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Lee Gyu-lee

Korea Times Business Reporter

Lee Gyu-lee is a business writer at The Korea Times, focusing primarily on IT & telecommunications, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and KOTRA. Prior to this, she has covered a wide range of cultural news, from film, television and K-pop to lifestyle and fashion.

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Tech & Science

LG Uplus to initiate value-up plan by retiring shares

LG Uplus has announced that it will retire about 100 billion won ($72.87 million) worth of treasury shares on Aug. 5 and initiate a new share buyback as part of its value-up plan. The company will cancel 6,783,006 of its own shares at a price of 5,000 won, which represents about 1.55 percent of the total shares. It explained that since these are shares already purchased out of retained earnings, it will not decrease the company's capital. To boost its corporate value, it also plans to buy an additional 80 billion won of its own shares, conducting its first share buyback since 2021. Based on last week’s share price of 14,990 won, this means buying back more than 5.3 million additional shares, which will count for 1.2 percent of the company’s total shares. The buyback will be carried out in phases over a year starting Aug. 4. LG Uplus also shared that it has decided to pay an interim dividend of 250 won per share, which is the same amount as last year, totaling about 107.46 billion won. This translates to a dividend yield of 1.7 percent. Its record date is Aug. 5, and the payments wil

Jul 22, 2025By Lee Gyu-lee
LG Uplus to initiate value-up plan by retiring shares
Tech & Science

Judiciary meets AI: KT to build AI platform for court system

KT will launch an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered platform to support the Supreme Court’s judicial case management, the mobile carrier said Monday. According to the company, it has signed a 14.5 billion won ($10.42 million) agreement with the Supreme Court to develop the platform aimed at enhancing judicial operations. The project — led by a consortium comprising KT, legal tech startup LBOX, and AI solution companies Konan Technology and MT Data — aims to drive the court’s digital transformation and improve the accuracy and efficiency of the judicial process over the next four years. “This project represents a major step in driving the digital transformation of judicial administration by consolidating KT’s full AI capabilities,” Yoo Yong-kyu, KT executive vice president of the public customer business unit, said in a release. “We’re committed to delivering AI services optimized for the public sector with our (AI model) Mi:dm 2.0 at the core. And as a company dedicated to AI and information and communication technology, we’ll do our utmost to enhance the nation’

Jul 21, 2025By Lee Gyu-lee
Judiciary meets AI: KT to build AI platform for court system
Tech & Science

LG CNS becomes Honeywell's 1st Korean partner in AI smart factory

LG CNS is joining hands with the global automotive solution company Honeywell to target the artificial intelligence (AI)-based manufacturing industry in the United States, becoming Honeywell’s first official Korean partner for AI and IT services. The company announced Monday that its CEO Hyun Shin-gyoon recently met with Honeywell Process Solutions President Pramesh Maheshwari in Texas to sign an agreement to jointly develop manufacturing AI technologies, including AI-based factory automation and intelligence solutions. “The key to this partnership is that it combines LG CNS’s outstanding AI transformation (AX) consulting and service implementation capabilities and Honeywell’s yearslong know-how on manufacturing systems in the field of sensors and control devices,” LG CNS said in a press release. The company’s problem-solving AI agent is capable of analyzing production facility data in real time, collected by Honeywell’s distributed control system at its customers’ manufacturing plants. This way, if a problem occurs, it can immediately identify the cause and suggest a so

Jul 21, 2025By Lee Gyu-lee
LG CNS becomes Honeywell's 1st Korean partner in AI smart factory
Society

KAIST professor wins L'Oreal Korea-UNESCO Award for Women in Science

Lim Mi-hee, a chemistry professor at Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), was honored with the Academic Advancement Award at the 24th L'Oreal Korea-UNESCO Awards for Women in Science. During a ceremony in Songpa District, Seoul, Wednesday, five recipients were announced, with Lim recognized for her contributions to Alzheimer’s disease research. Lim is an endowed chair professor at the school’s department of chemistry. She is internationally recognized for her research into the molecular causes of Alzheimer’s disease. Her work has shed light on the links between biological networks and the cause of dementia. Her study has identified how multiple risk factors for Alzheimer’s are interconnected, and she is focused on suppressing their harmful activity and toxicity to improve cognitive function. Through this research, she is paving the way for the development of next-generation treatments and new therapeutics for dementia. Her track record includes several global accolades. She was given the RIGAKU-Asian Conference on Coordination Chemistry Award in 2023, which

Jul 21, 2025By Lee Gyu-lee
KAIST professor wins L'Oreal Korea-UNESCO Award for Women in Science
Others

To open or not: US beef, agriculture imports remain flashpoint in trade talks

As Korea and the United States accelerate tariff negotiations before their planned implementation on Aug. 1, the U.S. demand that Korea expand imports of American agricultural products has once again emerged as a critical negotiation flashpoint. Even in Korea, opinions are split over the reduction of import restrictions in the agricultural sector, which the U.S. regards as nontariff barriers. The issue surfaced here after Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo, Korea's top trade negotiator, indicated the government is weighing options to accept the U.S. demand for Korea to increase beef and agricultural imports, following his Washington trip earlier this month. Washington has been pressing Seoul to allow the import of beef from cattle aged 30 months or older, increase purchases of rice and ease quarantine restrictions on apples and genetically modified organisms (GMOs), especially potatoes. The age restriction on U.S. beef was put in place in 2008 amid fears over mad cow disease. Yeo hinted at the possibility of accepting the demand by saying, “In these sectors, we need to make strategic decisions

Jul 20, 2025By Lee Gyu-lee
To open or not: US beef, agriculture imports remain flashpoint in trade talks
Tech & Science

Crisis unfolds for streaming platform Watcha amid Netflix dominance

Watcha, a homegrown streaming service, is facing a serious financial crisis that threatens its survival after being pushed by rivals out of the increasingly competitive market. According to industry officials on Friday, one of Watcha’s convertible bond (CB) holders filed a court receivership on the streaming platform earlier this month, out of concern that the company may fail to address a CB worth 49 billion ($35.14 million), some of which reached maturity last year. Watcha reportedly sought an extension with investors, but failed to reach an agreement. Under the law, any creditor holding more than 10 percent of a company’s equity can file for a court receivership without the company’s consent. The streaming service has been struggling with deteriorating financial structure, exacerbated by continuous operating losses and a plunging user base, as global streaming giant Netflix and other homegrown services like Coupang and Tving have aggressively expanded their market share. The CB in question was raised around 2021 from venture capital firms and private investors, including Kakao V

Jul 19, 2025By Lee Gyu-lee
Crisis unfolds for streaming platform Watcha amid Netflix dominance
Tech & Science

Hanwha names Defense Australia head to lead European, UK defense business

Hanwha Aerospace has named Ben Hudson as CEO to spearhead the company’s defense operations in Europe and the United Kingdom. Hudson, who currently serves as CEO of Hanwha Defense Australia, will also oversee the company’s existing operations across the region while spearheading its future growth opportunities in Europe and the U.K. “I am honored to join our European and the U.K. defense leadership team at such a pivotal moment for both our company and our European partners,” the CEO said in a release. “Hanwha’s long-term vision starts at the very top of the company, with a drive to partner with our customers and create enduring sovereign capabilities that can deliver solutions to the defense and security challenges faced by nations now and into the future.” Prior to joining Hanwha, Hudson served senior executive roles at global aerospace and arms manufacturing companies, including BAE Systems, Rheinmetall and General Dynamics. He is a mechanical engineer with an MBA from London Business School, and previously served as an officer in the Australian Army with operational expe

Jul 18, 2025By Lee Gyu-lee
Hanwha names Defense Australia head to lead European, UK defense business
Companies

Lotte Chairman calls for restoring core competitiveness at executives' meeting

Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin emphasized the need to restore the fundamental competitiveness of the group’s key businesses to overcome the current struggling business environment during a gathering of the group's top executives, the conglomerate said Thursday. The group held the biannual event, called the Value Creation Meeting, on Wednesday and Thursday at the group’s employee training center in Osan, Gyeonggi Province. The latest edition gained extra attention, as the group held the event behind closed doors unlike previous gatherings. During the gathering, Shin assessed the group’s performance in the first half of the year, stressing that regaining core businesses’ fundamental strengths needs to come first in order to improve key performance indicators group-wide. "A critical mistake in managing a corporation is to ignore problems you are aware of or to fail to recognize them as problems,” the chairman said during the event, calling on all its CEOs to approach their roles with a sense of heavy responsibility. "CEOs should anticipate changes in the business environment f

Jul 17, 2025By Lee Gyu-lee
Lotte Chairman calls for restoring core competitiveness at executives' meeting
Tech & Science

LG Uplus gains edge with AI-powered security strategy

Amid growing concerns over cyber threats and the telecom industry's transformation toward artificial intelligence (AI), LG Uplus is emerging as one of the most notable beneficiaries. As its AI-driven security strategy gained users' attention in the aftermath of a major data breach incident at its biggest rival, LG Uplus is expected to see strong second-quarter earnings and a substantial user influx, with analysts casting positive outlooks on the company's sustainable profitability. NH Investment & Securities on Tuesday estimated LG Uplus’ annual operating profit is expected to reach 1.1 trillion won ($793.36 million), up 28.1 percent year-on-year. It further projected that the telecom company will post a second-quarter operating profit of 298.1 billion won, outpacing brokerages' consensus of 269 billion won. "As the investment cycle on 5G is in the twilight, the telecom sector continues to enjoy favorable market conditions," NH Investment & Securities analyst Ahn Jae-min said. "In addition, the recent cybersecurity breach at a competitor has resulted in a steady influx of new subscribe

Jul 17, 2025By Lee Gyu-lee
LG Uplus gains edge with AI-powered security strategy
Companies

Bunjang accelerates global expansion with borderless strategy

Bungaejangter, a local secondhand marketplace also known as Bunjang, is advancing its global expansion rapidly through a borderless strategy, leveraging innovative partnerships and technology to redefine the cross-border resale experience. Under the leadership of Gong Yoo-hyeon, the company’s head of product & business, Bunjang is emerging as a trailblazer in the international secondhand market. The company’s global business strategy is centered on achieving borderless transactions. Rather than diverting to direct overseas expansion or extensive localization, Bunjang has chosen a faster and more flexible approach to global markets through Global Bunjang, providing overseas users a platform to access and purchase secondhand items from the Korean market. “The Global Bunjang platform is our dedicated global domain for overseas users, operated in partnership with the proxy company Delivered Korea. Powered by a deep learning-based large language model trained on extensive socio-cultural data, Global Bunjang features advanced AI technology capable of understanding and responding to natu

Jul 16, 2025By Lee Gyu-lee
Bunjang accelerates global expansion with borderless strategy
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