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Baek Byung-yeul

Korea Times K-Culture Reporter

Baek Byung-yeul is a journalist at The Korea Times focused on cultural content, including films and cultural events in South Korea. You can contact him at baekby@koreatimes.co.kr to share your insights.

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Companies

Krafton seeks M&A deals using IPO funds

Krafton Chairman Chang Byung-gyu speaks during an online press meeting, Monday, sharing the company's future vision. Courtesy of Krafton'PUBG' company aims to grow into global game publisherBy Baek Byung-yeulKrafton, best known for the popular shooting game “PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds,” (PUBG) will actively seek out opportunities for mergers and acquisitions, taking advantage of funds to be raised by its initial public offering (IPO) scheduled for early next month.“As we reported to the financial authorities, we are planning to use 70 percent of funds we raise through the IPO for global M&A activities,” Bae Dong-keun, Krafton's chief financial officer, said Monday during an online press meeting.The CFO added Krafton has been preparing to go for M&As since two years ago, saying the company “has secured databases of companies with great potential and interacted with those firms that have competitive intellectual property.”Krafton has been a hot spot in the IPO market here. Through the IPO, the game giant plans to raise as much as 4.3 trill

Jul 26, 2021By Baek Byung-yeul
Krafton seeks M&A deals using IPO funds
Tech & Science

Huawei's 5G smart grid technology gains recognition

Attendees walk past a display for 5G services from Huawei at the PT Expo in Beijing, Oct. 31, 2019. AP-Yonhap By Baek Byung-yeulChinese tech company Huawei Technologies has been recognized for its 5G network-based smart grid technology, which gives electricity providers efficient control over their power sources.The company's Korean unit said its 5G-based electric power virtual private network (VPN) technology was included in the top 10 5G Industry Application Solutions selected by ICT industry information service provider Omnimedia. Huawei established the system in cooperation with China Mobile for the state-owned electric utility firm China Southern Power Grid (CSPG).Power grids, which are networks of electrical transmission lines connecting power generation stations, are becoming more digital, networked and intelligent as the technology advances. Thus, the industry needs electric power communication networks that are more ubiquitous, flexible, economical, secure

Jul 23, 2021By Baek Byung-yeul
Huawei's 5G smart grid technology gains recognition
Tech & Science

Merck supplies OLED materials to LG Display

By Baek Byung-yeulMerck's OLED materials production facility in Gyeonggi Province / Courtesy of Merck KoreaMerck has begun to supply materials for mobile organic light-emitting diode (OLED) panels to display maker LG Display, the Korean unit of the Germany-based tech company said Thursday.The company said it had started mass production of hole transport materials (HTMs) to be applied to HTM and electron-blocking layers for OLED panels used in LG's premium consumer devices.“The company has been reliably supplying HTMs for large OLED panels to LG Display. Merck will now expand its HTM mass production to mobile panels for the premium OLED smartphone market segment where LG Display has been active since 2019,” Merck said, adding the company expects its materials will be used in products to be released this year. LG supplies displays to other mobile phone manufacturers after exiting the sector earlier this year.The hole transport layer transports electro holes generated between conductive electrodes on a glass substrate or a flexible film substrate. The electron-blocking layer

Jul 22, 2021By Baek Byung-yeul
Merck supplies OLED materials to LG Display
Companies

Hyundai Motor management, union reach agreement

Hyundai Motor's management and union members amidst wage negotiations at the carmaker's plant in Ulsan, May 26. Courtesy of Hyundai Motor unionBy Baek Byung-yeulHyundai Motor is set to avoid a union strike for the third straight year, as the automotive giant reached a tentative agreement regarding a wage increase and improvements in working conditions on Tuesday night.At a time when carmakers are being urged to shift their focus to electric vehicles from conventional gasoline-powered vehicles, as well as undergoing production disruptions due to the automotive chip shortage, industry analysts said on Wednesday that the tentative agreement is a welcome one that can reduce any lingering risks in the company.“Though the agreement needs to be passed in a popular vote by union members, avoiding a strike for the third consecutive year is a positive move for both the company and its union,” said Kim Pil-soo, an automotive technology professor at Daelim University College.During Tuesday's negotiations, the two sides reached a deal that includes a 75,000 won ($65) increase in the m

Jul 21, 2021By Baek Byung-yeul
Hyundai Motor management, union reach agreement
Companies

Hyundai Mobis develops new brainwave detection technology

Hyundai Mobis engineers test the company's M. Brain healthcare technology, which monitors a driver's brainwaves in real time, Wednesday. Courtesy of Hyundai MobisBy Baek Byung-yeulHyundai Mobis has developed a type of brainwave detection technology that can prevent accidents which might occur due to a driver's drowsiness or sudden health emergency, the company said Wednesday.The auto parts-making arm of Hyundai Motor Group said that what it calls M. Brain technology measures the driver's condition on a real-time basis by detecting their brainwaves through earpiece sensors.In cooperation with Gyeonggi Province, the technology will be test-applied to drivers of the province's public buses.“This achievement is receiving great attention for being able to apply this brainwave measurement technology to the automotive industry for the first time,” the company said.Compared to prior in-vehicle accident prevention technologies, such as heartbeat measurement or eye tracking, this brainwave-based technology is more advanced, as it is capable of measuring massive amounts of data.Hyun

Jul 21, 2021By Baek Byung-yeul
Hyundai Mobis develops new brainwave detection technology
Companies

Samsung, LG, Hyundai ditching Moderna COVID-19 vaccine

Government continues to struggle with securing vaccinesBy Baek Byung-yeulKorea is struggling to secure a sufficient supply of Moderna's COVID-19 vaccines as the government decided to replace those with the Pfizer vaccines for employees working in large manufacturing companies such as Samsung, LG and Hyundai Motor.Company officials said Tuesday that they recently received a notification from the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) that the Moderna vaccines for their employees had been replaced with the Pfizer vaccines, different from originally planned arrangements.In June, the government was planning to offer the Moderna vaccines to people working in the country's core industries, such as the semiconductor, automotive and IT sectors, regardless of their age. The scheme is due to concerns that the loss to the national economy could be enormous if the virus spreads in those key industries.Jeong Eun-kyeong, director of the KDCA, said in a briefing on July 19 that the delivery of the Moderna vaccines from the United States has been delayed due to quality inspection and del

Jul 20, 2021By Baek Byung-yeul
Samsung, LG, Hyundai ditching Moderna COVID-19 vaccine
Companies

Kia enjoys increase in city car sales

Kia's city car, the Ray / Courtesy of Hyundai Motor GroupBy Baek Byung-yeulWith drivers preferring larger vehicles these days, city cars have continued to lose their presence in Korea's car market. However, Kia is actually enjoying increased sales of its city cars, the Morning and the Ray.A Kia representative said Monday that the Ray is especially attracting more drivers as the company has added more safety and convenience features to meet consumers' needs.“We believe that the reason the sales of the Ray have increased is that Kia has been improving various safety and comfort features. Also, the fact that the Ray is convertible into a camping car is increasingly appealing to consumers, who want to enjoy car camping,” the Hyundai Motor Group representative said.Data showed that sales of the Ray in the first half of this year were 18,518, up 39.4 percent year-on-year, according to the Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association (KAMA). Also, 18,413 Morning city cars were sold during the same period. In June alone, 3,349 Mornings were sold, a 2.7 percent increase from the sam

Jul 20, 2021By Baek Byung-yeul
Kia enjoys increase in city car sales
Companies

LG Chem aims for bigger presence in eco-friendly material market

LG Chem CEO Shin Hak-cheol speaks during a virtual press conference at the firm's headquarters in Seoul, July 14. Courtesy of LG ChemBy Baek Byung-yeulThe Logo for LG Chem's eco-friendly product brand LETZero / Courtesy of LG ChemLG Chem is pushing to expand its share in the eco-friendly materials market to meet growing demand for products that are environmentally sound and sustainable.The chemicals, batteries and biotech arm of LG Group announced Monday the launch of LETZero, a new brand for its eco-friendly products including recyclable and biodegradable materials, and perishable plastics.“The LETZero brand is a compound word of let and zero, meaning zero harm to the environment and zero increase in carbon emissions,” a company official said.With the new brand, LG Chem is seeking to strengthen its image as an eco-friendly company and improve its presence in such markets, which are expanding rapidly due to the increasing number of so-called “greensumers,” who purchase products that help protect the environment, the company said.The move is in line with LG Che

Jul 19, 2021By Baek Byung-yeul
LG Chem aims for bigger presence in eco-friendly material market
Companies

COVID-19 pandemic expands roles of advanced robots in everyday life

A four-wheel robot produced by LG Electronics that can travel over rough terrain, and therefore can be used in both indoor and outdoor environments, is shown in this July 13 photo. Courtesy of LG ElectronicsLG, Hyundai, KT, Hanwha embrace robotics for futureBy Baek Byung-yeulRobotics has long been in the spotlight as a new growth engine in the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Robots themselves are being assimilated rapidly into everyday life amid the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic as more firms see their future in automation. They are still predominantly used in manufacturing, accounting for more than half of the market; but their presence is increasing in the services sector, such as with delivery companies, restaurants, hotels and banks, and are even augmenting people as drivers and rescue workers.This being the case, conglomerates are pushing to introduce state-of-the art robotics technologies as future growth engines for their businesses.“After the virus outbreak, companies are increasingly releasing service robots to minimize face-to-face contact. Firms are capitalizing on the c

Jul 19, 2021By Baek Byung-yeul
COVID-19 pandemic expands roles of advanced robots in everyday life
Companies

Ex-Disney executive to join Nexon as senior vice president

By Baek Byung-yeulNick van Dyk, the new executive vice president and chief strategy officer of Nexon / Captured from Nick van Dyk's Twitter accountNick van Dyk, a former executive at Walt Disney Company Activision Blizzard Studios, has been named as the executive vice president and chief strategy officer (CSO) of Korean game developer Nexon.Nexon said van Dyk, based on his previous positions, will be responsible for global strategic planning, mergers and acquisitions, corporate development, franchise management and partnerships.He will also serve as president of Nexon Film and Television, a newly-created division of the company, which will focus on creating video content utilizing Nexon's intellectual properties. Nexon is famous for online games such as “Dungeon Fighter,” “The Kingdom of the Winds,” “MapleStory” and “KartRide.”“Nexon is a unique global entertainment company with a rare and proven expertise in sustaining blockbuster properties at massive scale that routinely outperform others in the industry,” Nick van Dyk sa

Jul 19, 2021By Baek Byung-yeul
Ex-Disney executive to join Nexon as senior vice president
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