The Ministry of Information and Communication announced said, Wednesday, that the nations cell phone manufacturers including Samsung, LG and Curitel had agreed to come up with a standard battery charger through sharing connection technology from August. As a result, customers will not need to buy a new charger every time they change cell phone. Existing chargers, however, are unlikely to be of use due to differing sizes.

To date, there are around 38 million cell phones on the market nationwide of which more than 30% are replaced with latest models. Noh Jun-hyeong the Policy Department head at the ministry estimated the annual cost nationwide of buying a new charger, while throwing away the previous one to reach W350 billion, adding that wasteful spending would be sharply reduced thanks to the standard charger.