LG Electronics will create a 100 billion won ($90.15 million) fund with Mirae Asset Group, the country’s largest nonbank financial institution, to invest in new businesses including electric vehicles, the companies said Friday. The two business units will contribute 50 billion won each to the fund, which will be operated for 10 years. Chief Strategy Officer Cho Ju-wan of LG Electronics, Chief Executive Officer Lee Man-hee of Mirae Asset Capital and other executives held a ceremony on F

Technology April 30, 2021

Strong sales of home appliances pushed South Korean electronics firms’ sales to a new quarterly high. According to first-quarter earnings results released by Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics on Thursday, the tech titans both achieved their highest-ever quarterly sales and operating profits in the first three months of 2021. Samsung posted record-high sales of 65.39 trillion won ($59 billion) in the first quarter, driven by its mobile device and home appliances businesses, despit

Technology April 29, 2021

Samsung chief Lee Kun-hee died Oct. 25, 2020, as South Korea’s richest man, leaving behind a massive fortune that local reports have put at 30 trillion won ($27 billion) in total value. Nearly six months later, on Wednesday, his heirs -- wife Hong Ra-hee, son Lee Jae-yong, and daughters Lee Bu-jin and Lee Seo-hyun, reported an inheritance of nearly 20 trillion won to the tax authorities. The rest -- including Lee’s massive art collection, which some local reports say could be wo

Industry April 28, 2021

The heirs of the late Samsung Group Chairman Lee Kun-hee on Wednesday announced what will become of the late tycoon’s assets, which amount to over 30 trillion won ($27 billion), in the country’s biggest inheritance in recent history. According to a statement released by Samsung Electronics on behalf of the family, they plan to return much of that wealth to society. The unparalleled donation will include artworks and antiques worth nearly 10 trillion won, and 1 trillion won is to

Industry April 28, 2021

The founding family of Samsung Group will donate 1 trillion won ($899 million) to bolster the country’s medical infrastructure, including building Korea’s first hospital for infectious diseases, Samsung Electronics announced on Wednesday. The announcement was part of the bereaved family’s plan on inheritance tax payments on assets of the late Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-hee, who died on Oct. 25. The Lee family has decided to donate 700 billion won to better equip the medical s

Industry April 28, 2021

As an official announcement on the biggest wealth inheritance in modern Korean history draws near, all eyes are on how much of the late Samsung Group Chairman Lee Kun-hee’s assets would be given to his eldest son Lee Jae-yong, who has in effect already inherited the control of the mammoth business conglomerate. According to industry sources on Tuesday, the bereaved family of the late tycoon is anticipated to announce this week, before an April 30 deadline, a final inheritance plan, incl

Technology April 27, 2021

The Korea Herald is publishing a series of interviews with executives of South Korea’s leading corporations on their response to environmental, social and corporate governance, or ESG, issues, which have become central factors globally in measuring the sustainability of an investment or business decision. -- Ed.  Since even before the environmental, social and corporate governance trend caught on in corporate Korea, LG Innotek has been making quiet efforts for years for the betterm

Technology April 25, 2021

After South Korea closed a deal with Pfizer to obtain additional doses of its COVID-19 vaccine, Samsung Electronics’ de facto chief, Lee Jae-yong, is receiving much attention in local media for his reported role in facilitating talks between the two sides. Seoul announced Friday that it had secured enough additional vaccine for 20 million people in a deal that soothed public worries over a shortage. Adding to those worries were the reported side effects associated with the AstraZeneca

Industry April 25, 2021

Samsung Electronics chief Lee Jae-yong on Thursday denied all charges leveled against him during his first trial hearing on alleged irregularities surrounding his ascension to the helm of Samsung Group. Attending the session held at the Seoul Central District Court, Lee pleaded not guilty when he was asked by the presiding judge to respond to the charges brought against him by prosecutors which include stock market manipulation, illicit trading and breach of trust. “I cannot admit (to

Technology April 22, 2021

SK Telecom, South Korea’s No. 1 mobile carrier, aims to grow into a global key player in nonmemory chip design and is on the lookout for acquisition targets, its chief executive officer said Wednesday. Speaking exclusively to The Korea Herald, SKT CEO Park Jung-ho said, “SK Telecom will take the lead in development of nonmemory chips, helping SK hynix (expand into the overall semiconductor market).” The SKT chief doubles as vice chairman of SK hynix, the world’s third

Technology April 21, 2021

The bereaved family of Samsung Group Chairman Lee Kun-hee will make public its plans for the late tycoon’s massive personal wealth, estimated to be worth over 30 trillion won ($26.98 billion), industry sources said Tuesday. The plan will include donations of art from the chairman’s collection and the allocation of his stocks to family members, including Lee Jae-yong, his son and successor in the Samsung empire. It will also detail how the family plans to pay the inheritance taxes.

Technology April 20, 2021

Samsung Electronics is anticipated to finalize its investment plan for foundry expansion in the United States and South Korea, and make it official as early as next month, according to industry forecasts on Monday. After participating in the meetings with US President Joe Biden and Korean President Moon Jae-in last week, Samsung seems to be accelerating its internal decision-making process to finalize the investment plan both for Korea and the US in response to the two governments’ call

Technology April 19, 2021

With a growing sense of crisis amid an unfolding global power struggle involving chips, South Korea is moving to legislate its first special bill on the local semiconductor industry. If enacted, it would mark the first time that the country, home to world’s No. 1 and 2 memory chip producers Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, acts to provide practical support and benefits, including tax credits, to chipmakers and the local chip ecosystem. It would also be a signal that Korea won’

Technology April 18, 2021

LG Energy Solution, South Korea’s leading battery maker, has marked the industry’s first case of joining both RE100 and EV100, the two global campaigns addressing climate change and clean energy, officials said Friday. Abbreviated for Renewable Electricity 100%, RE100 is an international campaign launched by nonprofit organization the Climate Group in partnership with Carbon Disclosure Project in 2014. The campaign aims to have businesses that consume more than 100GWh a year switch

Technology April 16, 2021

Ever since the emergence of the internet, digitalization has been a popular catchphrase. Yet, it is an elusive goal for many, as nearly half of the world’s population remain unconnected. South Korea, one of the most wired countries in the world and the first country to roll out the next-generation 5G networks, has set digitalization as its new goal, seeking to invigorate its pandemic-hit local economy with the “Digital New Deal.” An executive of Cisco -- a US tech fi

Technology April 15, 2021