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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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AMCHAM launches AI Leadership Council to bolster Korea-US AI cooperation

The American Chamber of Commerce in Korea (AMCHAM) on Thursday launched an AI Leadership Council aimed at strengthening public-private cooperation and supporting Korea's ambition to become a global artificial intelligence powerhouse. The announcement came during the AMCHAM AI Forum 2026 in Seoul under the theme "Powering Korea's AI Future: Partnership, Policy and Scale." More than 150 government officials, business executives and technology experts from Korea and the United States attended the event to discuss AI policy, investment and industrial competitiveness. The newly established council brings together senior executives from major global companies, including Apple, Amazon Web Services, Cisco, Cohere, Corning, J.P. Morgan, Lam Research, OpenAI, PTC, Qualcomm and Tesla. Chaired by AMCHAM Chairman and CEO James Kim, the council will provide industry perspectives on AI policy, regulation, data governance and ecosystem development while promoting closer collaboration between the government and private sector. "Korea has a unique opportunity to help shape the next era of global innovati

Jul 2, 2026By Lee Gyu-lee
AMCHAM launches AI Leadership Council to bolster Korea-US AI cooperation
Companies

HD Hyundai Electric lands $720 mil. power deal with global Big Tech firm

HD Hyundai Electric has secured a power infrastructure supply agreement worth up to 1.12 trillion won ($720 million) with a global Big Tech company, strengthening its foothold in the fast-growing North American data center market as artificial intelligence (AI) fuels surging demand for electricity infrastructure. Under the long-term framework agreement, HD Hyundai Electric will supply distribution equipment worth 553.9 billion won and high-voltage equipment worth 567.3 billion won to data centers under construction across North America through 2028. Individual purchase orders will be issued in phases according to the customer's construction schedule. The deal is significant because it goes beyond supplying individual products, covering an integrated package of power infrastructure equipment required to operate large-scale data centers. The company will provide both distribution equipment, which safely distributes electricity throughout a facility, and high-voltage equipment, which regulates voltage and ensures efficient transmission and distribution of electricity. Supplying both produc

Jul 2, 2026By Lee Gyu-lee
HD Hyundai Electric lands $720 mil. power deal with global Big Tech firm
Companies

HS Hyosung marks 2nd anniversary, eyes next growth phase

HS Hyosung marked its second founding anniversary with a commemorative event on Tuesday, pledging to build on its industrial heritage while accelerating growth in advanced materials and future businesses. HS Hyosung is the conglomerate spun off from Hyosung Group in 2024. The anniversary ceremony, held at the company’s headquarters in Mapo District, Seoul, reflected on its achievements since spinning off from Hyosung Group and outlined its next phase of growth. In his keynote speech, Chairman Kim Kyoo-young, the group’s first non-owner chief in its 60-year history, called on employees to achieve a competitive edge across technology, quality, service and execution, while stressing that customer-centric innovation should remain the foundation of all business activities. “We must reflect on how far we have come while reaffirming the direction ahead. We need to fully embrace our slogan, ‘Value, Together,’ and achieve a decisive competitive edge through overwhelming depth and scale,” he said. “We must build customer trust by delivering clear differentiation across technology, qu

Jul 1, 2026By Lee Gyu-lee
HS Hyosung marks 2nd anniversary, eyes next growth phase
Companies

Petrochemical overhaul faces renewed urgency as margins slide again

The petrochemical sector is coming under renewed strain as naphtha and ethylene margins have slipped back below break-even levels following a brief wartime rebound, reinforcing calls for the government to accelerate its long-delayed industry restructuring. Margins briefly recovered during the U.S.-Iran conflict as feedstock shortage fears lifted petrochemical prices. The ethylene-naphtha spread, a key profitability gauge for naphtha cracking centers (NCCs), jumped to about $370 per metric ton in April from $90 in February, but fell back below $200 in June as supply concerns eased and buyers delayed purchases. The fading war premium comes as the industry's fundamental challenge remains unchanged, with aggressive capacity expansions in China, India and the Middle East continuing to drive a global oversupply. Ethylene demand is expected to grow by about 6 million tons this year, while new capacity additions, led by China and India, are projected to reach roughly 9 million tons, leaving supply growth outpacing demand. In light of this, Seoul has begun pushing industry restructuring, with a t

Jul 1, 2026By Lee Gyu-lee
Petrochemical overhaul faces renewed urgency as margins slide again
Companies

Samsung SDI forecasts earnings turnaround this year, urges AI-driven transformation

Samsung SDI expects to return to profit this year after spending the past year strengthening its business fundamentals, CEO Choi Joo-sun said Wednesday as the battery maker marked its 56th anniversary. Speaking at a commemorative ceremony at the company's headquarters in Giheung, Gyeonggi Province, Choi said the company had laid the foundation for renewed growth despite a challenging business environment. "Over the past year, we have steadily strengthened the fundamentals of our business with a mindset of 'pessimistic optimism,' laying the groundwork for a renewed leap forward," Choi said. "As promised earlier this year, we expect an earnings turnaround to be achievable this year." The comments come as Samsung SDI seeks to recover from slowing global electric vehicle demand and intensifying competition in the battery industry. Choi highlighted several achievements across the company's businesses, including securing a series of energy storage system projects, signing supply agreements with global premium automakers, restoring the competitiveness of its cylindrical battery business and exp

Jul 1, 2026By Lee Gyu-lee
Samsung SDI forecasts earnings turnaround this year, urges AI-driven transformation
Policy

Korea secures 2.07 mil. ton dedicated EU steel quota under new TRQ

Korea has secured a dedicated 2.073 million metric ton duty-free steel quota under the European Union's new tariff-rate quota (TRQ), cushioning the impact of the bloc's tighter import restrictions that take effect Wednesday. On Tuesday (local time), the EU announced the operational framework of its new steel import measures, which will replace existing safeguard measures, along with country-specific quota allocations. Under the new measures, the EU has raised tariffs on out-of-quota imports to 50 percent from 25 percent across 30 steel product categories, while cutting total duty-free import volumes to 18.35 million tons from the previous 33.82 million tons annually, which is about a 46 percent reduction. The new structure differentiates quotas by product and trade status, creating separate allocations for WTO country quotas, FTA country quotas and FTA-only shared quotas, effectively providing additional duty-free access to countries with EU free trade agreements, including Korea. The trade ministry announced that Korea’s total dedicated quota was cut 19.7 percent from 2.581 million to

Jun 30, 2026By Lee Gyu-lee
Korea secures 2.07 mil. ton dedicated EU steel quota under new TRQ
Tech & Science

Labor, infrastructure remain hurdles for Korea's AI megaprojects

Korea’s ambitious plan to build a new semiconductor manufacturing hub in the country's southwestern region and expand artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure faces growing practical questions over how to secure the workforce and industrial infrastructure needed to support these projects outside the Seoul metropolitan area. The government on Monday unveiled three flagship megaprojects — semiconductors, physical AI and AI data centers — as new growth engines, backed by more than 1,350 trillion won ($872 billion) in planned public and private investment. The initiative includes about 800 trillion won to build four memory fabs, two each for Samsung Electronics and SK hynix in the southwestern region, while strengthening existing manufacturing bases in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, and other sites around the capital region. SK Group, GS Group and Naver are also expected to invest around 550 trillion won to develop AI data centers with a total capacity of 8.4 gigawatts in the initial phase and expand to 18.4 gigawatts by 2035. Samsung Group and SK Group separately pledged a combined 4,

Jun 30, 2026By Lee Gyu-lee
Labor, infrastructure remain hurdles for Korea's AI megaprojects
South Korea

Gov't unveils power, infrastructure plans to back megaprojects

The government unveiled on Monday a sweeping infrastructure package under its megaproject initiative, pledging to accelerate electricity, water supplies and build corporate-led high-tech cities to anchor large-scale investments in those three areas. The initiative centers on three flagship projects: an 800 trillion won ($585 billion) semiconductor expansion led by Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, a 550 trillion won artificial intelligence (AI) data center buildout backed by SK Group, GS Group and Naver and a nationwide push to commercialize physical AI through large-scale public-private investment. To support the initiative, the government plans to expand infrastructure by delivering power and industrial water to key sites while overhauling the electricity grid to cope with surging demand from semiconductor fabs and AI servers. “The Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment will ensure that the 6.3 gigawatts of electricity and 650,000 tons of water needed for the southwestern semiconductor plants are supplied on time without disruption,” Climate, Energy and Environment Minister K

Jun 29, 2026By Lee Gyu-lee
Gov't unveils power, infrastructure plans to back megaprojects
Companies

HD Hyundai Electric boosts capacity 70% with new automated Cheongju power distribution

CHEONGJU, North Chungcheong Province — HD Hyundai Electric has expanded its production capacity for power distribution equipment by 70 percent with the recent launch of its automated Cheongju power distribution campus, as the company bets on capturing surging global demand from artificial intelligence (AI) data centers and power‑infrastructure investment. The 116.1 billion won ($75.5 million) Cheongju campus in North Chungcheong Province, which was completed last November, consolidates manufacturing, engineering and logistics functions that had previously been spread across three facilities. The campus produces more than 50,000 types of low and medium-voltage circuit breakers, ranging from air circuit breakers (ACB) and vacuum circuit breakers (VCB) used in power plants and industrial facilities to molded case circuit breakers (MCCB) widely installed in residential and commercial buildings. The facility automates logistics from material receiving and warehousing to production and shipping through a network of 12 autonomous mobile robots, 10 autonomous case-handling robots and 20 log

Jun 28, 2026By Lee Gyu-lee
HD Hyundai Electric boosts capacity 70% with new automated Cheongju power distribution
Policy

Korea cuts fuel price cap by 150 won per liter as oil prices retreat

Korea will lower its fuel price cap by 150 won ($0.09) per liter starting Saturday, reflecting the recent decline in global crude oil prices and easing tensions in the Middle East, the government said Friday. The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources announced that the seventh round of the country's fuel price cap system will take effect at midnight Saturday, lowering the ceiling for gasoline, diesel and kerosene by 150 won per liter from the previous level. The move came after Finance Minister Koo Yun-cheol said earlier Friday that the government would adjust the cap system while maintaining emergency measures aimed at stabilizing consumer prices. "The government will adjust the emergency measures currently in place in phases by closely monitoring developments in the Middle East and the Korean economy," Koo said during a meeting of economy-related ministers. Under the new cap, refiners will be allowed to supply gasoline at up to 1,784 won per liter, diesel at 1,773 won and kerosene at 1,380 won. The government expects retail fuel prices at gas stations to fall from the low-2,000 won

Jun 26, 2026By Lee Gyu-lee
Korea cuts fuel price cap by 150 won per liter as oil prices retreat
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