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Kang Seung-woo

Korea Times Business Reporter

Kang Seung-woo is the Business Desk editor at The Korea Times. Prior to this position, he covered politics, national affairs, finance and sports.

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PHOTO Czech defense chief visits LIG D&A

LIG Defense and Aerospace CEO Shin Ick-hyun, center, shakes hands with Jaromir Zuna, third from left, deputy prime minister and defense minister of the Czech Republic, during Zuna’s visit to the Korean defense company in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, Monday. The visit was part of the Czech government’s strategy to strengthen its defense capabilities, with Zuna inspecting LIG D&A’s cutting-edge air defense systems and discussing ways to advance bilateral defense cooperation. Courtesy of LIG D&A

Sep 8, 2026By Kang Seung-woo
[PHOTO] Czech defense chief visits LIG D&A
Companies

Golfzon wraps up Korean qualifiers for 2026 China Open

Golfzon said Thursday that it has completed the Korean qualifying rounds for the 2026 Golfzon China Open, finalizing 20 Korean players who will compete in the tournament finals in December. The global tournament offers a total prize pool of about 4.25 billion won ($3.1 million), with the winner taking home approximately 1.05 billion won. It brings together professional and amateur golfers from Korea, China, other parts of Asia, the Americas and Europe. The Korean preliminary qualifiers ran from March 10 to May 31, attracting about 20,000 golfers — 4,461 in the Pro Division and 15,523 in the Open Division. Participants played more than 40,000 rounds in total. About 200 golfers advanced to the Korean main qualifying rounds, held in July and August at Golfzon City Golf China No. 2 in Yanji, China. The qualifiers selected 15 professionals and five amateurs for the finals. Pro Division A, held from July 20-24, featured players with previous KPGA or KLPGA Tour victories, as well as those ranked in the top 30 in the 2025 first-tier tour money rankings. Kim Hong-taek, Lee Tae-hee, Ji Han-sol,

Sep 3, 2026By Kang Seung-woo
Golfzon wraps up Korean qualifiers for 2026 China Open
Companies

REPORTER'S NOTEBOOK Hyundai Motor's stock rally puts Munoz to test

How much of Hyundai Motor's dramatic stock rally can be attributed to CEO Jose Munoz? Since taking the helm in January 2025 as Hyundai Motor's first foreign CEO, Munoz has faced U.S. tariff pressure, intensifying competition and a rapidly changing auto market. Yet the company's stock has nearly doubled, rising from around 220,000 won ($159) when he took over to 415,000 won as of Friday's close. Munoz can point to several achievements. He has put a greater focus on the group's U.S. business, where Hyundai Motor has maintained its market share despite the 15 percent U.S. auto tariff. The company has also expanded its hybrid lineup and increased local production in North America. At the same time, Munoz has pushed Hyundai Motor, Kia and Genesis to work more closely on engineering, manufacturing, purchasing and distribution to cut costs and protect profits. Those efforts have helped Hyundai Motor maintain strong sales, despite a challenging business environment. Second-quarter revenue hit a record 49.2 trillion won, but operating profit fell more than 20 percent from a year earlier as tariff

Aug 21, 2026By Kang Seung-woo
[REPORTER'S NOTEBOOK] Hyundai Motor's stock rally puts Munoz to test
Companies

Base Group faces scrutiny over Trump ties as aluminum affiliate fights US tariffs

U.S. Democratic senators are probing a $2 million payment made last year by Korean company Base Group to a Trump family business, raising concerns that it may have been intended to influence a trade dispute involving the company’s aluminum affiliate. Sens. Elizabeth Warren, Richard Blumenthal and Andy Kim sent a letter to Base Group Chairman Kim Sung-jip seeking an explanation of the payment, according to the letter released by the lawmakers. The payment was disclosed in U.S. President Donald Trump’s 2025 financial disclosure, released in late June. It was described as being related to a “letter of intent” and a “nonrefundable development fee.” The senators said the “secretive nature and timing” of the payment raised concerns about “pay-to-play politics and bribery.” “The secretive nature and timing of this massive payment raises questions about whether Base Group is making direct payments to President Trump’s companies in an attempt to influence Commerce Department proceedings or otherwise secure lucrative tariff exemptions,” the lawmakers wrote. Base Group has

Aug 7, 2026By Kang Seung-woo
Base Group faces scrutiny over Trump ties as aluminum affiliate fights US tariffs
Companies

SK hynix lists ADRs on Nasdaq to expand global AI presence

SK hynix has listed its American depositary receipts (ADRs) on the Nasdaq stock market, marking a move to expand its presence in global capital markets and strengthen its position as a key supplier in the artificial intelligence (AI) semiconductor ecosystem. The Korean memory chipmaker held an opening bell ceremony at the Nasdaq MarketSite in Times Square, New York, on Friday (local time) to commemorate the start of ADR trading. The event was attended by SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, SK Square Executive Vice Chairman Chey Jae-won and SK hynix CEO Kwak Noh-jung, among other senior executives from the group and company. The offering consists of 177.9 million ADRs priced at $149 each, raising about 40 trillion won ($26.5 billion). Each ADR represents one-tenth of a common share listed on the Seoul stock market. ADRs are certificates issued by a U.S. depositary bank that represent shares of foreign companies and trade on U.S. stock exchanges. They allow overseas companies to access U.S. investors while enabling Americans to invest in foreign stocks without opening overseas accounts or deal

Jul 10, 2026By Kang Seung-woo
SK hynix lists ADRs on Nasdaq to expand global AI presence
Opinion

Time to rein in youth social media use

Smartphones and social media have become inseparable from young people's daily lives, serving as primary gateways to learning, entertainment and social interaction. But their benefits come with growing costs: addiction, anxiety, declining academic performance, cyberbullying and exposure to harmful content. Korea can no longer afford to ignore these risks. It is time to begin a serious discussion about introducing reasonable safeguards for minors' use of social media. Recent developments in the education sector underscore the growing urgency of the issue. Newly elected superintendents across the country have embraced "smartphone-free schools" as a key policy. Gyeonggi Province plans to restrict mobile phone use not only during classes but also throughout breaks and lunchtime, while Gangwon and North Jeolla provinces are rolling out smartphone-free school initiatives and digital detox programs. These are more than educational experiments. Schools have increasingly reported that excessive smartphone use disrupts learning, fuels conflicts among students and facilitates cyberbullying. Altho

Jul 1, 2026By Kang Seung-woo
Time to rein in youth social media use
Opinion

Mythos shift

Generative artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly transforming the cybersecurity landscape, compressing tasks that once required days of research and coordination into seconds. As a result, corporate cybersecurity has quickly evolved into a national policy concern, fueled in part by a new generation of security-focused AI known as the Mythos model. For decades, cybersecurity has operated along a familiar axis: time. Vulnerabilities were discovered, analyzed, patched and updated in a continuous cycle. The underlying assumption was simple: If defenders could identify weaknesses first, they could secure systems before attackers had the chance to exploit them. The Mythos model challenges that premise. As vulnerability detection, exploit generation and even execution become increasingly automated, cybersecurity is shifting from a question of thoroughness to one of speed. The prospect of attacks succeeding before defenders even recognize the threat is no longer theoretical — it is becoming a plausible reality. This shift matters because cyber incidents rarely stop at a single company. Mode

Apr 22, 2026By Kang Seung-woo
Mythos shift
Companies

Hanwha Aerospace seeks to acquire Poongsan munitions biz

Hanwha Aerospace has joined the bid to acquire the munitions business of domestic arms manufacturer Poongsan, signaling a potential expansion into full-scale weapons production. According to industry sources on Friday, Hanwha Aerospace submitted a final bid in a private tender for Poongsan’s munitions division, which produces a range of ammunition from small-caliber rounds to large artillery shells. The company is widely known for producing 155-millimeter shells used in the K9 self-propelled howitzer, a system exported to several countries, including Poland and Romania. Industry sources say Hanwha Aerospace appears to be the only serious bidder in the current process. If the acquisition is completed, the company could achieve vertical integration across ammunition production and weapons platform development and export. However, Hanwha Aerospace declined to comment. Poongsan has maintained a cautious stance, saying that it is reviewing various options to enhance corporate and shareholder value, including potential restructuring, but that nothing has been finalized. Poongsan said in a reg

Apr 3, 2026By Kang Seung-woo
Hanwha Aerospace seeks to acquire Poongsan munitions biz
Companies

PHOTO Samsung launches Galaxy Book 6

Models pose with Samsung Electronics’ Galaxy Book 6 laptops in this handout photo released Wednesday. The product is the latest in the Galaxy Book 6 series, which also includes the Galaxy Book 6 Ultra and the Galaxy Book 6 Pro, both already on the market. Prices range from 1.6 million won ($1,200) to 2.51 million won, depending on specifications such as the CPU, graphics card and memory. The product comes in gray and silver.

Apr 1, 2026By Kang Seung-woo
[PHOTO] Samsung launches Galaxy Book 6
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