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Lee Min-hyung

Korea Times Business Reporter

Lee Min-hyung joined The Korea Times in 2014 and has worked as a journalist mainly in Korea’s finance, tech and automotive industry. He specializes in content creation, breaking news and in-depth analysis currently on transportation and mobility. You can reach him via mhlee@koreatimes.co.kr.

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Companies

Hyundai's AI-era wage reform faces productivity test

Hyundai Motor’s artificial intelligence (AI)-sparked wage overhaul is raising difficult questions about how to redesign a compensation system in ways that would protect workers’ income without undermining productivity, experts said Monday. The carmaker’s management and labor union are reviewing the introduction of the so-called "complete monthly wage system," under which overtime and other variable allowances — currently paid based on hours worked — will be incorporated into production workers’ fixed monthly salaries. The initiative will be studied through a joint labor-management task force. Hyundai already shifted its production workers from an hourly wage system to monthly salaries in 2012. However, overtime and night-shift allowances are still paid according to actual hours worked. The proposed reform would reduce those monthly fluctuations by converting part of the variable pay to fixed wages, in order to provide factory workers with greater income stability even after the carmaker’s planned deployment of humanoid robots across its major production lines here and abroa

Jul 21, 2026By Lee Min-hyung
Hyundai's AI-era wage reform faces productivity test
Companies

Korean Air signs Buckingham Palace Declaration to counter illegal wildlife trafficking

Korean Air has signed the Buckingham Palace Declaration, becoming the first Korean airline to join the global initiative to counter illegal wildlife trafficking through the transportation sector. Established in March 2016, the Buckingham Palace Declaration is an international agreement aimed at preventing traffickers from exploiting global transport networks. It sets out 11 commitments, including sharing information on the illegal wildlife trade, reporting suspicious activity to relevant authorities and refusing to transport cargo suspected of containing illegally traded wildlife or wildlife products. As a signatory, Korean Air will participate in the United for Wildlife Transport Taskforce, an initiative led by the U.K. Royal Foundation, and implement the declaration’s commitments. The airline plans to strengthen security procedures, provide specialized training for employees and refuse the transportation of wildlife and wildlife products suspected of being linked to illegal trade. The initiative builds on Korean Air’s ongoing wildlife conservation efforts. In January, the airline pr

Jul 21, 2026By Lee Min-hyung
Korean Air signs Buckingham Palace Declaration to counter illegal wildlife trafficking
Companies

T'way Air's European windfall turns into costly burden

T’way Air's European expansion, once hailed as a windfall from the Korean Air-Asiana merger, is turning into an expensive test of its long-haul strategy, as rising fuel, maintenance and currency costs overwhelm healthy passenger demand. Earlier, the low-cost carrier (LCC) took over routes from Incheon to Paris, Rome, Barcelona and Frankfurt, as part of regulatory remedies tied to the merger of the two full-service carriers. Despite maintaining solid passenger demand, T’way is exposed to challenges of sustaining the business model in the face of worsening profitability. Indeed, T’way Air is widely forecast to post the largest operating loss among Korea’s budget carriers in the second quarter. According to market tracker FnGuide, the airline’s loss is estimated at 132 billion won ($89 million) between April and June, raising doubts over whether T’way’s expansion into the European routes has benefited the airline in terms of revenues. On the surface, demand remains healthy. In the first quarter, T’way recorded passenger load factors of 84 percent on its Incheon-Paris route,

Jul 20, 2026By Lee Min-hyung
T'way Air's European windfall turns into costly burden
Companies

LIG Defense & Aerospace opens Latin America regional office in Peru

LIG Defense & Aerospace (LIG D&A) has opened a Latin America regional office in Peru to expand its global defense business and strengthen its overseas presence, the company said Monday. The new office marks the latest step in LIG D&A’s efforts to build a global network in key defense markets. The company operates overseas offices in Colombia, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Malaysia and Europe to support local marketing, technical cooperation and business development. LIG D&A held an opening ceremony for the Peru regional office on Friday (local time), attended by CEO Shin Ick-hyun, Korean Ambassador to Peru Choi Jong-uk, Adm. Federico Javier Bravo de Rueda Delgado, commander general of the Peruvian Navy, and around 60 other officials. The Peru office, together with LIG D&A’s existing office in Colombia, will serve as a regional hub to support growing defense demand across Latin America through local customer engagement, marketing and technical support. The new regional office comes as LIG D&A accelerates its global expansion, including the launch of its first U.S.

Jul 20, 2026By Lee Min-hyung
LIG Defense & Aerospace opens Latin America regional office in Peru
Companies

Poongsan decides not to sell ammunition business: FKI chief

JEJU ISLAND — Poongsan Group has decided not to sell its high-profile ammunition business, its Chairman Ryu Jin said Friday, dismissing persistent speculation that the defense unit could be put on the market as rising global demand boosts the company's earnings. Ryu, who also serves as chairman of the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI), said the company had previously explored the potential value of the business, but decided to retain it because of its strong profitability. "Poongsan's defense business is performing well, so we had discussed what it might be worth," Ryu told reporters during a press conference on the sidelines of the FKI CEO Summer Forum. "However, we have decided not to sell it for now." Instead of divesting the ammunition business, Ryu said Poongsan plans to use the profits generated by its defense operations to pursue new service-sector investments for revitalizing regional economies. He said the group is considering projects such as construction of golf courses and hotels outside the Seoul metropolitan area, describing them as part of the firm’s strategy to fos

Jul 20, 2026By Lee Min-hyung
Poongsan decides not to sell ammunition business: FKI chief
Companies

Hyundai Motor chief to raise Boston Dynamics stake, fueling Nasdaq IPO prospect

Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Chung Euisun is set to increase his personal stake in Boston Dynamics to 25 percent by investing an additional 120 billion won ($80.5 million), a move that could accelerate the robotics firm's long-anticipated Nasdaq listing. Chung and other Boston Dynamics shareholders are considering acquiring the 9.65 percent stake held by SoftBank, after the Japanese investment firm exercised its put option. The shares would be divided among the existing shareholders in proportion to their current holdings. Under the current ownership structure, HMG Global owns 56.4 percent of Boston Dynamics, while Chung holds 22.6 percent, Hyundai Glovis owns 11.25 percent and SoftBank retains the remaining 9.65 percent. If the transaction is completed, HMG Global's stake would rise to 62.5 percent, Chung's to 25 percent and Hyundai Glovis' to 12.5 percent, effectively giving Hyundai Motor Group full ownership of the robotics company. Chung has consistently expanded his personal investment in Boston Dynamics since Hyundai Motor Group acquired a controlling stake in the company fr

Jul 19, 2026By Lee Min-hyung
Hyundai Motor chief to raise Boston Dynamics stake, fueling Nasdaq IPO prospect
Companies

'AI race shifts from building models to rebuilding companies'

JEJU ISLAND — Companies hoping to gain an edge in the artificial intelligence (AI) era should spend less time chasing the latest models and more time redesigning their organizations, as autonomous AI agents move closer to mainstream enterprise adoption, speakers at the 2026 CEO Summer Forum hosted by the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) said Friday. As generative AI evolves rapidly from a conversational assistant into a technology capable of executing increasingly sophisticated tasks, businesses now face the challenge of transforming decades-old workflows and adapting to the new AI era. Park Min-jun, CEO of Wrtn AX, an enterprise-level AI agent solutions provider, said the focus of AI competition was shifting away from the technology itself toward organizational transformation. “For the past several years, businesses have largely competed by adopting increasingly capable large language models, but with leading models now approaching similar levels of performance in many business applications, competitive advantage will increasingly depend on how effectively companies reorganize

Jul 17, 2026By Lee Min-hyung
'AI race shifts from building models to rebuilding companies'
Companies

'AI's future hinges on smarter users, better chips, new business models'

JEJU ISLAND — The next phase of the artificial intelligence (AI) revolution will be defined not by the race to build bigger language models, but by AI literacy, energy-efficient semiconductor design and AI-native business models, speakers at the 2026 CEO Summer Forum hosted by the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) said Thursday. Lee Se-dol, former professional champion in the game of go and now special professor at the Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology, said the rise of AI requires human beings to hold on to their belief and philosophical ideas, while avoiding being constrained by fixed ways of thinking. "Humans should continue to uphold their convictions and philosophy in the AI era, but we also need to lower our preconceived notions," Lee said during the annual FKI forum. "Only then can we make decisions that are suited to a world shaped by AI." Lee also said that AI literacy will become a major determinant of future competitiveness. He explained that the gap between the people who use AI merely to ask simple questions and those who fully leverage AI agents and

Jul 16, 2026By Lee Min-hyung
'AI's future hinges on smarter users, better chips, new business models'
Companies

Tesla's FSD subscription comes as wake-up call for Hyundai's software strategy

Tesla's pivot to a lower-barrier subscription model for its Full Self-Driving (FSD) software in Korea is serving as a sharp wake-up call for Hyundai Motor Group, exposing a widening gap between the two rivals in the race to profit from next-generation in-vehicle software. Starting Aug. 10, Tesla Korea will offer its supervised FSD package through a monthly subscription priced at 150,000 won ($100), replacing the previous one-time purchase option of 9.04 million won. The move underscores Tesla's long-term strategy of generating recurring software revenue beyond vehicle sales, while lowering the upfront cost for consumers. Tesla's latest move underscores the challenges faced by Hyundai Motor Group, which has also been positioning itself as a leading software-defined vehicle (SDV) developer. The Korean carmaker still faces skepticism from financial markets regarding the commercial viability of its digital subscription-based services. The Korean automaker recently highlighted the rollout of its next-generation Pleos artificial intelligence infotainment platform in its newly launched strategic

Jul 14, 2026By Lee Min-hyung
Tesla's FSD subscription comes as wake-up call for Hyundai's software strategy
Companies

Hyundai Rotem's K2 becomes 1st Korean defense product with NATO quality certification

Hyundai Rotem's K2 main battle tank has become the first Korean defense product to receive a NATO quality assurance certification — a key milestone that will strengthen the company's competitiveness in the global defense market, the defense firm said Tuesday. The company received the Allied Quality Assurance Publications (AQAP)-2110 certification, a NATO quality assurance standard for the design, development and manufacturing of defense equipment. AQAP-2110 is a key qualification for supplying defense equipment to NATO member states, as it verifies that products meet the alliance's stringent quality assurance requirements throughout the production process. The certification is widely regarded as an essential prerequisite for expanding defense exports to NATO countries and partner nations. The certification applies to Hyundai Rotem's armored vehicle lineup, including the K2 main battle tank, armored recovery vehicle and combat engineering vehicle. The company said it plans to broaden the scope of certification to additional defense products in line with market demand. With the certifica

Jul 14, 2026By Lee Min-hyung
Hyundai Rotem's K2 becomes 1st Korean defense product with NATO quality certification
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