The Korea Times

Nvidia chief, SK Group Chey meet in Taipei to discuss AI memory chip cooperation

Jensen Huang, chief executive officer of U.S. chip giant Nvidia Corp., met with SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won in Taipei to discuss the future of cooperation in artificial intelligence (AI) memory, SK Group said Tuesday. The meeting took place in Taipei on Monday, according to a post on SK Group's Facebook account. Both executives were in the Taiwanese capital to attend Computex, one of Asia's largest technology trade shows. "With SK hynix reaching a market capitalization of US$1 trillion, the executives of both companies met to share the significance of the milestone," the post said. The gathering also provided an opportunity to reflect on the achievements the two companies have made together in AI memory and reaffirm their commitment to opening a new chapter in AI infrastructure, the post added. Later in the day, Huang visited SK hynix's booth to review key memory products, including next-generation high-bandwidth memory (HBM) and advanced module solutions. During the visit, he left handwritten notes on display wafers, writing "Please make more" on an HBM4E sample and "Love SOCAMM" on a

Rubio says Mojtaba Khamenei alive and 'increasingly engaging'

WASHINGTON — U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Tuesday that Iran's supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei, who was wounded in U.S.-Israeli attacks and has not been seen in public since assuming office, is alive and increasingly active. "I think there are indications out there that he is increasingly engaging at some level," Rubio told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Mojtaba Khamenei, 56, succeeded his father Ali Khamenei, who was killed in the first wave of U.S.-Israeli strikes that launched the war on February 28. Rubio was testifying in front of the Senate panel as talks on ending the three-month-old war that has engulfed the Middle East and triggered a global energy crisis have stalled. Rubio expressed hope for a deal with Iran, while insisting that Tehran must severely limit its nuclear program in order to see sanctions lifted. "There is the prospect before us, which could happen today, it could happen tomorrow, it could happen next week," Rubio said. Rubio said that Tehran must agree to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a key shipping channel for Gulf oil and gas. "They have to an

Stalked from behind bars: A female reporter’s yearslong fight for safety

“The perpetrator’s lawyer said he had read your petition and even praised it, saying, ‘You really can write. I guess that’s what I’d expect from a journalist.’” Gwak Ah-ram, 47, said chills ran down her spine when she heard those words from her lawyer. The perpetrator was a stalker who had harassed Gwak for years — a man whose name she did not even know at first. Gwak had sued him in 2021, and a year later, she was preparing for an appeals trial when her lawyer casually delivered the comment. At first came disbelief. She had written the petition to the court out of desperation, her hands shaking as she asked for severe punishment. But how had the accused’s lawyer been able to read it? In an interview near Gwanghwamun, Gwak recounted the terrifying experience she went through in 2022. Shortly after the conversation with her lawyer, she received a letter from the stalker, who was serving his sentence after the first trial. It included parts of what she had written in her petition to the court, along with curses and expressions of hatred. Gwak said she first turned to the c

Lee flags repeated Hanwha plant explosions as 'serious problem,' orders prevention measures

Consumer prices hit 26-month high, fueling rate hike expectations

Korea's consumer inflation accelerated to a 26-month high in May, driven by soaring oil prices amid the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, reinforcing market expectations that the Bank of Korea (BOK) could raise the base rate in July, market watchers said Tuesday. Consumer prices, a key gauge of inflation, rose 3.1 percent last month from a year earlier, marking the fastest pace of growth since March 2024, according to data released by the Ministry of Data and Statistics. The increase was largely driven by higher energy costs. Prices of industrial goods rose 4.2 percent from a year earlier, while petroleum product prices jumped 24.2 percent, contributing 0.92 percentage points to overall inflation. This marked the steepest increase since a 35.2 percent surge recorded in 2022, following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The statistics ministry attributed the rise in consumer prices to a rebound in agricultural, livestock and fisheries product prices, as well as soaring oil costs linked to the conflict in the Middle East. On the same day, central bank officials held a meeting to review inflat

Hyundai Motor set to deepen robotics, AI partnership with Nvidia

Hyundai Motor Group is expected to expand its artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics partnership with Nvidia, as the heads of the two tech firms are highly likely to meet in Seoul later this week — a move that will strengthen growth momentum for the carmaker’s autonomous driving and humanoid robotics. The high-profile meeting would focus on deepening collaboration in the two key technology areas. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang is scheduled to visit Seoul in the coming days. Boston Dynamics, the maker of the Atlas humanoid robot, is at the center of the anticipated collaboration. The company is a major robotics affiliate of Hyundai Motor Group. The carmaker has been advancing Atlas as an industrial-grade humanoid platform, as part of its efforts to become one of the world’s most aggressive manufacturing players in the emerging physical AI field, which combines AI with robots designed to operate in real-world environments. The two companies formalized their cooperation at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit last year, when they announced a partnership to develop AI factory-based

KOSPI ends higher after recovering from sharp intraday losses

Korea's benchmark KOSPI recovered from steep intraday losses Tuesday as retail and institutional investors stepped in to offset heavy foreign selling following the market's recent rally. The benchmark index closed at 8,801.49, up 0.15 percent from the previous session, extending its streak of record-high closes to a third consecutive trading day. After rising as high as 8,933.62 shortly after the opening bell, just 66 points shy of the unprecedented 9,000 mark, KOSPI tumbled to the 8,500 level during intraday trading before rebounding late in the session. The volatile session came a day after the benchmark index closed at a record high of 8,788.38. Analysts attributed the sharp intraday swing to profit-taking by foreign investors following recent gains in semiconductor and other artificial intelligence (AI)-related shares. Retail and institutional investors, however, helped cushion the decline by scooping up stocks. According to the Korea Exchange, foreign investors sold a net 6.59 trillion won ($4.34 billion) worth of stocks, weighing on the index. Retail and institutional investors were

ReviewKorean struggles reflected in dueling renditions of Chekhov classic

Two versions of an unhappy uncle have drawn Korean theatergoers this May, as Anton Chekhov’s “Uncle Vanya” arrived in Seoul in contrasting productions at two of the country’s best-known venues. The dueling “Uncle Vanya” productions opened weeks apart at LG Arts Center and the National Theater Company of Korea. The two stagings of the 19th-century Russian classic with television and film celebrities in key roles sparked buzz before the productions even opened. Both succeeded in attracting audiences and selling out performances for reasons that went well beyond their celebrity casts. Many Koreans found they could relate with Chekhov's weary uncle and circumstances he was in. 'Ajeossi' meets Chekhov’s worn-out Vanya The original work, first staged in 1899, centers on Vanya, who devotes his life to managing a rural estate in Russia for his late sister’s husband, a professor. He confronts the possibility that his sacrifices may have been in vain when the professor returns with his young, beautiful new wife Yelena, destroying the fragile peace Vanya has maintained with his niec

InterviewEgypt invites Korean firms to build industrial zone along Suez Canal

Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty called for an expansion of bilateral economic cooperation with Korea, highlighting Egypt’s role as a gateway to African and Middle East markets and urging Korean companies to establish a dedicated industrial zone along the Suez Canal. Speaking to reporters at the Egyptian Embassy in Seoul on Tuesday, Abdelatty, who is visiting Korea for the Korea-Africa Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, said Korea and Egypt share a “very strong and long-standing relationship” and should now focus on translating their robust political ties into broader economic and industrial cooperation. “We would like to further enhance our cooperation with South Korea,” he said. “What we need to do more is in the economic and trade areas.” A central theme of his remarks was Egypt’s strategic location and its potential as a manufacturing and logistics hub for Korean companies seeking access to wider markets. “Egypt is engaged in 11 FTA agreements,” Abdelatty said. “We have FTA agreements with the European Union, with Mercosur countries in Latin America, with Ara

Samsung Display, Nvidia team up to showcase premium OLED gaming

Samsung Display has teamed up with Nvidia to demonstrate a premium gaming experience powered by advanced graphics processing and OLED display technologies at Computex 2026, Asia's largest IT exhibition. The company said Tuesday it is operating a gaming experience zone at the Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center, where visitors can experience the visual capabilities of Nvidia's latest GeForce RTX 50 Series graphics processing units (GPUs) paired with Samsung OLED and QD-OLED panels. The showcase features ASUS' ROG Zephyrus G16 gaming laptop and MSI's MPG 322UR QD-OLED X24 monitor. Both products incorporate Samsung Display panels and are powered by GeForce RTX 5080 and RTX 5080 Laptop GPUs. Visitors can compare gameplay on LCD and OLED displays side by side to evaluate how each technology reproduces graphics generated by Nvidia's latest processors. The featured game is Capcom's upcoming sci-fi action-adventure title Pragmata, which is set on a lunar base and includes visually demanding scenes featuring metallic reflections, shadows and the darkness of outer space. Samsung Display said Nvidia's

Inside Inspire Arena's skybox, where K-pop meets 5-star hospitality

Picture a typical K-pop concert. You wake up early to join a ticketing queue, refresh a browser until your hands go numb and, if you are lucky, land a seat. Then comes the day itself, lining up outside the venue for an hour or more, shuffling through security and finally settling onto a hard plastic seat pressed close against strangers on both sides. If the show is at an outdoor stadium, add weather to the list of things to endure. For years, this was simply the deal. Fans accepted it because the alternative, missing the show, was worse. The discomfort was treated as proof of devotion. Real fans did not complain about sore feet or soaked jackets. They endured, and they called it love. But as ticket prices climb sharply in recent years, reaching well above 200,000 won ($132) for premium seats at major concerts, a quiet question has started surfacing among some concertgoers. Why should watching live music still feel like a test of endurance? Outgrowing venues The scale of the K-pop live market makes the infrastructure gap harder to ignore. Korea is now one of the most active concert market

Arrest warrant sought for factory owner over alleged assault of foreign workers

Police and labor authorities said Tuesday they have filed for a warrant for the arrest of a textile company owner accused of repeatedly assaulting foreign employees over the past three years. The warrant application was filed Friday on suspicions of property damage and assault on employees in violation of the Labor Standards Act, according to the Incheon Seobu Police Station and the Jungbu Regional Office of Employment and Labor's branch office in Incheon, west of Seoul. The owner is accused of assaulting four Bangladeshi workers on seven occasions between March 2023 and April at a textile factory he operates in Incheon's western district of Gajwa. In particular, a video showing the owner attacking a worker in his 20s on April 24 sparked public outrage after it was reported by the media and circulated online. In the video, the owner is heard shouting at the worker, "What did you do yesterday?" and "What were you doing instead of answering the phone?" while repeatedly slapping him in the face and grabbing him by the hair. The owner is also accused of damaging factory property and verbally

Indian star Priyanka Mohan named honorary ambassador for Korean tourism

Priyanka Mohan, a popular Indian actor, has been appointed an honorary ambassador for Korean tourism to attract more visitors from South Asia, the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) said Tuesday. Mohan, who debuted in 2019 and has built a solid career primarily in the South Indian film industry, recently gained international acclaim as the lead actor in the Netflix original film “Made in Korea,” released in March. The film topped Netflix's movie charts in India for two consecutive weeks and became a major hit in seven countries, including parts of the Middle East. Mohan, who boasts nearly 6 million followers on Instagram, has frequently expressed her deep affection and interest in Korean culture online. During her weeklong visit to Korea marking the appointment, Mohan will tour major tourist destinations, including Seoul Forest and Tongin Market in the capital, as well as Gyeongju Expo Solgeo Art Museum and Wooyang Art Museum in the historic city of Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province. Her itinerary includes experiential activities such as K-food cooking classes, wellness spa treatment

BTS turns to vinyl instead of streaming to mark 13th anniversary

Next week, the members of BTS will arrive in the southeastern port city of Busan to take the stage for a massive, two-day stadium celebration marking 13 years since their debut. But ahead of that massive homecoming, the world’s biggest boy band announced Tuesday that it is releasing a highly personal, limited-edition vinyl project — one that trades slick pop production for candid, behind-the-scenes conversations about anxiety and survival. The release, a collectible picture disc vinyl of its fifth album, "ARIRANG," will drop June 12. Modeled as a special gift for their anniversary, it includes two new bonus tracks that give fans a rare, unvarnished look at the lives of the seven bandmates behind the pop machinery. The announcement arrives just as the group kicks off "2026 BTS FESTA," its traditional two-week festival celebrating its June 13 debut anniversary. The annual event is a favorite among its global fan base, known as ARMY, featuring a rolling schedule of lighthearted content, new "family portraits" of the band and interactive online events. It all leads up to the June 12-13

Samsung unveils HBM5 mock-up at Taiwan trade show

Samsung Electronics unveiled a mock-up of its next-generation high-bandwidth memory 5 (HBM5) chip for the first time at COMPUTEX 2026 in Taiwan, Tuesday. Song Jai-hyuk, president and chief technology officer at Samsung’s Device Solutions Division, displayed the firm’s strong willingness to lead the technological leadership in the next-generation HBM market by deepening partnerships with global firms. “We will continue to strengthen our technological competitiveness in the next-generation memory chips by teaming up with global firms, such as Nvidia,” Song said at the exhibition. He also underscored the importance of thermal management technology amid the booming artificial intelligence (AI) industry. As AI systems grow more powerful and densely integrated, thermal management and data processing efficiency are emerging as key competitive differentiators along with the performance of memory chips, according to Song. Central to Samsung’s HBM5 strategy is its proprietary Heat Path Block (HPB) technology. HPB helps lower thermal resistance and improve operational stability to address

Gov't to streamline EUV equipment approvals for chipmakers

The government will significantly streamline approvals for extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography equipment used in key semiconductor processes, sharply cutting inspection times for major chipmakers, including Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, as they ramp up production capacity. The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources said the revisions to the enforcement decree governing high-pressure gas safety have been approved during the Cabinet meeting on Tuesday and are expected to take effect immediately after they are formally announced next week. The amendment allows semiconductor manufacturing tools that meet global safety standards, including EUV lithography systems, to be classified as specified equipment instead of as general high‑pressure gas manufacturing facilities subject to stricter regulation. Under the changes, inspection and approval procedures for EUV equipment imports are expected to shorten from 34 days to as few as nine days, reducing delays by up to 25 days for each system. The ministry also expects the revised framework to cut pressure and leak‑test fees charged by o

InterviewJeonbuk National University builds physical AI lab to keep talent from leaving for Seoul

Jeonbuk National University is trying to reverse a pattern that has long defined regional higher education in Korea: training talented students who leave for the capital. The university in Jeonju, North Jeolla Province, is positioning itself as a regional innovation hub, banking on physical artificial intelligence (AI), future mobility and industry-academia collaboration to attract talent, researchers and businesses into the region rather than losing them to opportunities in the capital. University President Yang O-bong said the effort reflects the government's initiative to strengthen regional flagship universities — commonly known as the "making 10 Seoul National Universities" plan. Under this plan, the Ministry of Education will select three universities in the second half of this year and provide each with 100 billion won ($66.5 million) annually for five years. Yang argued the program should be seen as more than just another higher education funding — it is a national strategy for balanced regional development, anchored by globally competitive universities. “Regional universit