Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman and co-CEO Han Jong-hee said Tuesday that the tech giant was in talks to secure a greater stake in Rainbow Robotics, a local humanoid robotics company, in an apparent move to ramp up its presence in the burgeoning robotics market. At a press event held to introduce Samsung’s new Bespoke home appliances lineup in Seoul earlier in the day, Han noted that the company has a strong appetite to acquire Rainbow Robotics and related talks are on the way “l

Technology March 21, 2023

Kakao Brain, an artificial intelligence technology research and development subsidiary of Kakao, said Monday it has temporarily suspended its generative AI-based chatbot service, within a day after its open beta release, due to technical glitches. At around 4 p.m. on Monday, Ddmm was unexpectedly closed after too many users flocked to try out the service. By the time Kakao had suspended the service, some 13,000 users had added the service to their mobile messenger, KakaoTalk. The exact date for

Technology March 20, 2023

Samsung Electronics said Monday it has opened a branch campus for its startup support program in Gwangju to incubate promising small businesses to spur innovation and build a business ecosystem without relocating themselves to bustling Seoul and metropolitan areas. Located in Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance’s office in the Sangmu region, C-Lab Outside Gwangju will be run to nurture innovative startups, revitalize the local economy and boost high-quality jobs in the rural area. The new ca

Industry March 20, 2023

South Korea's leading semiconductor makers, Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, are likely to post deficits of billions of won in the first quarter of this year amid weakening memory chip prices and higher inventories. Posing great challenges for the firms are accumulated substantial amounts of inventory and slowing consumer spending. According to Samsung’s regulatory filing to DART, the Financial Supervisory Service’s electronic disclosure board, Sunday, its inventory assets re

Industry March 19, 2023

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and first lady Kim Keon Hee are greeted by Korean compatriots attending a luncheon with the presidential couple. The luncheon was held ahead of a summit with Yoon's Japanese counterpart, Fumio Kishida, in Tokyo on Thursday. Yoon thanked Koreans in Japan for buttressing the ties between the two countries. The president also called for an active role in developing Korea-Japan relations. "Both Korea and Japan are at a starting point for a better future

Foreign Affairs March 16, 2023

South Korea and Japan's easing of trade tensions has spurred hope among Korean businesses, as the two agreed to bolster economic ties on the sidelines of the summit talks held in Tokyo on Thursday. Earlier in the day, Japan announced it would lift restrictions on exports of key semiconductor materials to Korea, while Korea in return decided to withdraw its complaint filed with the World Trade Organization against the export curbs. Both countries also plan to continue talks to reinstate each

Economy March 16, 2023

SK Inc., the investment arm of SK Group, said Thursday it will divest all of its 2.98 percent stake in Turo, the San Francisco-based car-sharing company, as it is looking to cement its leadership in the fast-growing mobility market in Southeast Asia. SK will sell its stake in Turo to Swiss-based venture capital firm G Squared, an existing shareholder, for $67.5 million. The transaction is expected to be completed in the first half of this year, company officials said. “We are pleased to co

Industry March 16, 2023

LG Innotek CEO Jeong Cheol-dong received the Gold Tower Order of Industrial Service Merit, the highest honor in the field awarded by the South Korean government, at the annual Trade Day ceremony Wednesday for his notable contribution to the national economy. Jeong was honored for his part in strengthening the competitiveness of the national industry by securing proprietary technologies in materials and parts, developing new technologies, leading process innovation and localizing equipment over t

Industry March 15, 2023

Key tech companies of Samsung Group, South Korea's largest conglomerate, will invest a combined 60.1 trillion won ($46.1 billion) over the next decade for the country’s manufacturing business in rural areas to pursue balanced regional development. This equates to about 10 percent of the South Korean government’s budget of 638 trillion won for this year. The spending plan by Samsung’s affiliates, including Samsung Electronics, Samsung Display, Samsung SDI and Samsung Electr

Industry March 15, 2023

US tech behemoth Apple said Tuesday it will open its fifth retail store in South Korea later this month, expanding its presence in the country, home to its archrival Samsung Electronics. Named Apple Gangnam, the store will open near the Shinnonhyeon Subway Station in southern Seoul on March 31. The location is less than a kilometer away from three skyscrapers owned by Samsung Group. The three buildings are home to Samsung’s financial units after Samsung Electronics relocated to an office b

Industry March 14, 2023

In an apparent move to counter Apple Pay’s long-awaited debut this month, Samsung Pay is seeking a stronger alliance with local mobile payment providers to consolidate its digital payment service's dominant position at home. Samsung Electronics has been in discussion with Kakao’s payment leg Kakao Pay over a potential partnership deal, seeking business synergy between the two popular payment services, according to industry sources on Monday. If the service integration is realize

Industry March 13, 2023

South Korea’s IT services firm Samsung SDS on Friday unveiled a renewed vision for its burgeoning cloud business, touting itself as the nation’s only “hybrid” service provider that offers integrated hardware and software solutions for corporate clients. “Cloud computing itself is inherently complicated enough and it also covers a vast range of options now. We’d like to simplify the service for our clients under our new brand slogan, ‘Cloud. Simply Fi

Technology March 12, 2023

Samsung Electronics on Thursday debuted its first organic light-emitting diode TVs in a decade at home, making official its comeback to the fast-growing premium TV segment, which is currently dominated by its crosstown rival, LG Electronics. The tech giant held a media event at its headquarters in Gangnam, southern Seoul, unveiling its brand new TV lineup this year, which also included its latest high-end LCD TVs, branded as Neo Quantum LED or Neo QLED TVs. The world’s largest TV maker i

Technology March 9, 2023

LG Electronics, the dominant No. 1 company in the organic light-emitting diode TV market, said Wednesday it welcomes more tech firms, including its archrival Samsung Electronics, entering the fast-growing OLED TV market. Ahead of the official release of its 2023 TV lineup, LG held a press briefing with a group of local reporters at the company's research and development campus in Seoul and boasted its confidence in the quality of its OLED TV products. “As observing an increasing numbe

Technology March 8, 2023

SK Inc. Materials, an advanced materials unit under South Korea’s SK Group, said Tuesday it is making an additional investment into 8 Rivers, a US clean energy tech firm specialized in developing carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS). With the planned investment, the Korean firm is expected to become the largest shareholder of 8 Rivers. Under the renewed partnership, the two firms are set to further strengthen their existing ties on diverse clean energy products within the US. Fou

Industry March 7, 2023