeeded in farming Alaska pollock for the first time in the world, allowing the fish to lay eggs a year and 8 months after birth, as opposed to 3 years in the wild. Alaska pollock is considered the "national fish" of Korea and is prepared in a number of dishes, including myeongnan-jeot, which was introduced and popularized in Japan as "mentaiko" in the 20th century.
Mathematics Ree group The Korean mathematician Rimhak Ree discovered and constructed the Ree group in the mathematical field of group theory.
Technology Electronics 3D hologram The world's first 360-degree color hologram was developed by the Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute in 2015. 3D nanoprinting pen The first pen that performs 3D printing on the nanoscale was developed by Seongpil Hwang of Korea University in 2014. 5G smartphone Samsung released the world's first 5G smartphone, the Galaxy S10 5G, in 2019. Curved display smartphone The world's first curved display smartphone, the Samsung Galaxy Round, was released by Samsung on 10 October 2013. Double-data rate SDRAM (DDR SDRAM) First demonstrated by Samsung in 1997. Samsung released the first commercial DDR SDRAM chip in June 1998.
EyeCan Samsung developed the first eye tracking mouse that doesn't require users to wear special equipment, called the EyeCan, in 2012. Flexible battery In 2012, researchers at KAIST demonstrated the first fully functional all-flexible electronic battery system. In 2013, scientists led by Professor Lee Sang-young of Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology developed the world's first bendable lithium ion batteries. Floating-gate MOSFET (FGMOS) In 1967, Dawon Kahng and Simon Min Sze invented the floating-gate MOSFET, which provides the foundation for many forms of semiconductor memory devices. Graphics DDR SDRAM (GDDR SDRAM) GDDR was initially known as DDR SGRAM (double data-rate synchronous graphics RAM). It was commercially introduced by Samsung Electronics in 1998. High Bandwidth Memory High Bandwidth Memory is a high-performance RAM interface for 3D-stacked DRAM developed by SK Hynix and AMD to be used in conjunction with high-performance graphics accelerators and network devices. LTE mobile phone Samsung released the world's first LTE mobile phone, the SCH-r900, in 2010, and the world's first LTE smartphone, the Samsung Galaxy Indulge, in 2011. Metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) In 1959, Dawon Kahng (a Korean American) and Mohamed Atalla at Bell Labs invented the metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET), a semiconductor that is the basic element in most of today's electronic equipment. It is the basic building block of the Digital Revolution, and the most widely manufactured device in history. MP3 phone The first mobile phone to support MP3 playback, the SPH-M2100, was released by Samsung in 1999. MP3 player The world's first commercially available MP3 player, the MPMan, was launched by SaeHan Information Systems in 1997. Online electric vehicle Researchers at KAIST developed an electric transportation system in which online electric vehicles (OLEV) get power wirelessly through the application of shaped magnetic field in resonance, a new technology introduced by KAIST that enables electric vehicles to transfer electricity wirelessly from the road surface. The world's first OLEV buses began operation at the city of Gumi in March 2014. Retina display Apple's "Retina" display was invented by LG and bought by Apple. Rollable keyboard The world's first solid rollable keyboard was introduced by LG in 2015. Synchronous dynamic random-access memory (SDRAM) The first commercial synchronous dynamic random-access memory (SDRAM) was the Samsung KM48SL2000 memory chip. It was introduced by Samsung Electronics in 1992, and mass-produced in 1993. Tablet computer The first commercially available tablet computer, the GridPad, was manufactured by Samsung in 1989 after it absorbed Grid Systems Corporation in 1988. The GRiDPad was modified from the Samsung PenMaster, which was never commercially released. Touchscreen phone The LG Prada is the world's first completely touchscreen mobile phone, and also the first mobile phone with a capacitive touchscreen. Transparent resistive random access memory Transparent resistive random access memory (TRRAM) is the world's first transparent computer chip, invented by scientists at KAIST. TV phone The world's first TV phone, the SCH-M220, was developed by Samsung in 1999. Universal Flash Storage The world's first UFS memory cards were developed by Samsung. Watch phone The world's first watch phone, the SPH-WP10, was released by Samsung in 1999. Wearable thermoelectric generator Researchers led by Byung Jin Cho at KAIST developed a glass fabric-based thermoelectric (TE) generator that is extremely light and flexible and produces electricity from the heat of the human body.
Appliances Digital refrigerator In 2000, LG Electronics introduced the world's first digital refrigerator called the Internet Digital DIOS. Dual washing machine In 2015, LG Electronics unveiled the world's first washing machine that allows for two separate loads to be washed simultaneously using the "TWIN Wash System". Kimchi refrigerator The kimchi refrigerator is designed to meet the storage requirements of kimchi. The first commercial kimchi refrigerator was created by Winia Mando in 1995. Steam closet In 2011, LG introduced a closet, called the Styler, that steam cleans clothing that's hung inside without the use of water or detergents; it is used in hotels, airports, casinos, and homes in Korea. Steam mop Invented by Romi Haan in 2001, the steam mop is a type of electric mop that uses hot steam to disinfect floors. Wall-mounted drum type washing machine In 2012, Dongbu Daewoo Electronics introduced the world's first wall-mounted drum type washing machine called the "Mini".
Information technology 5G In April 2019, Korea released the world's first 5G network, becoming the first country in the world to adopt 5G. Caller ringback tone The caller ringback tone (CRBT) service, which allows subscribers to choose a piece of music or an audio clip that callers will hear in place of the standard 'ringing' tone when dialing the subscriber's number, was first offered in South Korea in 2002 by SK Telecom. It was developed in 2001 by the Korean firm Witcom. Contactless smart card Beginning in 1995, Seoul was the first city in the world to use contactless smart cards, for electronic ticketing. Digital multimedia broadcasting The digital multimedia broadcasting technology was developed in South Korea. It is a digital transmission system for sending multimedia to mobile devices. Electronic promissory note In 2005, the Korean Ministry of Justice and a consortium of financial institutions announced the service of an electronic promissory note service, after years of development, allowing entities to make promissory notes (notes payable) in business transactions digitally instead of on paper, for the first time in the world. Mobile television service By developing digital multimedia broadcasting (DMB), Korea became the first nation in the world to officially introduce mobile television service in May 2005. Virtual store In 2011, Homeplus launched the world's first virtual store at Seolleung Station, enabling consumers to purchase items with their smartphones by scanning QR codes using the Homeplus app, then having the products delivered. WiBro Developed in 2005 by Samsung Electronics, WiBro, an abbreviation of wireless broadband, is the first commercial mobile WiMax system in the world. In April 2007, KT began full commercial WiBro services in the Seoul metropolitan area and its vicinity for the first time in the world.
Robotics
Albert HUBO Introduced in 2005, Albert HUBO is the world's first walking humanoid robot with an android head. It was a collaboration between Hanson Robotics and KAIST. Cancer-fighting nanobot Scientists at the Chonnam National University in South Korea developed the world's first cancer-fighting nanobot, a microscopic robot called a "bacteriobot", that is injected into the bloodstream and seeks out and destroys cancer cells while leaving healthy cells alone. Ciliary microrobot Hongsoo Choi's research team at the Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology developed the world's first ciliary microrobots, that can move and function like single cells. Crabster CR200 CR200 Developed by the Korea Institute of Ocean Science and Technology, Crabster CR200 is the world's deepest and largest underwater walking robot. It can be used in scientific exploration projects and repairing structures such as pipes used to carry oil and gas. EveR-1 Developed by a team at the Korea Institute of Industrial Technology and introduced in May 2003, EveR-1 is the world's second android. HUBO Developed by KAIST and introduced in 2004, HUBO is the world's second walking humanoid robot, and the first to move with a natural gait. MAHRU Developed by a team at Korea Institute of Science and Technology and introduced in March 2005, MAHRU (originally known as NBH-1) is the first network-based humanoid robot in the world. Manned bipedal robot South Korea's Method-2 is the world's first manned bipedal robot. Robotic thyroidectomy Robot-assisted transaxillary thyroid surgery (RATS), also called robotic thyroidectomy (RT), is a minimally invasive surgical technique developed in Korea that can remove all or part of the thyroid without scarring the neck. Robot prison guard In 2011, the world's first robot prison guard was introduced. Developed by Lee Baik-chul, a professor at Kyonggi University, the robot prison guard uses 3D cameras to detect abnormal human behavior patterns.
Entertainment technology 4DX Developed by South Korean conglomerate CJ Group in 2009, 4DX is the world's first 4D cinema technology, allowing a motion picture presentation to be augmented with environmental effects. Cinema LED screen The world's first commercial cinema LED screen was developed by Samsung Electronics and installed in the Super S auditorium at the Lotte World Tower in Seoul. The screen is 10.3 meters wide and runs at 4K resolution, with brightness "ten times greater than that offered by standard projector technologies," according to Samsung. In 2018, Samsung debuted the world's first 3D cinema LED screen. ScreenX Developed by South Korean conglomerate CJ Group in 2012, ScreenX is the world's first multi-projection system. It extends the images onto the theater walls to provide a 270-degree viewing environment.
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