Korean businesses have pinned high hopes on the imminent launch of a new US-led economic initiative, called the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework or IPEF, in tackling supply chain disruptions and improving soured ties with Japan. But they remained cautious about the new platform’s anti-Chinese undertones. South Korea’s envisioned entry into the IPEF is expected to top the agenda during summit talks between Presidents Yoon Suk-yeol and Joe Biden in Seoul on Saturday. The IPEF aims

Industry May 17, 2022

More chaebol groups are expected to join a business roundtable meeting held on the sidelines of summit talks between Presidents Yoon Suk-yeol and Joe Biden later this week in reflection of the growing presence of Korean businesses spending big in the US recently. The US president is scheduled to arrive in Seoul on Friday for his three-day state visit. His summit talks with Yoon are set to be held on Saturday. Even though full details of his itinerary still remain under wraps, expectations ar

Industry May 16, 2022

Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry Chairman Chey Tae-won on Wednesday stressed his desire to help mend the frayed ties between Seoul and Tokyo, saying their partnership will play a role in tackling ongoing geopolitical uncertainties. “Amid ever-changing global situations, hit by supply chain disruptions and the Russia-Ukraine war, the bilateral partnership between South Korea and Japan has become more crucial than ever,” Chey said at a luncheon with a group of Japanese lawmaker

Industry May 11, 2022

  In his inauguration speech on Tuesday, President Yoon Suk-yeol reaffirmed his will to seek a small government and to push for growth and market economy. And South Korea’s top four chaebol groups -- Samsung, SK, Hyundai Motor and LG -- seem ready to fuel momentum. During his presidential campaign, Yoon vowed to create a business-friendly environment by lifting unnecessary regulations and offering full support across industries. He especially stressed “super gap” tech

Industry May 10, 2022

South Korean refiner GS Caltex said Sunday it has teamed up with Posco International, the trading unit of steel giant Posco, to make a big push into the burgeoning biofuel market amid growing calls for emissions cuts globally. Under the deal, the two firms seek to build an extensive biofuel value chain combining GS Caltex’s manufacturing technology and Posco International’s refinery infrastructure. As the first step, the two firms agreed to build a biodiesel plant along with refi

Industry May 1, 2022

LG Electronics on Thursday reported its best quarterly earnings in the first quarter this year, largely driven by the pent-up demand for TVs and home appliances amid the protracted coronavirus pandemic. For the January-March period, the firm posted 21.11 trillion won ($16.6 billion) in sales and 1.88 trillion won in operating profits, up 18.5 percent and 6.4 percent, respectively, from a year ago. Both were the highest quarterly figures for the South Korean tech giant. Its home appliance and

Technology April 28, 2022

South Korean battery maker Samsung SDI on Thursday reported its best-ever quarterly earnings for the January-March period, with sales exceeding 4 trillion won ($3.1 billion) for the first time. In the first three months of this year, revenue surged 36.7 percent from a year prior to 4.04 trillion won, while operating profits more than doubled to 322.3 billion won. Despite supply chain disruptions and rising materials costs, the company said it could offset the impact by selling more value-add

Industry April 28, 2022

LG Energy Solution said Wednesday it plans to invest 7 trillion won ($5.54 billion) this year to boost its production capacity in key markets while improving profitability overall by offsetting the impact from supply chain constraints and rising costs. The South Korean battery giant unveiled its plans during an earnings conference call earlier in the day. The big spending, up more than 10 percent from 6.3 trillion won announced in February, will be poured into the US, a burgeoning EV market w

Technology April 27, 2022

US chip equipment maker Lam Research on Tuesday opened a new technology center in South Korea, extending its global research network connecting the United States and Europe.  The new center, called Lam Research Technology Center, is located on a 30,000 square-meter site within an industrial complex in Yongin, some 50 kilometers southeast of Seoul. The company has spent about $100 million for the new facility.  With the completion of the new center, Lam Research said its responsivenes

Technology April 26, 2022

A key mergers and acquisitions dealmaker at Samsung Electronics has recently been relocated to join an in-house think tank, fueling speculation about the tech giant’s long-awaited “mega deals” in chips or other growth driver sectors. According to industry sources on Wednesday, Ahn Joong-hyun, an executive vice president at Samsung’s business support task force, was promoted to president last week to lead a future business division at Samsung Global Research. Ahn, 58,

Technology April 20, 2022

LG Group’s IT solutions unit LG CNS said Tuesday that it has joined the government’s new smart farming project to build an artificial intelligence-based platform that offers the ultimate guidelines for more efficient and high-yield farming. The project, launched by the Agriculture Ministry and the local government of South Jeolla Province, aims to create a 543,000 square-meter intelligent farm land in the rural city of Naju, some 355 kilometers south of Seoul, by 2023. Unlike mos

Technology April 19, 2022

Samsung Electronics is offering free pickup and delivery repair service for customers in war-torn Ukraine. According to its Ukraine unit on Tuesday, the Korean tech giant will pick up mobile devices to be repaired for customers living in areas where its service centers cannot be operated, and then deliver the devices to their homes. All of Samsung’s mobile devices, including smartphones, tablets and smartwatches, are subject to the pickup service, with all costs being covered by the com

Technology April 19, 2022

SK Telecom’s artificial intelligence-powered digital remastering technology Supernova is going global in a new partnership with France’s Verimatrix, a leading provider of content security solutions, the Korean telecom giant said Monday. Supernova aims to recreate digital content by using AI-powered colorization tool, called DeOldify. The technology has already been widely used in remastering classic content or restoring historic records here. Its smartphone app made its global debu

Technology April 18, 2022

SK Group is reportedly seeking to acquire a sizeable stake in TerraPower, a US nuclear power startup backed by Bill Gates, as part of its investment push in the carbon-free energy sector such as electric vehicle batteries and hydrogen. According to local daily Chosun Ilbo on Tuesday, the nation’s third-largest conglomerate is in talks to purchase a 10 percent stake, worth $15.4 million, in TerraPower, from India’s Reliance Industries. “Nothing has been decided yet,” an

Industry April 12, 2022

Samsung Electronics has recently hired Daniel Oh, a corporate governance specialist who worked for Institutional Shareholder Services and BlackRock, as an executive vice president at its global investor relations team. According to the tech giant’s business report Monday, Oh, 48, started working at Samsung in February, becoming the No. 2 man on the investor relations team. Oh who studied economics at MIT has more than 19 years of experience in investor relations and corporate governance

Technology April 11, 2022