The Korea Times

Will Samsung attend third White House meeting addressing chip shortage?

U.S. President Joe Biden holds up a silicon wafer in a meeting with CEOs of the world's leading tech companies held at the White House in Washington, D.C., April 12. YonhapBy Kim Bo-eunAttention is growing on a third meeting on measures to deal with the global shortage of semiconductors to be held at the White House, Sept. 23. Samsung Electronics, along with other businesses, took part in the first and second meetings hosted at the U.S. presidential office in April and May, and is expected to participate in the thirdCommerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and National Economic Council Director Brian Deese will host the meeting, according to the Department of Commerce.However, a Samsung official said, Friday: "We do not know of the company having received any notifications."Disruptions in chip supply have been extended, due to the continued spread of COVID-19 variants. This, in turn, has affected the global production of automobiles and smartphones.U.S. President Jo Biden presided over the meeting in April, where he called on chipmakers and auto manufacturers and other businesses to help res

Sep 17, 2021By Kim Bo-eun

Will Samsung attend third White House meeting addressing chip shortage?

Tech & Science

'Big 4' group leaders asked to shoulder more job creation

Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum, left, is seen with Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong at a training center for young people at Samsung's headquarters in southern Seoul, Tuesday. YonhapPM set to meet chaebol chiefs in OctoberBy Kim Bo-eunMajor conglomerates are being implicitly urged by the government to retain their former scale of recruiting new employees, at a time when landing a job has become increasingly tough for college students. Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum is seeking a meeting with the chiefs of LG, Hyundai and SK Groups next month, to request that they continue to ensure mass recruitment drives.Kim met with Samsung Electronics head Lee Jae-yong earlier this week to ask him to hire more people in addition to a recently unveiled group plan. Samsung announced it would hire 40,000 workers over the next three years, via Korea's conventional recruitment system. But following the meeting, the tech giant stated it would be recruiting 30,000 more workers within this timeframe, bringing the total number to 70,000. The company said it would double the number of trainees in its

Sep 17, 2021By Kim Bo-eun

'Big 4' group leaders asked to shoulder more job creation

Tech & Science

SK Innovation stock falls on split-off approval

SK Innovation (SKI) CEO Kim Jun speaks at a shareholders meeting at the company's headquarters in central Seoul, Thursday. Shareholders approved the company's plan to split-off its battery business as an independent entity at the meeting. Courtesy of SKIBy Kim Bo-eunSK Innovation's (SKI) share price fell Thursday, following shareholder approval of the company's plan to separate its battery business as a new entity. SKI's stock closed at 237,000 won, down 4.44 percent from Wednesday's close, after shareholders voted for the split-offs of the battery, and oil exploration and production businesses at a shareholders meeting held at the company's headquarters in central Seoul.The planned split-off had raised concerns about the remaining entity, left with the unpromising conventional petrochemical business. SKI's stock has been on a downward trajectory since the company unveiled this plan in July. Prior to the announcement, SKI's stock hit 302,000 won during intra-day trading June 24.Retail investors of SKI were irked by the plan, because of the method the company chose to separate the new

Sep 16, 2021By Kim Bo-eun

SK Innovation stock falls on split-off approval

Society

Korea ranks 4th in 2021 International Earth Science Olympiad

Team Korea for the International Earth Science Olympiad 2021 / Courtesy of Korean Foundation for the Advancement of Science & CreativityBy Kim Bo-eunKorea ranked fourth out of 32 countries in the 14th International Earth Science Olympiad (IESO) held last month, a government foundation said this week. The annual competition for secondary school students was resumed online from Aug. 25 to 30 after last year's event was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. A total of 206 students from 32 countries took part in this year's competition.The competition is comprised of a data mining test using big data and a national team field investigation involving a presentation. Along with the competition, the event also held projects where students took part in researching environmental problems and presenting solutions to them.Kim Keum-min, a third-year student at Incheon Science High School, received an "excellent" rating in the data mining test by making it into the top 15 percentile.The excellent rating is equivalent to a gold medal. The IESO usually awards medals, but provided "excellent,"

Sep 15, 2021By Kim Bo-eun

Korea ranks 4th in 2021 International Earth Science Olympiad

Tech & Science

Korea fines Google W207 bil. for abuse of market dominance

Google's headquarters in Mountain View, California / AP-YonhapRegulator expects measure to foster competition in smart device marketBy Kim Bo-eunKorea's antitrust regulator fined Google 207.4 billion won ($177 million) Tuesday for abusing its market dominance to prevent the market entry of competing operating system (OS) developers. The Korea Fair Trade Commission's (KFTC) fine and corrective measure are the latest moves to curb alleged unfair practices by the U.S. tech giant, following the National Assembly passing a bill last month banning Google from requiring app developers on its app store use its payment system. Google's requirement was devised to increase revenues from fees.In the latest measure, Google has been ordered to allow electronic device makers to use operating systems other than its Android OS. The watchdog said the multinational company had effectively prevented device manufacturers from developing products loaded with modified versions of the OS. The tech giant had also been forcing manufacturers to sign contracts under which the devices would have to incorporate G

Sep 14, 2021By Kim Bo-eun

Korea fines Google W207 bil. for abuse of market dominance

Google offers 12 trillion won in consumer benefits in Korea annually

Tech & Science

Korea on its toes as China catches up in OLED technology

LG Electronics' OLED TV lineup / Courtesy of LG ElectronicsBy Kim Bo-eunKorea's display makers currently lead the global market in organic light-emitting diodes (OLED) displays, but they have been growing increasingly alarmed by how fast Chinese rivals have caught up in terms of technology.They worry that they may lose their competitive edge in OLED technology, which is what happened with liquid crystal displays (LCD), where Chinese players now account for close to 60 percent of the global market share. Korean display makers are eyeing the timing of exiting the LCD market, given their profitability has deteriorated due to Chinese players that offer the panels at lower prices.OLEDs are considered as the next-generation display, because the panels are thinner, lighter and show improved picture quality compared to LCDs.Market researchers forecast that Chinese players will quickly expand their share of the market for small-and medium-sized OLEDs used in smartphones.According to Omdia, Chinese companies are expected to account for 27 percent of the global market for smartphone OLED panels

Sep 13, 2021By Kim Bo-eun

Korea on its toes as China catches up in OLED technology

Tech & Science

Samsung set to pick site for new US chip plant

Samsung Electronics' Austin chip manufacturing plant / Courtesy of SamsungTaylor, Austin competing to house factory of Korea's tech giantBy Kim Bo-eunAttention is focusing on where Samsung Electronics will finally decide to build its second foundry plant in the United States, after local authorities in Texas approved an incentive package worth several hundred million dollars, and in the face of rival chipmakers stepping up their game.Williamson County and Taylor City Council held a joint meeting Sept. 8, where they approved the package for Samsung and took initial steps toward approving the incentives.If Samsung goes ahead, the $17 billion, 560,000 square-meter plant would be built by January 2026, and create at least 1,800 jobs, according to multiple reports by local media outlets in Texas.Williamson County is offering a 90 percent tax rebate worth $114 million for Samsung over 10 years, with a possible extension for another decade at an 85 percent rate, the reports said. Taylor City's incentives will provide Samsung with a 92.5 percent rebate on its property taxes for the first dec

Sep 12, 2021By Kim Bo-eun

Samsung set to pick site for new US chip plant

Tech & Science

INTERVIEW 'Greater public-private support needed to foster talent in chip industry'

Chip expert says now is the time to invest in foundry bizBy Kim Bo-eunKorea University professor of semiconductor engineering Yu Hyun-yong / Courtesy of YuTwo Korean chipmakers account for the lion's share of the global memory semiconductor market with an over 70 percent stake. Samsung Electronics, the top memory chip maker, is also the second-largest player in the global market for chip contract manufacturingDecades ago, Korea was merely a fast follower ― it relied on foreign equipment from the U.S., Europe and Japan to make chips, but Samsung and SK hynix have since managed to take the lead in the memory chip market. “This basically means Korea has built its competitiveness with its workforce,” Yu Hyun-yong, a Korea University professor of semiconductor engineering, told The Korea Times.But securing a skilled workforce has become increasingly difficult, as the brightest of the younger generation have had a tendency to opt for occupations such as surgeons rather than engineers. Talent is also lost to competitors in China which aggressively scouts workers in key positions

Sep 11, 2021By Kim Bo-eun

[INTERVIEW] 'Greater public-private support needed to foster talent in chip industry'

Tech & Science

INTERVIEW KT to delve into global data market with Epsilon acquisition

Telecom firm's ICT capability expected to create synergy with new firm's networkBy Kim Bo-eunKT Vice President of Global Business Planning Park Se-zoo speaks during an interview at the company's office in central Seoul, Thursday. Courtesy of KTKT has taken its first but meaningful step to enter the global data market, via the acquisition of data company Epsilon Global Communications.The company hopes the acquisition will help the telecom firm level up group-wide capabilities in information communications technology (ICT) thanks to Epsilon's global infrastructure. The global data market is growing rapidly in the digital era and the trend is being accelerated, ironically thanks to the continued spread of COVID variants as consumption of digital-based content has spiked. The market volume was worth 70 trillion won last year, but is expected to grow to 100 trillion won by 2025."The movement of global data is increasing but we lacked an overseas infrastructure,” KT Vice President of Global Business Planning Park Se-zoo said in an interview, Thursday.This is why KT decided to acquire

Sep 9, 2021By Kim Bo-eun

[INTERVIEW] KT to delve into global data market with Epsilon acquisition

Tech & Science

Disney set to choose LG Uplus as first Korean partner

Disney's main entertainment studios and film and TV libraries / Korea Times fileBy Kim Bo-eunLG Uplus is widely projected to be Disney's initial Korean partner, as the entertainment giant on Wednesday made official the launch of its over-the-top (OTT) media services set for Nov. 12. LG Uplus CEO Hwang Hyeon-sik implied a day earlier that the company will likely become the local network operator for Disney Plus."We are engaging in last-stage negotiations given Disney's launch date is approaching, and I believe things will work out," Hwang told reporters during a government event held at COEX in southern Seoul, Tuesday.LG Uplus and KT are known to have been in discussions with Disney over the launch of its OTT service here, but the LG affiliate appears most likely to become Disney's first partner. Projections are that KT could sign up later to offer Disney's OTT content. This would be similar to the case of Netflix, which partnered exclusively with LG first and then later had KT offer its content as well.LG Uplus' share price closed at 14,450 won, Wednesday, up 0.35 percent from the pr

Sep 8, 2021By Kim Bo-eun

Kim Bo-eun

Read more

Will Samsung attend third White House meeting addressing chip shortage?

'Big 4' group leaders asked to shoulder more job creation

SK Innovation stock falls on split-off approval

Korea ranks 4th in 2021 International Earth Science Olympiad

Korea fines Google W207 bil. for abuse of market dominance

Korea on its toes as China catches up in OLED technology

Samsung set to pick site for new US chip plant

INTERVIEW 'Greater public-private support needed to foster talent in chip industry'

INTERVIEW KT to delve into global data market with Epsilon acquisition

Disney set to choose LG Uplus as first Korean partner

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